Output details

Locatedness and the objectivity of interpretation in practice-based research

A large amount of commentary and discussion in relation to visual art is in the form of aesthetic judgment: a subjective remark made in an immediate response to an artwork, often expressing a feeling or a poetic phrase. Little importance is attached to these because they are dismissed as purely subjective. This paper argues that the concepts used in aesthetic judgment can form the basis of knowledge claims if they are located in relation to concepts from the history and theory of art. The significance of the paper for art is that it shows how what is often disregarded as subjective judgment can mesh with and contribute to objective claims, thereby demonstrating how subjectivity adds to knowledge. The predicament posed for visual arts research is set out with reference to a PhD case study from Cardiff School of Art and Design. Theories of knowledge from eighteenth-century and contemporary philosophy (Kant and Deleuze respectively) are introduced to explain how the concepts used in aesthetic judgment can contribute to objective knowledge claims.