Art as Experience

John Dewey was an American philosopher of the late 19th and 20th century best known for his espousal of a "pragmatic" philosophy and progressive political ideas, but he also wrote about Art. Art as Experience is not a book per se, but rather a rewriting of a series of lectures he gave on the "philosophy of art" at Harvard in 1931. Dewey's pragmatic philosophy emphasizing social relations between humans was hugely influential in social sciences like sociology, where he clearly inspired writers like Erving Goffman and anthropology (see Roy Rappaport) His influence has been less notable in the field of aesthetics and art theory, and that's a shame, because in my mind, Art as Experience is the best book about the role of Art in human experience ever written. Art as Experience starts from the observation that there can be no Art without an Audience- the two are intertwined because humans are social creatures and none of us exist in isolation. This statement about the nature of Art stands in direct contradiction to the two main schools of art philosophy: Classicism, which holds that Beauty is an objective truth that exists outside the experience of any single person and Romanticism, which postulates that the Artist stands alone in the world, without reference to his human environment. Much of the argument of Art as Experience takes the form of the language philosophy strategy of being extremely precise about the terms being used. This gives the actual text of Art as Experience a tedious feel, even as the ideas expressed dance and sparkle with the light of discovery. Dewey works his way through defining, having an experience, the act of expression, the expressive object, substance and form, etc. I won't lie- it's dry. Boring even. BUT, it's a book that every art critic, blogger, etc should be forced- AT GUN POINT- to read. That's because to read Dewey is to understand that Artists and Critics are on the same side- they both care and appreciate art and artistic products, and they both want to share their love/interest in art with a larger audience. This idea of critics attacking Artists for some real or perceived "failure" is revealed by Dewey to actually be a failure of the critic- for failing to understand that his or her own experience is intruding on their understanding of the subject of their criticism. It's a wonder to be that Dewey's Art as Experience isn't more commonly read and loved by Artists and Art critics, but I suppose he only has himself to blame- that man was not a prose stylist. I would say that if you were going to read a single book on the subject of the "Philosophy of Art" it would be this book- and that there isn't another book you need to read after this one. Particularly, while reading Art As Experience I thought of conversations I had with my friend/business partner- Brandon Welchez of the Crocodiles. Brandon often espoused the opinion- common to Artists that "Writing about music is like dancing about Architecture- i.e. pointless" and my response was basically, "Um..." but now I would reply that when a critic really understand the purpose of writing about art- to help clarify, illuminate and publicize worthy artists- and sharing one's interest in a specific art and artists with the wider world- art criticism can help to create an appreciative audience for a specific artist or art product where none existed before.

The media could not be loaded.  The apparatus underneath the bed is the missing premise for the substance of the riddle expressed by the above video directly inspired by what said book, Art As Experience, refers to as a literal photograph, only now you can see it in motion.

Dewey is the inspiration behind my PhD so as an owner of his collected works in print and electronic form I can offer a few words on Art as Experience. The 1934 first edition is a handsome object in itself. Written by a mature Dewey, this book is about art in its broadest sense, and experience in its particular sense as our primary way of engaging the world. It is a book about the wonder of experiencing life in context. And that is what makes it as relevant today as it was in 1934 - both eras are marked by significant socio-cultural development, received at such a pace it is hard to keep pace or pause to reflect. When was the last time you stopped think about the meaning of experiences in your life? Have you ever thought of yourself and the people near you as the shape and form of expression in this world?This book by Dewey will take you to many places well worth travelling to in print and in person. Read it alongside Wayne Booth's 'Writing as Thinking: Thinking as Writing'  The Harper and Row Rhetoric: Writing as Thinking, Thinking as Writing  and let Dewey, through his journey with Vernon Lee's ideas on page 101-102, in the chapter entitled 'The Expressive Object' inspire you to explore the rich writing of Violet Paget (aka Vernon Lee, The Beautiful). The high point of the book is the discussion of empathy. Here is Dewey quoting Lee, which is in tune with the sense Dewey is talking about in his book  The Beautiful: An Introduction to Psychological Aesthetics (Classic Reprint) :"The various and variously combined dramas enacted by the lines and curves and angles take place not in the marble or pigment embodying the contemplated shapes, but solely in ourselves..."

For many years this was my favorite work of Dewey's to never finish: I'd just be so overwhelmed by the ideas that I'd have to set it down and spend a year or two thinking about what he'd said.This text bookends Dewey's "Logic: The Theory of Inquiry" as the two most important works in his entire corpus. Even if you don't think you're all that interested in art, read this to discover how mistaken you were in that evaluation.

The basic idea of art as a quality that permeates experience remains fresh; it, and several other ideas Dewey develops, anticipate Deleuze's thought of the plane of immanence. A shame the book is so long and repetitive; Dewey's philosophical ideas would have made a great extended essay of, say, 80 pages (instead of 360 pages in the version I used). Dewey's perceptions of the art of his day, on the other hand, are not only outdated today, but were already outdated in his own day. One striking example: when he laments (e.g., p.27) that everyday objects in his day (the book was first published in 1934) lacked aesthetic qualities, one gets the impression that he never even heard of the Bauhaus movement, which was right then spreading throughout the western world after the Berlin school had been closed down under Nazi pressure (in 1933) and its main artists relocated to a variety of places, not least in the US where Dewey was based. There are many other such examples. His philosophy is solid if tedious, his perception of actual present live and culture, however, at best severely lopsided.

This book is worth the read for those who are interested in the arts. I'm an art student, and I read it out of personal interest. I found it very insightful in how Dewey defines art itself, and how I can approach creating my own art. It's a dense book, but it really helped me look at art in a more practical lense.

This is quite a read. Difficult in places but poetic in style. Some aspects would have been way ahead of their time and other so relevant to today. This is forming part of the foundation for the Art in Strategic Thinking project.

My wife loved this book

Perfect

Not the easiest read.

a good book but quite heavy reading.