Brief Essay Plan

Brief essay plan

When Aesthetics overtakes ethics

What is the ethical responsibility of fine art practice?

Where can we draw the line on aesthetics?

Modern day see's fine art as a broad and far reaching subject with a number of themes. However, within each of these themes and practices, ethical guidelines blur and this often leads to irony seeping from the art. ‘Art is a language’ As Jean Dubuffet articulates in ‘Anticultural positions’ it is ‘an instrument of cognition and communication' (page 14) This communicative weapon has the opportunity to set an example of modern, conscious and sustainable living. However, this does not seem to be the case with ethical consideration which is not always a prefrontal priority.

(Art and politics)

(The silence of animal)

• HISTORICAL ETHICS- Teleology- Historically- business of art was to investigate beauty and the visual, as well as documentation of history. Under obligation to create something visually attractive or to alter the reality to seem more attractive.  Beauty is no longer of such importance fine art. Western ethics as historical hierarchy. Art in colonisation and totalitarian regime. Cognitive decolonisation- Duchamp rejecting binary narrative this in the readymade and rescuing western art's stance. Arguably the visuality of our society is more prominent in beauty as the public are presented constantly with the concept of beauty as the media and consumerism designs it to be. Anticultural positions Mass manufacturing of goods becoming an integral part of human social display, with growing disassociation of production. Kant's aesthetic theory.

• IRONIC ART-Ironic critique when using certain materials. (Naomi Klein's books)  (Marxist self destruction theory)

• CHANGE-Who is looking to change this/artist's acting differently. (Artists sending instructions instead of taking up air miles). (Visual politics of psychoanalysis- Idea of travelling concept- ‘aesthetics of connectivity to the ethics of responsibility' page 15)

• OWN PRACTICE- How this links to my own work? Careful consideration of materials and lifestyle choices.

• POSSIBILITIES-Moving forward as a conscious industry.(Visual politics of psychoanalysis 'faced with trauma, terror and horror, can we work across aesthetics, ethics and politics towards sustaining human life?  Where does a study of the image open up into such enormous questions?' page 22)