Aesthetics, Disinterestedness, and Effectiveness in Political Art

(Hardback)

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Should politically concerned and engaged artistic production disregard questions or/and requirements of aesthetic reception and value Whether art should be aesthetic or political is not a new question. Therefore, in spite of those several contemporary approaches of this issue, the answer is not set in stone and the debate is still going on. This volume aims to broaden these debates and it stems from numerous conversations with politically engaged artists and artist collectives on issues related to the aesthetitzation of politics versus the politicization of art, as well as the phenomenon of the so-called unhealthy aestheticism in political art. Thus, this study has three interrelated aims: Firstly, it aims to offer an interdisciplinary account of the relationship between art and politics and between aesthetics and the political. Secondly, it attempts to explore what exactly makes artistic production a strong yet neglected field of political critique when democratic political agency, history from below and identity politics are threatened. Finally, to illuminate the relationship between critical political theory, on the one hand, and the philosophy of art, on the other by highlighting artworks moral, political and epistemic abilities to reveal, criticize, problematize and intervene politically in our political reality.

Reviews

This book tackles one of the thorniest debates in the philosophy and sociology of art, as well as in political theory: the relationship between the political and the aesthetic in "political art." Rejecting both conflationist and autonomist positions, Asavei elegantly shows how political art does not have to lose its aesthetic valence. Through a sophisticated engagement with key concepts and positions in the literature and an illuminating curation of examples, she outlines an account of political art that is critically polyvalent without collapsing into propaganda. A welcome breath of fresh air, this book should be of interest to all those who are tempted to enter this research field armed with reified dichotomies. -- Mihaela Mihai, University of Edinburgh
An important contribution to the study of aesthetics and political science, Asaveis book shows that art can be political without neglecting aesthetic concerns. Drawing on a wide range of interdisciplinary theories of art and politics and revisiting concepts taken from traditional aesthetics such as beauty and aesthetic disinterestedness, the author demonstrates that they can still be applied to politically engaged art, which is often dismissed as non-aesthetic. -- Alice Bardan, University of Southern California
This is a timely contribution to the ongoing debate on the fraught relationship between politics and aesthetics. Theoretically astute, Asavei argues convincingly that contemporary trends show the possibility of a political but "proper" art. -- Gavin Bowd, University of St Andrews

Author Bio

Maria-Alina Asavei is lecturer in Russian and Eastern European studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charles University, Prague.