Complex Beauty

Complex systems and their underlying convoluted networks are ubiquitous, all we need is an eye for them. They pose problems of organized complexity which cannot be approached with a reductionist method. Complexity science and its emergent sister network science both come to grips with the inherent complexity of complex systems with an holistic strategy. The relevance of complexity, however, transcends the sciences. Complex systems and networks are the focal point of a philosophical, cultural and artistic turn of our tightly interrelated and interdependent postmodern society. Here I take a different, aesthetic perspective on complexity. I argue that complex systems can be beautiful and can the object of artification - the neologism refers to processes in which something that is not regarded as art in the traditional sense of the word is changed into art. Complex systems and networks are powerful sources of inspiration for the generative designer, for the artful data visualizer, as well as for the traditional artist. I finally discuss the benefits of a cross-fertilization between science and art

Is the Artification process perceived by final consumers of luxury products? Results from an experiment based on the application of the Customer-based Brand Equity Model

Many companies in the fashion industry are increasingly weaving close relationships with the art world, to appropriate art values and meanings to be associated with their own products and brands. The fashion luxury sector has been especially prone to using such strategies to transform their products into true artworks to address the issue of commodification resulting from high production volumes. This research aims to observe if a strategy based on the visual arts is recognized and accepted by final consumers. For this purpose, we use the Customer-based Brand Equity tool to test the artification effect on brand equity from a consumer perspective. The brand of reference is Louis Vuitton, the top brand worldwide as stated by 2016 Interbrand. They have embraced an art-based strategy for a long time. The methodology used is that of the questionnaire built on the measurement of scales of values. The questionnaire was created and distributed via Qualtrics Survey Software in collaboration with the Insead-Sorbonne Behavioural Lab Research Center. In brief, the experiment shows that Louis Vuitton strategy has been to act as an art institution that displays art collections to the widest public art status and bestows art status and global recognition to collaborating artists. This strategy relies on LV ability to raise consumers\u2019 awareness of the arts. While the art-oriented public recognizes artistic collaborations, the larger public does not and is still very much aware of new designs

A few notes on place branding and social aesthetics

Places may also be brands, but the brand concept implies something paradoxical. It allows us a simple and direct reference to a given reality, or fiction, we may want to commonly circumscribe; yet, frequently we may not be fully aware of what, if anything, is being specifically circumscribed. The brand subsumes both polysemy and intricate communication strategies tailored to mobilize particular affective or cognitive meanings. As in everything else then, applying the brand concept to places or cities, a growing option nowadays, raises additional questions that extend to the ethic and aesthetic fields. We thus briefly introduce some disciplinary perspectives on ‘brand’, consider its possible extension to geographical places, namely as “smart cities”, and present a few words of caution on issues we then believe as problematic: social interaction as a fight of promises, and the danger of a stereotyped behaviour paired with a biased decoding of complexity. Finally, we argue on the relevance of aesthetics (/taste) in articulating the “smart city” concept.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Proximate and ultimate factors in evolutionary thinking on art

Art is often described as an evolutionary adaptation, but not enough thought has been given to arguments in support of this claim. This can lead to a variety of explanatory issues, such as unjustly describing artmaking as an adaptation, not recognizing its complex nature, and its potentially even more complex evolutionary trajectory. This paper addresses one subject in particular, which is the conceptual distinction between ultimate and proximate levels of explanation. More specifically, this brief analysis investigates to what extent functional, adaptive explanations and proximate mechanisms might be confused, leading to strong adaptationist claims that may not be in accordance with the available evidence. In this paper, two hypotheses are discussed from this perspective, and it is argued that both of them, upon closer and more extensive analysis, might not stand the adaptationist test

