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Institutional Theory of Art
And so we get to the last of the aesthetic theories I am covering. This theory takes a descriptive approach to describe what art is. Just as the dictionary describes how language is being used by actual living human beings, the institutional theory tells us that art is what the art world says it is.…
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Family Resemblances
As we move closer to post-modern thought we find that philosophers, aestheticians and others shift in how to grapple with the “Art Question.” The search for an essential quality that all works of art share and that can thus be used as a benchmark to determine what is art and what is not, seems more…
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Expression of Emotion
I have managed to squirrel some time to write again (this semester was a trial by fire) and thus I will continue with my plan to explain the four most common aesthetic theories. For this post, we will look at Robin George Collingwood’s theory of expression of emotion. In broad terms, the theory tells us…
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The pleasures of teaching
An undergrad wrote this about my class: “I know that the class had no clear intention to adress any philosophical issues or issues of imperialism, socialism and social injustice, however I noticed that by knowing the culture around us we can get answers to the questions I mentioned above, and understand how things happen the…
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Significant Form
Clive Bell describes his theory of what makes certain artistic expressions be considered art as a shared quality that all objects that elicit an aesthetic reaction in the following way: “What quality is shared by all objects that provoke our aesthetic emotions? What quality is common to Sta. Sophia and the windows at Chartres, Mexican sculpture,…
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What is Art?
The more semesters I teach, the more I come across this question from my students, and it seems to be asked mostly by art historians and artists. The fact that students in their sixth semester are asking this question is, if nothing else it is interesting that so far into their career, students are…
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Lugares y Memorias Fragmentadas: the design process
The Sketches helped me create the relationships between the strings and the photographs as well as to plan the three dimensionality of the exhibition space, it is here where I decided to utilise the space and create something more than a line-up of photographs. During the preparation process the photographs were printed and mounted on…
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New exhibition: lugares y memorias fragmentadas
On August 13 the exhibition Lugares y Memorias Fragmentadas will open at universidad de las Americas Puebla, which I curated and shows a collection of photographs taken during my trips of the last five years. This is a personal and professional highlight that could not have happened without the support of the university and the…
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The artistry of frustration
Recently I have been going through two very interesting games, Dark Souls and Bloodborne, designed by game-maker Hidetaka Miyazaki. These are often cited as prime examples of great video game design, lauded for their often times punishing difficulty and obscure and ambiguous yet intriguing storyline. While both games share mechanics and themes such as cycles of life…
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Designing an exhibition
I have been asked to design a very small exhibition for the student gallery at the Universidad de las Americas. The exhibition narrates the photographer’s trips in a 4 year period and the locations involved. This is a work in progress.
Rene G. Cepeda 