Art by Sherri Irvin
The Philosophy of Poetry, ed. John Gibson (Oxford University Press, forthcoming)
Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, 3rd ed., ed. Berys Gaut and Dominic McIver Lopes (Routledge, forthcoming)
Sherri Irvin Sculpture has received comparatively little attention from philosophers of art. Howe... more Sherri Irvin Sculpture has received comparatively little attention from philosophers of art. However, sculpture, in its classical and contemporary forms, raises distinctive questions about the ontology, representational character and appreciation of art, and is thus well worth attending to. DEFINING SCULPTURE Before the turn of the twentieth century, nearly all sculptures in the Western fine art tradition were three--dimensional representations of recognizable objects, most often human figures. Most sculptures were freestanding objects, though bas--relief sculpture on buildings and altarpieces also constituted a notable form. Sculptures were typically static objects made of durable materials such as stone, bronze, clay and wood. But over the past century, the range of sculptural materials, subject matters and practices has exploded. Many sculptures, such as the abstract works of Barbara Hepworth or Louise Nevelson, are not obviously representations of objects, even imaginary ones. Kinetic sculptures, unlike their static predecessors, involve movement and, sometimes, sound elements. Installation artworks frequently involve an immersive environment that we explore by moving through it, rather than an object that we view by circling it; and they may incorporate multimedia elements such as film and video. Earthworks involve interventions, sometimes on a very large scale, in exterior landscapes. I favor a treatment of sculpture that includes all of these developments, since they are outgrowths of earlier sculptural traditions and practices. I also aim to maintain the traditional divisions separating sculpture from painting and architecture, and to distinguish sculpture from performance art, which raises interesting but distinct issues. Sculptures must also be distinguished from three--dimensional non--art objects, no small feat now that artists have begun to incorporate a wide array of artifacts into their work. Sometimes a snow shovel is just a snow shovel; other times it is Marcel Duchamp's (1915) In Advance of the Broken Arm. A simple, neat definition of sculpture is thus precluded by the great diversity of sculptural works and by the complex contours of the boundaries that distinguish sculpture from other domains, which are the product more of historical traditions and practices than of rational calculation. Moreover, there is no defining sculpture without having already made some decisions about what to include, as I have indicated above. And once those decisions have been made, much inquiry about sculpture could proceed-and has proceeded-by looking at a variety of cases without trying to unify them under a definition.
Art and Abstract Objects, ed. Christy Mag Uidhir (Oxford University Press), 2013
Continuum Companion to Aesthetics, ed. Anna Christina Ribeiro, 2012
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 2012
Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2009
New Waves in Aesthetics, ed. Kathleen Stock and Katherine Thomson-Jones (Palgrave Macmillan), 2008
Dictionnaire d'esthétique et de philosophie de l'art, ed. Jacques Morizot and Roger Pouivet (Paris: Colin), 2007
Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2007
Prominent philosophical accounts of artistic forgery have neglected a central aspect of the aesth... more Prominent philosophical accounts of artistic forgery have neglected a central aspect of the aesthetic harm it perpetrates. To be properly understood, forgery must be seen in the context of our ongoing attempts to augment our aesthetic understanding in conditions of uncertainty. The bootstrapping necessary under these conditions requires a highly refined comprehension of historical context. By creating artificial associations among aesthetically relevant qualities and misrepresenting historical relationships, undetected forgeries stunt or distort aesthetic understanding. The effect of this may be quite pervasive, and removing known forgeries from museum walls will be insufficient to eradicate it. Continued attention to forgeries, once exposed, can in fact serve us by increasing our understanding of how aesthetic understanding is formed and by helping us to repair the damage they have inflicted.
Museum Management and Curatorship, 2006
In the museum context, curators and conservators often play a role in shaping the nature of conte... more In the museum context, curators and conservators often play a role in shaping the nature of contemporary artworks. Before, during and after the acquisition of an art object, curators and conservators engage in dialogue with the artist about how the object should be exhibited and conserved. As a part of this dialogue, the artist may express specifications for the display and conservation of the object, thereby fixing characteristics of the artwork that were previously left open. This process can make a significant difference to the visual appearance of the work, the nature of the audience's experience, and how the work should be interpreted. I present several case studies in which the nature of the artwork has been shaped by such dialogues, and discuss principles for resolving cases in which there is a conflict between instructions specified by the artist and those adopted by the museum.
