Aesthetics and anthropology

More about the book

This collection features contributions from an international, interdisciplinary team of authors in anthropology, performance studies, curatorial studies, and the arts. It explores the connections between aura and trace in the representation of life through aesthetic reflexivity. This concept encompasses not only the authors' interdisciplinary interactions but also their engagement with readers and recipients in an aesthetic dialogue. Our innovative approach considers aesthetics as a "topos of the living," aiming to merge contemporary discussions of ethnographic and aesthetic disciplinary "turns" in both theory and practice. The work fosters collaboration between academics and artists, creating a "Gesamtkunstwerk" of texts and images. It showcases experimental methods and interdisciplinary exchanges, promoting interactions among anthropologists, artists, and audiences experiencing aesthetic encounters. We believe this represents a cutting-edge pathway for interdisciplinary engagement with aesthetics. Readers are invited to join us—artists and authors—in this exploration of aesthetic reflexivity. Are we, in this aesthetic turn, tricksters reflecting on life and the lives performed in the spaces between?