Tag: aeon

Contemporary / conceptual art can be difficult to understand. This can help you.

"Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A) in the Art Institute of Chicago

And by this, I mean this piece by Sherri Irvin: Contemporary art is made out of rules that mobilise us to act. It rightly states that…

Conceptual art often confounds. The key is to understand the rules of the artwork and the aesthetic experiences they yield.

She says conceptual art has three sets of rules:

  1. rules for display
  2. rules for conservation
  3. rules for participation

I agree. If you understand those rules, you can better understand works like the one above, Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) (1991) by Félix González-Torres. (One of my favorites.) Now you may not grasp everything the artist is trying to express, but you will get closer to it.

I highly recommend her essay. It should open up such work to you the next time you encounter it in a museum or elsewhere.

(Image linked to in the article and is courtesy of Wikipedia)

32 good pieces for a Sunday afternoon


It’s spring cleaning time. All these links are worth reading and worth commenting on, but I never found either the time or the words to do so. But on a quiet Sunday, you might find something here worth reflecting on:

  1. Intriguing:  How civilization started
  2. How to stay young (if you want to)
  3. Hmmm:  On mental illness
  4. It’s a problem:  When the rich don’t pay their fair share it exposes society to risks
  5. The problem with the trolley problem
  6. The history of holes tells a story of power and potential
  7. How to fulfil the need for transcendence after the death of God
  8. A stable sense of self is rooted in the lungs heart and gut
  9. Stephen Hawking’s Philosophical(!) Position on the Uncertainty Principle
  10. George Saunders’ commencement address: Try to be kinder – good advice
  11. New York’s Shadow Transit | The New Yorker
  12. Now adults have them – Once Upon a Time, Bedtime Stories Were Just for Kids
  13. Life is hard: I work at an office with no parents and it suck
  14. A sad story:  Drug addicted teens
  15. Something we can forget:  People Who Take Drugs Are Real People
  16. Good luck with this The out of touch adult guide to kid culture
  17. Sleep well: Insomnia tips
  18. On twitter: twitter fact watch
  19. The best read it later apps
  20. Helpful:  Working woman’s handbook
  21. Ha!  Stop being a jerk on Venmo!
  22. Can maintenance save civilisation?
  23. More on old age De Beauvoir on Aging
  24. If you care:  Is “cancel culture” over?
  25. On horseshoe theory
  26. The Crito by Plato – worth reading
  27. Not sure this is a thing:  Radical Centrism
  28. Thich Nhat Hanh on Life War and Happiness
  29. Truth is real and philosophers must return their attention to it
  30. For those who care: Fantastic Beasts Never Understood ‚Harry Potter Fans – The Atlantic
  31. End-of-Life Conversations Can Be Hard but Your Loved Ones Will Thank You
  32. Finally  On that crazy Fourier

When a scientific experiment is beautiful

Can a scientific experiment be beautiful? Milena Ivanova makes the case that it can, here: When is a scientific experiment like a beautiful work of art?

I’m glad she mentioned the Michelson Morley experiment because I think it is a fine example of elegance and beauty. You might not think it, looking at it in the image above. Read the article: you might be convinced after reading that it is.