Philosophy Compass, 2006
This article discusses the relationship (or lack thereof) between authors' intentions and the mea... more This article discusses the relationship (or lack thereof) between authors' intentions and the meaning of literary works. It considers the advantages and disadvantages of Extreme and Modest Actual Intentionalism, Conventionalism, and two versions of Hypothetical Intentionalism, and discusses the role that one's theoretical commitments about the robustness of linguistic conventions and the publicity of literary works should play in determining which view one accepts.
Philosophy Compass, 2009
: 223 -47. Davies defends the value-maximizing view, according to which, when there is more than ... more : 223 -47. Davies defends the value-maximizing view, according to which, when there is more than one conventional meaning consistent with the work's features, the meaning that should be attributed to the work is the one that makes the work out to be most aesthetically valuable. He allows for the attribution of multiple meanings when more than one candidate (approximately) maximizes the work's value.
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 2005
I argue that contemporary artists fix the features of their works not only through their actions ... more I argue that contemporary artists fix the features of their works not only through their actions of making and presenting objects, but also through auxiliary activities such as corresponding with curators and institutions. I refer to such fixing of features as the artist's sanction: artists sanction features of their work through publicly accessible actions and communications, such as making a physical object with particular features, corresponding with curators and producing artist statements. I show, through an extended example, that in order to grasp the nature of contemporary artworks, and thus be in a position to interpret them, we must attend to the features the artist has sanctioned. However, this does not amount to saying that the artist's intention fixes the features of the work.
British Journal of Aesthetics, 2005
Appropriation art has often been thought to support the view that authorship in art is an outmode... more Appropriation art has often been thought to support the view that authorship in art is an outmoded or misguided notion. Through a thought experiment comparing appropriation art to a unique case of artistic forgery, I examine and reject a number of candidates for the distinction that makes artists the authors of their work while forgers are not. The crucial difference is seen to lie in the fact that artists bear ultimate responsibility for whatever objectives they choose to pursue through their work, whereas the forger's central objectives are determined by the nature of the activity of forgery.
Dialogue, 2004
A sustained challenge to the view that artworks are physical objects relates to the alleged inabi... more A sustained challenge to the view that artworks are physical objects relates to the alleged inability of physical objects to possess representational properties, which some artworks clearly do possess. I argue that the challenge is subject to confusions about representational properties and aesthetic experience. I show that a challenge to artwork-object identity put forward by Danto is vulnerable to a similar criticism. I conclude by noting that the identity of artworks and physical objects is consistent with the insight that attending exclusively to the object's individual physical properties may prevent us from grasping the nature of the work.
AE: Canadian Aesthetics Journal , 2003
Feminist Aesthetics by Sherri Irvin
Body Aesthetics, ed. Sherri Irvin (Oxford University Press, forthcoming)
Feminists frequently lament the fact that women are too often viewed primarily, and in some cases... more Feminists frequently lament the fact that women are too often viewed primarily, and in some cases exclusively, as sex objects and valued primarily or exclusively in terms of an externally dictated and generalized conception of sexiness. Sexual objectification in a male-dominated and heteronormative society functions to reduce women to objects to be used at the discretion of men.
Philosophical Inquiries into Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Mothering: Maternal Subjects, ed. Sheila Lintott and Maureen Sander-Staudt (Routledge), 2011
Everyday Aesthetics by Sherri Irvin
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 2nd ed. , 2014
The body is relevant for aesthetics from two perspectives. We experience and assess bodies aesthe... more The body is relevant for aesthetics from two perspectives. We experience and assess bodies aesthetically from the outside; and we have aesthetic experiences of and through our bodies from the inside. In experiences of one's own body, these perspectives often intersect in interesting ways. From both perspectives, the body is a site where aesthetic and ethical considerations are deeply intertwined.
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Art by Sherri Irvin
Feminist Aesthetics by Sherri Irvin
Everyday Aesthetics by Sherri Irvin