Kirby Olson? I got a kick reading his goofy posts. He had a certain authority because he was well educated and informed. But the tail wagging his head was all about religious enthusiasm, so much so that some of us may have doubted his sincerity. Kirby even visited my studio once and I found him to be interesting and witty, and seemingly earnest about art but not so well informed in that as in literary criticism. I've had no contact with him since he was put off the list.
For myself, I have a keen interest in how European religious traditions imported to America shaped the intellectual and artistic dialogues that still dominate our outlooks. The romantic "New" of the new world was shaped largely on the rejection of the old, meaning "Catholic" past in Europe. Kirby's Lutheran enthusiasm needs to be understood in that context and that helps to explain his arguments that leaned toward equating (his brand of) modernism with "Word" centered Christianity. Although American intellectualism prides itself as being truly secular, its history seems to show how deeply rooted in protestant liberalism it is -- and remains, however affected it may be by antagonist alternatives. The modernist "blossoms" of American-type aesthetics and art are especially revealing of that protestant-izing, although it is largely unexamined today. If progressive secular intellectualism is preoccupied by exposing social-behaviorial taboos in the public arena, the still closeted taboo is the religious character of art and aesthetics presumed to be a-religious. If for no other reason, Kirby Olson's quirky provocations pointed in that direction and challenge our assumptions of aesthetic content. Some public intellectuals, like Gary Wills and the economist Folger, do discuss religious traditions and their roles in American life and American social policy. But no one to my knowledge, possibly excepting a brief (?)N effort by art critic Eleanor Heartney, has examined the possibly unconscious blending of art and religious outlook in contemporary art. WC --- On Mon, 1/26/09, David Shelby <[email protected]> wrote: > From: David Shelby <[email protected]> > Subject: kirby > To: "aesthetics list" <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, January 26, 2009, 12:50 AM > This email is awfully late, but I have some thoughts about > Kirby Olson. > I don't think he should have dropped from the list. He > just needed to have his ideas challenged. > I was in the process of doing that when he was eliminated. > You may be aware of the practice of socratic irony where you > pretend to be sympathetic to someone's point of view to > get them to try to explain their ideas. Not to spring a > trap on them necessarily because they may have some good > ideas, but in order to better analyze their thoughts. > We're all on a search for the truth after all. > The best discussion groups I've been involved in had a > leader or moderator which, however, is impractical for this > list. Maybe there could be some "Rules of > Discussion" established that participants could read > before taking part on the list. > As someone told me once, everyone has a right to express > their ideas with respect but everything should be up for > discussion.