La mise en spectacle de l'identité nationale. Une analyse des politiques culturelles au Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, dances and traditional music staged in accordance with artistic and/or "cultural heritage" principles constitute resources used by the State in order to exhibit a desired "national identity". Through an examination of the resulting discourses and types of staging, this article analyses the different cultural policies that have been implemented in the country since the 1980s. It shows that the ideal for the creation of a national identity in Burkina Faso oscillates constantly between a negation and a recognition of cultural diversity. This paradox is exploited by different cultural actors who, while situating themselves within one of the ideologies promoted by the State, contest the privilege which it exerts over the definition of identities.Mises en spectacle selon des logiques artistiques et/ou patrimoniales, les danses et les musiques traditionnelles constituent au Burkina Faso, des ressources utilisées par l'Etat afin d'exhiber l'" identité nationale " souhaitée. A travers une exploration des discours et des modalités de spectacularisation qui en découlent, cet article propose une analyse des différentes politiques culturelles mise en place à partir des années 1980 dans ce pays. Il établit que l'idéal de création d'une identité nationale au Burkina Faso oscille constamment entre les deux pôles de la négation et de la reconnaissance de la diversité culturelle. Ce paradoxe offre une brèche à différents acteurs culturels qui, tout en s'inscrivant au sein d'une des idéologies promues par l'Etat, contestent le privilège qu'il exerce sur la définition des identités

Visibility as a stake for cities

Visibility has been recently discovered by sociologists. It is very much different from fame. Fame is the simple consequence of meritocracy: the name of somebody who is talented in some field is well known. Visibility involves the use of Medias and Internet (dissymmetry between the star and his (her) audience) and the person of the star (face, clothes …) is loved and worshiped. The French sociologist Heinich, a follower of Bourdieu, has theorized visibility: there is a “capital of visibility”, which is measurable (size of the audience), accumulable, transferable (to the heirs) and convertible (from some field to another one). If we consider the analogy between visible persons and visible cities, there are several interesting aspects: - The large cities are visible, while mid-sized cities are not visible, but devoted to fame (professional fame) - Their strategies allow the large cities many kinds of activities (aimed at creating the consumers’ needs) while mid-sized cities have to choose: some fame and not another one (classical music and not jazz for Salzburg, for instance) - The inhabitants of the large cities are familiar with the “laws of visibility” and the inhabitants of the mid-sized cities are familiar with the “laws of fame” - A new division of space appears. In the large cities there is visibility and a poor quality of life (because of frequent building sites, mega events, noise, networks which are saturated etc.). At the opposite, in the mid-sized cities, there is no visibility but the quality of life is at its top (at least in some of them) - There is more insecurity in the large cities, because the visible symbols (which are targeted by terrorists) are there. Moreover, their economy is also threatened, because it relies on visitors and tourists. Therefore security is required

Tastes of the Parents: epigenetics and its role in evolutionary aesthetics

Evolutionary Aesthetics is a bourgeoning and thriving sub-field of Aesthetics, the main aim of which is “the importation of aesthetics into natural sciences, and especially its integration into the heuristic of Darwin’s evolutionary theory.” Scholars working in the field attempt to determine through the adoption of an interdisciplinary research methodology whether and to what extent Darwinian evolution can shed light on our capacity to have aesthetic experiences, make aesthetic judgments (both of art and natural beauty), and produce literary, visual, musical artworks. Notwithstanding Evolutionary Aesthetics’ growing popularity in the past two decades, a look into the state of current research suggests a significant degree of haziness in the field from both epistemological-methodological and theoretical points of view. The main aim of the present paper is to make a first step towards a revision and extension of the discipline by assessing the role and potential of epigenetics in evolutionarily inspired aesthetic research. Epigenetics is among the youngest and most fascinating research fields in contemporary biology. But one of the most significant occurrences of the word “epigenesis” (the closest “ancestor” of contemporary “epigenetics”) is in Immanuel Kant’s third Critique, his aesthetic masterpiece. What might be the relationship between epigenetics and aesthetics? What is the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the development and functioning of aesthetic behavior in humans

The Aesthetic Appreciation of Animals in Zoological Parks

Can we appreciate in a serious and deep way the aesthetic qualities of wild species in exemplars held captive for exhibition in the artificial installations of a zoo? To answer this question I invoke theories concerning the aesthetic appreciation of nature propounded by Yuriko Saito and Allen Carlson. I then argue that zoos impose their story on animals, thereby preventing us from appreciating the animals on their own terms. I claim that captivity and its effects on the health, behavior, and appearance of animals make serious and deep appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of wild species impossible