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Speculative Aesthetics
Documenting and expanding upon a ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION on the ramifications of Speculative Realism for aesthetics, this discussion ranges from contemporary art's relation to the aesthetic, to accelerationism and abstraction, logic and design.
From varied perspectives of philosophy, art and design, participants examine the new technological mediations between the human sensorium and the massive planetary media network within which it now exists, and consider how the aesthetic enables new modes of knowledge by processing sensory data through symbolic formalisms and technological devices.
Speculative Aesthetics anticipates the possibility of a theory and practice no longer invested in the otherworldly promise of the aesthetic, but acknowledging the real force and traction of images in the world today, experimentally employing techniques of modelling, formalisation, and presentation so as to simultaneously engineer new domains of experience and map them through a recon� gured aesthetics that is indissociable from sociotechnical conditions.
AMANDA BEECH
Art and its 'Science'
BENEDICT SINGLETON
Speculative Design
TOM TREVATT
The Cosmic Address
Discussion
NICK SRNICEK
Accelerationism - Epistemic, Economic, Political
JAMES TRAFFORD
Towards a Speculative Rationalism
ALEX WILLIAMS
The Politics of Abstraction
RAY BRASSIER
Prometheanism and Real Abstraction
Discussion
MARK FISHER
Practical Eliminativism: Getting Out of the Face, Again
ROBIN MACKAY
Neo-Thalassa: A Fantasia on a Fantasia
BEN WOODARD
Uncomfortable Aesthetics
Discussion
From varied perspectives of philosophy, art and design, participants examine the new technological mediations between the human sensorium and the massive planetary media network within which it now exists, and consider how the aesthetic enables new modes of knowledge by processing sensory data through symbolic formalisms and technological devices.
Speculative Aesthetics anticipates the possibility of a theory and practice no longer invested in the otherworldly promise of the aesthetic, but acknowledging the real force and traction of images in the world today, experimentally employing techniques of modelling, formalisation, and presentation so as to simultaneously engineer new domains of experience and map them through a recon� gured aesthetics that is indissociable from sociotechnical conditions.
AMANDA BEECH
Art and its 'Science'
BENEDICT SINGLETON
Speculative Design
TOM TREVATT
The Cosmic Address
Discussion
NICK SRNICEK
Accelerationism - Epistemic, Economic, Political
JAMES TRAFFORD
Towards a Speculative Rationalism
ALEX WILLIAMS
The Politics of Abstraction
RAY BRASSIER
Prometheanism and Real Abstraction
Discussion
MARK FISHER
Practical Eliminativism: Getting Out of the Face, Again
ROBIN MACKAY
Neo-Thalassa: A Fantasia on a Fantasia
BEN WOODARD
Uncomfortable Aesthetics
Discussion
140 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 29, 2016
I've left about two essays unread, but maybe I'll do it sometime in the future.
I think the book is interesting, nevertheless, it can be too obscure or too in its own world.
If we think about the Speculative Realism central question as formulated by Robert Mackay in the introduction: "How is it possible for thought to access that which is not always-already mediated by thought?" You can get a sense of how interesting the speculative realm can get but also how it can fall short and be troubled with its own limitations.
I'm still new to this philosophy and I see clearly that the aesthetics and the work of arts existing in the field of "post-internet" and "new-aesthetics" is actually far from living up to the expectations of such a philosophy; they only cling to some superficial "look and feel" that can be attributed to the tendencies of such a philosophy.
Then again I think it's very dangerous to the development of such an interesting philosophy if it tries too hard to associate itself with a certain kind of art (like what happened in this year's Berlin Biennale)
However it's something to be continued, somewhere else.
I think the book is interesting, nevertheless, it can be too obscure or too in its own world.
If we think about the Speculative Realism central question as formulated by Robert Mackay in the introduction: "How is it possible for thought to access that which is not always-already mediated by thought?" You can get a sense of how interesting the speculative realm can get but also how it can fall short and be troubled with its own limitations.
I'm still new to this philosophy and I see clearly that the aesthetics and the work of arts existing in the field of "post-internet" and "new-aesthetics" is actually far from living up to the expectations of such a philosophy; they only cling to some superficial "look and feel" that can be attributed to the tendencies of such a philosophy.
Then again I think it's very dangerous to the development of such an interesting philosophy if it tries too hard to associate itself with a certain kind of art (like what happened in this year's Berlin Biennale)
However it's something to be continued, somewhere else.
Read
November 8, 2020much ado about nothing. felt like an extended curatorial note about everything and nothing.
some thought-provoking things have nonetheless been raised such as the bits about design, craft as a historically-suppressed form of trickery, some things about geotraumatics, etc
most interesting, or perhaps the only interesting thing raised here is a discussion on the post-ironic politics of 'woke' contemporary art as well as "the guilt-laden critique of art's self-conscious grappling with its own corruption and its love affair with critiques that would antagonize and brutalize its own sense of standards." The idea that "if art is good then it must deny itself."
