ROSIE DAHLSTROM: BEAUTY AS A SOCIAL FORCE

WEDNESDAY 22 JULY, 11:30 - 11:55 

Lecture Room 1

I was drawn into my PhD research on uses of beauty in contemporary art through a social effect. Mentioning the word ‘beauty’ in social settings prompted an outpouring of emotion, comment and analysis, leading to rich and bonding conversations; these conversations let me to feel that the subject of beauty is still closely tied to the core of our identities and the ways in which we connect to the external world, and remains a site of tension between multiple political and cultural forces. However, the topic of beauty is rarely openly discussed in cultural and critical spaces; despite its potential as an urgent force for both social connection and alienation, beauty remains tainted as a subject for analysis; kitschified, feminised and rejected by ‘anti-aesthetic’ mid-century avant-garde movements of Western art.

My first year PhD research has identified some pertinent strands of thought from philosophy, cultural theory, feminism and de/postcolonial writings on the subject of beauty. Beauty has been identified as a core element of what characterises humanity since Kant; Burke asserted it engendered ‘love for society’; other writers have likened experiences of beauty to ‘tears in the fabric of reality’ (Scarry, 2001); facilitating a dialogue between Self and the Other (Steiner, 2001); the path to an ethical ideal (Widdows, 2018). Piecing together those accounts that cast beauty as ‘pro-social’ and those as ‘anti-social’, I hope to briefly share an overview from these philosophical theories around what elements of experiences of beauty can enhance or distort human connection.