While finishing Saito’s Aesthetics of The Familiar, I was reminded of Thomas Dolby’s song “She Blinded Me with Science”, but in this case, she blinded me with aesthetics. Per Saito, everywhere one looks, one can find “everyday aesthetics.” From wind “farms” (“farms” has become acceptable PC), hanging laundry, how we dress, eat, behave, etc. Saito believes everyday aesthetics should be used to justify wind farms and laundry hanging in the name of the environment.
Saito’s book was a worthy read in that it brought to the fore the nuances of how we live day-to-day and how this may or may not intersect with aesthetic value judgements. Her depth of analysis is formidable; more extensive than what I can respond to. But I am quite leery of casting “everyday aesthetics” in the same boat as aesthetics in the arts. Common cliches such as “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor”,“there’s no accounting for taste”, and “having a discerning eye” came to mind while reading this book. This is not to say I don’t see the importance and relevance of aesthetic judgement. Quite the contrary, it is something which occupies me most of the time.
Her conclusions include developing and advancing appropriate aesthetic guidelines for just about everything. I find this dogmatic and authoritarian. Who decides this?
By the way, Franklin, I look forward to sharing photos of my lawn striping!
While finishing Saito’s Aesthetics of The Familiar, I was reminded of Thomas Dolby’s song “She Blinded Me with Science”, but in this case, she blinded me with aesthetics. Per Saito, everywhere one looks, one can find “everyday aesthetics.” From wind “farms” (“farms” has become acceptable PC), hanging laundry, how we dress, eat, behave, etc. Saito believes everyday aesthetics should be used to justify wind farms and laundry hanging in the name of the environment.
Saito’s book was a worthy read in that it brought to the fore the nuances of how we live day-to-day and how this may or may not intersect with aesthetic value judgements. Her depth of analysis is formidable; more extensive than what I can respond to. But I am quite leery of casting “everyday aesthetics” in the same boat as aesthetics in the arts. Common cliches such as “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor”,“there’s no accounting for taste”, and “having a discerning eye” came to mind while reading this book. This is not to say I don’t see the importance and relevance of aesthetic judgement. Quite the contrary, it is something which occupies me most of the time.
Her conclusions include developing and advancing appropriate aesthetic guidelines for just about everything. I find this dogmatic and authoritarian. Who decides this?
By the way, Franklin, I look forward to sharing photos of my lawn striping!
Franklin, I can't get excited about any of this, though I haven't read the book. It feels, well, fey.