It made me think about the Deleuzian celebration of the infinity of freedom in creativity and the celebration of uselessness and autonomy, two prevalent moods in contemporary art. To where have these things brought us, really? It all amounted to the loss of any 'aesthetic texture', to an incapability of art to provoke any form of effect, ultimately making most contempo art thoroughly boring.
Which brings me to the crux of the matter raised by Mark Fisher (but was sadly shut down by the others in discussion as a dismissal of art as a whole who seem to be more interested in prolonging their forays into Eurocentric philosophical abstraction, most of them are curators, after all), I will quote here at length:
"I feel that the expectations when entering an art gallery are disappointed as you enter it. As the level of inflation goes up for expectation, the satisfaction decreases greatly. If a Hollywood film was as bad as the level of aesthetic texture that we find in most art galleries these days, you would walk out, you'd be furious, and rightly so! So why bother with the pretense that it's all about aesthetic texture at all. It's all about consumerism these days, money. But there has to be this pretense, because it's art of what art is, the context of art."
The long and short of it is that problems we have with aesthetics today can be rooted in its specific role in society - not as a 'lab of ideas' or a mini utopia or even a spectacle - but as an obscenely consumeristic yet intellectually sophisticated space where rich people buy stuff to reduce their tax. This sounds like a vulgar Marxist take but it is a necessary take around which all these lofty discussions should pivot around. Else we just float these big and little ideas that do not say a lot, really.
some thought-provoking things have nonetheless been raised such as the bits about design, craft as a historically-suppressed form of trickery, some things about geotraumatics, etc
most interesting, or perhaps the only interesting thing raised here is a discussion on the post-ironic politics of 'woke' contemporary art as well as "the guilt-laden critique of art's self-conscious grappling with its own corruption and its love affair with critiques that would antagonize and brutalize its own sense of standards." The idea that "if art is good then it must deny itself."
It made me think about the Deleuzian celebration of the infinity of freedom in creativity and the celebration of uselessness and autonomy, two prevalent moods in contemporary art. To where have these things brought us, really? It all amounted to the loss of any 'aesthetic texture', to an incapability of art to provoke any form of effect, ultimately making most contempo art thoroughly boring.
Which brings me to the crux of the matter raised by Mark Fisher (but was sadly shut down by the others in discussion as a dismissal of art as a whole who seem to be more interested in prolonging their forays into Eurocentric philosophical abstraction, most of them are curators, after all), I will quote here at length:
"I feel that the expectations when entering an art gallery are disappointed as you enter it. As the level of inflation goes up for expectation, the satisfaction decreases greatly. If a Hollywood film was as bad as the level of aesthetic texture that we find in most art galleries these days, you would walk out, you'd be furious, and rightly so! So why bother with the pretense that it's all about aesthetic texture at all. It's all about consumerism these days, money. But there has to be this pretense, because it's art of what art is, the context of art."
The long and short of it is that problems we have with aesthetics today can be rooted in its specific role in society - not as a 'lab of ideas' or a mini utopia or even a spectacle - but as an obscenely consumeristic yet intellectually sophisticated space where rich people buy stuff to reduce their tax. This sounds like a vulgar Marxist take but it is a necessary take around which all these lofty discussions should pivot around. Else we just float these big and little ideas that do not say a lot, really.
January 5, 2024
A short but unnecessary extremely dense book not made for humans to really understand. Sometimes a difficulty in transmission can create the obstacles that it seems from their texts they are trying to overcome. I understand the intention of creating a very specific and intricate discussion on a trascendental dimension, but when thinking on publishing and addressing these “plex” concepts in the format of a physical book, to consider a semantic awareness and the ultimate goal of reaching an audience should be a basic priority, if not keep it as internal formal and closed discussion. Please, next time think on transmitting to the Other. We don’t need more abstract and exclusionary monologues.
February 10, 2021
策展人講的感覺還是幹話居多， Ray Brassier 的老實說有點看不太懂... 但 Mark Fisher 在這本書裡面還是很嘴，然後感覺 Reza Negarestani 在這種 SR / acc 場景中影響力比我以為的大蠻多的。另外 Alex Williams 跟 Nick Srnicek 比我想像中的有趣很多，哪天要來看看他們寫的 Inventing The Future 了。
August 24, 2022
The role of the aesthetic is to culturally рroрagate things, so as to interrupt the ritualistic reiteration of a subjectivity which may well be рure simulation .
July 8, 2023
Es una buena colección de ensayos breves, pero muy despareja. Las transcripciones de debates entre los autores son interesantes, pero algunos de los textos son demasiado breves.
September 28, 2023
very dense -but most of the articles are immensely stimulating and offer new takes on aesthetics.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews