Is Stand-Up Comedy Art?

Stand-up so closely resembles—and is meant to resemble—the styles and expectations of everyday speech that the idea of technique and technical mastery we typically associate with art is almost rendered invisible. Technique and technical mastery is as much about the understanding and development of audiences as collaborators as it is the generation of material. Doing so requires encountering audiences in places that by custom or design encourage ludic and vernacular talk—social spaces and third spaces such as bars, coffee houses, and clubs. Cultivating uncultivated speech and cultivating real audiences in found settings form the background of developing the stand-up comedian, neither of which lend themselves to the conservatory tradition we think of when we think of the development of artists. This article addresses two areas of the overall question of stand-up as art, starting with the ontological question of stand-up comedy: if it is an art where is it located, and what we may mean by “artworks” and “artworld” in stand-up comedy? Then I consider whether stand-up comedy as practiced can be reconciled with several recent definitions for art and note some of the special conditions and contexts for stand-up.     

Clinical psychology—Art or science

This paper questions the oft-repeated statement that clinical psychology is an art by examining the main functions of clinical psychologists, i.e., diagnosis and treatment. In examining the concept of diagnosis, evidence is presented which supports the notion that a diagnostic statement has meaning only when it has a referent in the future—when it provides a prediction. A prediction (probability-statement) is determined empirically and may be stated in terms of a regression equation or in terms of a crude generalization from clinical experience. Treatment likewise is determined by tacit or expressed predictions of behavior under alternative conditions. The various conceptions of art as applied to clinical psychology are examined and the conclusion is drawn that clinical psychology is a scientific as opposed to an artistic or intuitive enterprise.Paper read at the 49th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association at Evanston, Illinois, September 3–6, 1941.This analysis may be applied with little modification to the fields of social work, psychiatry, vocational guidance, and related professions.     

Once Again,What Counts as Art?

Philosophia - The question of what art is and why certain objects and events are considered art is examined. In the light of John Searle’s Social Philosophy, a hybrid...     

Art Deco下的“海派”建筑文化

装饰艺术(Art Deco)建筑作为上海近代建筑发展进程中的重要组成部分,不仅构成了上海的城市形象,同时作为一种时尚文化,还传播了一种新的生活方式和价值观。Art Deco作为"海派"建筑文化发育时期重要的建筑风格,它的流行可以说是两者相互选择的结果,其所构成的城市形象,不仅仅是建筑形式的拼贴,更深藏着城市历史、审美趋向及价值观,对当代上海城市形象发展具有指导意义。     

On the Expression of Emotions in Rembrandt’s Art

Rembrandt has been characterized as "the master of the passions of the soul". His painting production has always elicited the viewers' strong emotional responses. Τhese responses raise the question regarding why Rembrandt's work has been singled out as the quintessential example of the expression of emotions both during the 17th century, as well as in recent times. I will try to approach the issue through two different yet interconnected routes. First, I will explore the tools and terms through which the question of the expression of emotions in Rembrandt's oeuvre can be approached. Ancient rhetorical topoi, as well as ideas stemming from Dutch theater writers, drama and art theorists, scholars and art connoisseurs on the rendition of the emotions provide useful points of view. Secondly, I will approach the question by addressing certain stylistic and compositional solutions that Rembrandt suggested, which can be tied to current notions about lifelikeness and the beholder's empathy. Foremost among Rembrandt's aesthetic choices was his handling of light and of paint which accounts for a great deal of unfavorable criticism to his work during the 17th century. I would like to suggest that this handling of light and paint serves as Rembrandt's most important emotive vehicle and furthermore that it introduces us to the idea of wonder and the concept of the sublime in terms of which his depiction of emotions may be understood. Accordingly, I will try to establish an intellectual network in the 17th-century Netherlands for the sublime.     

Women Creating Public Art and Community, 2000–2014

This narrative describes a series of 15 short‐term public art projects that were part of a program for women and girls in Lowell, Massachusetts, a mid‐size city in the United States. The projects were designed to give public space to women’s stories and perspectives by exhibiting their creative art in response to suggested themes. A few thousand women and girls representing diverse age and cultural groups created art based on their lived experiences. The organizers of the program met people in comfortable settings, tailored their art‐making approaches to particular groups, and used inclusive processes in developing and executing the program. Program successes and challenges were related to the organizational structure of the art projects, the annual themes and art media, the extent of outreach and support, the process of creation, and the impact of art exhibits. Using community psychology and feminist frameworks, authors reflect on the projects and their relevance across contexts, highlight key organizing strategies, and identify ways the project represents community psychology in action.     

Art and war: Paradox of the Bhagavad Gitā

The first several chapters of the Bhagavad Gitā set themselves a daunting task: to explain how a life of action can be rendered compatible with a life of renunciation of desire. The situation, in fact, is designed to raise the issue in an excruciatingly intense form. As Krsna and Arjuna pause on the verge of the great battle, Arjuna asks how killing people—including his own teachers and members of his own family—in order to secure power and fame, can be squared with his religious and ethical convictions. This paper is an attempt to explicate Krsna's solution of the paradox, not from the point of view of Hindu tradition (in which it has, of course, driven whole movements of thought), but simply as a philosophical problem in its own right. I will argue that the paradox of the Gitā suggests a reconstrual of the way we conceive the relation of means and ends in our activities, a reconstrual that can be profitably elucidated through the concept of art. And I will argue that this reconstrual has the potential to change our relations to our world and to one another in a way that is deeply life‐affirming.     

