I don't know if it's Art, but...

Today's theme is: Art and Aesthetics

If you look online, there are a host of opinions on what art and aesthetics are. As starting points for today’s campfire, I have a couple of resources to give us some common ground - particularly for those not familiar with aesthetics. I also provide information on a work that caused considerable controversy in 2000, when it was first exhibited and still raises key questions today.

Marco Evaristti‘s ‘Helena’ consisted of 10 blenders, each containing live goldfish and obviously connected to power. There was implicit in the installation the option for anyone viewing the piece to press an ‘on’ button – resulting in obvious negative consequences for the fish inside.

The Ethics Centre provides An Ethics Explainer: Aesthetics – What makes something Art, and for those who would rather watch there is Crash Course Philosophy's "Aesthetics: What good is it?"

Click here for an interview by Eric Frank and H-Animals Readers with Marco Evaristti on ‘Helena’

The format for the event is that of a campsite open fire, folks who may have crossed paths in other meetups and friends who have not met yet. There is no required knowledge, education level, or perspective. Still, as with most campfire discussions, if you have little ones about you, you need to use your parental/guardian discretion about whether they should be within earshot - not all family stories are happy ones, and they should still have places people can tell them.