In the twentieth century, avant-garde movements have pushed the concept of art far beyond its traditional boundaries. In this dynamical process of constant renewal the prestige of thinking about art as a legitimizing practice has come to the fore. So it is hardly surprising that the past decades have been characterized by a revival or even breakthrough of philosophy of art as a discipline. However, the majority of books on aesthetics fail to combine a systematical philosophical discourse with a real exploration of art practice.
Thinking Art attempts to deal with this traditional shortcoming. It is indeed not only an easily accessible and systematic account of the classical, modern and postmodern theories of art, but also concludes each chapter with an artist’s studio in which the practical relevance of the discussed theory is amply demonstrated by concrete examples. Moreover, each chapter ends with a section on further reading, in which all relevant literature is discussed in detail.
Thinking Art provides its readers with a theoretical framework that can be used to think about art from a variety of perspectives. More particularly it shows how a fruitful cross-fertilization between theory and practice can be created. This book can be used as a handbook within departments of philosophy, history of art, media and cultural studies, cultural history and, of course, within art academies. Though the book explores theories of art from Plato to Derrida it does not presuppose any acquaintance with philosophy from its readers. It can thus be read also by artists, art critics, museum directors and anyone interested in the meaning of art.
Thinking Art Antoon Van den Braembussche Thinking Art An Introduction to Philosophy of Art Antoon Van den Braembussche Free University of Brussels Pleinlaan, 2 Avenue A. Buyl 12 1050 Brussels Belgium
[email protected] Denken over Kunst. Een Inleiding in de kunstfilosofie. Countinho. 1994 (First Edition). 2006 (Fourth Edition). Translators: Michael Krassilovsky. Rutger H. Cornets de Groot. Dick van Spronsen The translation of this book was made possible by a publication grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) ISBN: 978-1-4020-5637-6 e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-5638-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2009927089 © 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover Photo: Joseph Kosuth, Passagen-Werk (Documenta-Flânerie), 1992 (© Joseph Kosuth, PassagenWerk, c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2009) Note from the Publisher: There are instances where we have been unable to trace or contact the copyright holder. If notified the publisher will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com Foreword Antoon Van den Braembussche rightly observes at the beginning of this admirable book, available for the first time in English, that the philosophy of art is a burgeoning field. Not only is its literature expanding rapidly, but so are the perspectives of its practitioners. This is not surprising. The philosophy of art exists because art exists, and for more than a century now art has been unfolding at a dizzying pace. Indeed, its development continues to accelerat