What Kind of Paintings Inspire Children when Viewing Art?

Viewing art inspires creativity, which can encourage learning in art education. A previous study revealed that the type of artwork and the way art is viewed affects adults' inspiration; however, no study exists concerning the way children are inspired by viewing art. Thus, the current study aimed to examine whether children's age group/grade level, art style (figurative or abstract), and artwork creators (children or adults) influence children's inspiration, and whether the effects of the art style and creators vary by children's age group/grade level. An online questionnaire survey was conducted with the help of 600 pairs of parents and their elementary-school-aged children. They were asked to view eight paintings that differed in terms of the artists and their individual style and they then rated their inspiration experience when viewing each artwork. The results revealed that children were more inspired when viewing abstract, rather than figurative, paintings, and the effect of the type of painting differed in the third and sixth grades. Additionally, children gained more inspiration by viewing paintings created by children rather than by adults; a difference observed in all grade levels.     

James's “Transfigured Nature”: Where Art and Religion Converge

This essay explores ways in which William James's appreciation for art finds expression in his psychology of religion. Portraiture art reveals his perception of his distance from his religious subjects, whereas landscape art reveals his personal appropriation of religion and self-identification with the religiously-minded. Furthermore, landscape art draws attention to the feminine, even maternal aspect of religion, the aspect to which James was especially receptive.     

Family Therapy — A Science or an Art?

Family therapy can be viewed as science and as art. Following leads provided by Gregory Bateson, this paper reflects on problems and promises inherent in both views.     

The Art of Living in Otto Rank’s Will Therapy

Otto Rank's approach to psychotherapy, developed after his separation from Freud, encourages living life fully in spite of death and limitation. In his emphasis on the here and now, new experience in the therapeutic relationship, and collaboration and creativity in the therapy process, Rank was ahead of his time. As a theorist of personality and of creativity, his work is well known, but his influence on the practices of humanistic, existential, and post-psychoanalytic relational therapists is largely unacknowledged. Rank's creative legacy is an approach to psychotherapy that calls forth artistry and collaboration between therapist and client.     

‘The Origin of the Work of Art’: Heidegger

Professor Max Charlesworth and I worked, at Deakin University, on a course, 'Understanding Art'. Max was interested in the Social History of Art and in art as: 'giving form to mere matter'. Here 'form' might be read as 'lucid', 'exemplary', 'beautiful' etcetera. I am an Aristotle Poetics 4 man '… imitating something with the utmost veracity in a picture', and an Aristotle and John Cage man: 'Art is the imitation of nature in the manner of operation. Or a net'. (Cage) (See Aristotle Meteorologica, 381b Book iv.) I was invited by the University of Melbourne to lecture on The Philosophy of Art, which I did for five delightful years. There I included the Heidegger essay, giving it as favourable a reading as I could. Unfortunately I have mislaid my marked-up copy and was forced to re-visit the essay, cold. My new reading lacks - in most respects - my former geniality. Kant's Aesthetic Ideas give us more than Heidegger does. So: I stuck with Aristotle, Cage and Kant.     

Expressive Art in Cross-Cultural Group Supervision: Applying the Mmogo-Method™

Academic mobility has increased the tendency of students to study in foreign countries, which poses various personal, interpersonal and contextual challenges to the cross-cultural supervision relationship. This study explored the themes that emerged in a cross-cultural supervision relationship through the application of expressive art, referred to as the Mmogo-Method?, in cross-cultural group supervision. Fourteen individuals participated in the research, thirteen Tswana-speaking women from Botswana and a Tshivenda-speaking man from Venda (age range: 25 to 45 years). Participants were asked to create visual representations illustrating any aspect of their growth since the beginning of the year. Thereafter, the participants engaged in focus group discussions. Data were analysed by means of semiotic data analysis. Central themes suggest that the transfer of culturally embedded values and norms takes place between environments. The data further elicited valuable information regarding aspects that could play an integral role in personal and professional development. It appears that expressive art such as the Mmogo-Method? could serve as a valuable tool in enhancing the quality of supervision.     

Revisiting the “Art Bias” in Lay Conceptions of Creativity

This article explores the art bias—the pervasive association between creativity and art in implicit theories of creativity. It also attempts to connect creativity research in this area with literature on the theory of social representations. The data comes from an online survey completed by 195 participants mainly from the United States and the United Kingdom. The survey included two main tasks: The first asked respondents to generate as many questions as they can to determine whether an object is creative; the second invited them to rate whether creativity is a key requirement for a list of 16 professions from 4 different domains and recorded the creativity score as well as reaction time. In the end, findings offer partial support for the existence of an art bias. Although artistic professions were scored both the highest and fastest in terms of creativity, participants rarely formulated art-related questions and focused more on aspect, utility, and audience features. This discrepancy is discussed in the end in relation to the polyphasic nature of social knowledge.