Ideas About Art

Ideas About Art is an intelligent, accessible introductory text for students interested in learning how to think about aesthetics.

It uses stories drawn from the experiences of individuals involved in the arts as a means of exposing readers to the philosophies, theories, and arguments that shape and drive visual art.

• An accessible, story-driven introduction to aesthetic theory and philosophy
• Prompts readers to develop independent ideas about aesthetics; this is a guide on how to think, not what to think
• Includes discussions of non-western, contemporary, and discipline-specific theories
• Examines a range of art-based dilemmas across a wide variety of disciplines — from art and design and law to visual and museum studies

List of Illustrations.

Preface.

1. Public Opinion/Public Art.

2. Non-Western Ideas.

3. Western Ideas.

4. Beauty.

5. Expression & Aesthetic Experience.

6. Art & Ethics.

7. Political Art, Censorship & Pornography.

8. Art & Economics.

9. Feminist Art, Aesthetics & Art Criticism.

10. Postmodern Art & Attitudes.

11. Photography & New Media.

12. (Re)Discovering Design.

13. Art & Aesthetic Education.

14. Artists, Art Critics, Art Historians, Curators, Museums & Viewers.

References.

Index.

"This book will engage the serious reader of art theory with accessible language and interesting imagery and personal." (SchoolArts, 1 May 2014)

"This book provides many refreshingly-new ideas about art from many people and areas of the world, as well as open-ended, non-dogmatic discussions on many topics." (Biz India, 10 December 2012)

"This text offers art-interested students and general readers a sampling of ideas on a wide range of topics, in an accessible, non-intimidating manner." (Book News, 1 August 2011)

"This book will engage the serious reader of art theory with accessible language and interesting imagery and personal stories." (School Arts, 1 May 2014)

KATHLEEN K. DESMOND is Professor of Art & Design and Byler Distinguished Faculty at the University of Central Missouri. An award-winning teacher and scholar, Desmond teaches art appreciation, aesthetics, art criticism, and art theory. Her articles about contemporary art and artists and college art learning are published in Art Journal, Art Education, Aesthetics On-line, Review, Dialogue, and New Art Examiner. Past Chair of the College Art Association's Education Committee, Desmond conducted conference sessions that yielded data supporting this text.

"Ideas About Art provides enough information to establish a foundation for discussion, thankfully with utter lack of intellectual posturing or jargon, and spurs further research. It is readable and culturally balanced; conversational even in the most intellectually challenging passages."
—Michele Fricke, Professor of Art History, Kansas City Art Institute

"There is nothing quite like this text in the field. I especially appreciate that it is not formulaic like some other texts and that readers can hang their own choices of artists off of these ideas."
—Elizabeth Garber, Professor of Art, University of Arizona

Ideas About Art is intended for art-interested students who want to expand the scope of their knowledge beyond Western art and aesthetics. The volume is comprised of short chapters that offer concrete stories, real-life experiences, and contemporary aesthetic dilemmas that enable readers to explore a range of non-Western aesthetics - beauty and expression, ethics, economics, political art, censorship, feminism, postmodernism, and discipline-specific theories in photography, design, and aesthetic education.