art
TagHamburg’s Lessing Prize Winner Announced
Every four years, the city of Hamburg, Germany awards a prize, named for Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, to honor achievements in German culture. This year’s winner of the Lessing Prize is Juliane Rebentisch, professor of philosophy and art history at Offenbach University of Art and Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main).
“The Jeremy Bentham” Will Visit the Met
When 18th-Century philosopher Jeremy Bentham made arrangements for his head and skeleton to be preserved, clothed, and available for display at University College London, it was because he thought that the human body should be (more…)
Philosophers On The Art of Morally Troubling Artists
The news over the past several months has been full of revelations of sexual harassment and assault by men involved in arts and entertainment and other fields (for lists of recently revealed cases, see here and here). The cases have brought to the public’s attention a variety of questions concerning power, justice, gender relations, privacy, business practices, and ..
Philosophical Photography Contest
The Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University is again running its philosophical photography contest. (more…)
The Art of Philosophy (guest post by Susanna Berger)
The following us a guest post* by Susanna Berger, assistant professor of art history at the University of Southern California.
It is an excerpt adapted from her fascinating book, The Art of Philosophy: Visual Thinking in Europe from the Late Renaissance to the Early Enlightenment (Princeton University Press, 2017).
Philosophical Photography
The Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University recently announced the winner of its Philosophical Photography Contest. It’s Jenny Gillett, for her photo, “Identity,” above. The contest asked people to submit photos that “somehow managed to capture an abstract philosophical concept.” (more…)
Philosophy’s Use of the Visual Arts
What works of visual art (paintings, sculpture, photography, drawings, etc.) have philosophers made use of in their written works, either as examples, inspiration, or subjects of study? (more…)
Philosopher Shirt Poll / Collaboration with Hirsute History
Daily Nous readers, here’s something cool. We’re going to help designer Jeremy Kalgreen decide who to add to his portfolio of philosopher portraits at Hirsute History. While we tend to focus on the strands of thought of the great philosophers, Kalgreen focuses on the strands of hair, and then puts the images on shirts. (more…)
Aesthetics for Birds Returns with New Editor
The Aesthetics for Birds blog—“aesthetics and philosophy of art for everyone”—is back in business with a new design and a new editor, Alex King (Buffalo). Nice: (more…)
Illustrations of Logicians
I’ve previously linked to some of the line art portraits by graphic designer Matt Leadbetter that the Open Logic Project commissioned. Well, now there are a bunch of them available in one place, along with links to individually downloadable portraits (under Creative Commons license). How many of the following can you correctly identify? (more…)
New £30,000 Prize for Philosophers, Writers, & Architects
The new Judd-Hume Prize, named for artist Donald Judd and philosopher David Hume, includes a £30,000 prize and a two-month fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. The prize was created by Peter Ballantine, who helped Judd construct his sculptures over a 25-year period. (more…)
Artistic Impressions of Academic Talks
The art of the academic talk takes on a different meaning when looking at the drawings and paintings of Kaća Bradonjić. Dr. Bradonjić is wrapping up a visiting appointment in physics at Wellesley College and will soon be beginning one at Hampshire College. Her research is informed by philosophy and the history of science (she was a double major in physics and philos..
A Taxonomic Map of Philosophy (Updated with 5-layer Version!)
Some people go to PhilPapers, get the information they need, and then just go. Not Valentin Lageard, a graduate student in philosophy at Université Paris-Sorbonne. The Categories page at the site caught his eye. He says:
Famous Philosophers In The Styles of Famous Artists
Renee Jorgensen Bolinger, a graduate student in philosophy at the University of Southern California, paints portraits of famous philosophers in her spare time. For each one, she chooses the style of an artist who thematically links up with the philosopher. For example:
See the whole collection. Some are even for sale as prints, and on shirts, mugs, pillow..
Philosophy Travel & Tourism
Guy Crain, professor of philosophy at Rose State College, writes in with the following inquiry:
I’m wondering if there is a resource with collected information about philosophy-related travel/site-seeing. For instance, is it possible to visit John Stuart Mill’s birthplace? What libraries or museums (if any) have first editions of philosophical works on display?..
The Art of Thought Experiments
Si-Won Song, a student about to graduate from the University of Puget Sound, has created a series of digital artworks based on well-known philosophical thought experiments. Song, a philosophy major (with minors in studio art and Japanese) first got the idea from reading about Frank Jackson’s thought experiment, Mary’s Room, in Professor Justin Tiehen’s philosophy of..
World’s Largest Philosophy & Music Festival
HowTheLightGetsIn bills itself as “the world’s largest philosophy and music festival.” With 650 events, 370 acts, and 200 speakers on 9 stages over 11 days, it probably is. It takes place in the town of Hay-on-Wye, about 160 miles or so west of London. The schedule for the festival was recently released, and includes panels and debates with philosophers such as Sim..
Hobbies of Philosophers: Steff Rocknak
For this installment of “Hobbies of Philosophers”, I talked to Steff Rocknak, professor of philosophy at Hartwick College. Steff works on Hume, Quine, philosophy of art, and philosophy of mind. But she also has a successful career as a sculptor—it is certainly much more than a hobby, so in this case, the title for this series is terribly inapt given the central im..
The “art” in Sartre
Open Culture has posted the doodles of Jean-Paul Sartre (via Peter Gratton). While not as skillful as those of Jorge Luis Borges or as striking as those of Franz Kafka, they do have a certain whimsical air to them. Some research suggests that doodling enhances one’s concentration and memory, so if you see people doodling while you are giving a talk, don’t assume the..
One Amazing Fake Barn
A new kind of fake barn may be hard to spot. Not because it’s a fake, but because it’s sort of invisible. Of course it is located in Socrates Sculpture Park. Story here.
100 Philosophers / 100 Artworks / 100 Words
What a great idea! Aesthetics for Birds has begun a series in which 100 philosophers will each discuss one work of art in 100 words.
Design and Violence
The Museum of Modern Art is hosting a series of debates on issues at the intersection of design and violence.
Too often, and naïvely, we only celebrate the positive impact that design artifacts have on the world. However, design also has a history of violence that, unless linked overtly to political and social suppression and upheaval, often goes unexplored. Humanit..
Does Utilitarianism Leave Room for Art?
A screenwriter considers the question.