Ranciere

In a series of interviews, Jacques Ranciere links aesthetics with history, politics, work, and subjectivity. He calls aesthetics "the regime of aesthetics" to separate it from art and ideology, and to expose how it has developed as a mode of thought. As I understand it, Ranciere's point about aesthetics can be summed up as contingency; that is, as historical discourses change, so does aesthetics.

Ranciere assumes knowledge of his own previous works and ideas (since these are interviews and his interlocutor is familiar with them). In addition, he assumes savvy with current issues and conversations regarding aesthetics, history, literature, and politics, in particular --as well as with theorists like Kant, Schiller,Marx, Hegel, and Schelling. It seems that Ranciere values the aesthetic as a category, and he definitely sees the potential of art in forming change in society. His main contribution, in my view, is how Ranciere reframes discussions of form and content within the historical and political "regimes."

That said, I'm not entirely clear on whether Ranciere is arguing for the separation of form and content, or that they are linked in certain circumstances. When he discusses film, for example, he seems to suggest that we need to pay attention to the relationship between form and content, especially if we're going to understand how it operates in terms of power. Can we clarify this in class?

I'd also like to discuss how Ranciere conceives of the commonplace and anonymous. He suggests that when we have an anonymous or commonplace figure, we find beauty in it. But he doesn't say clearly (for me!) how this happens and why.

It seems interesting that both Bourriaud and Ranciere discuss the avant garde, though Ranciere's discussion appears more peripheral. Why the avant-garde, then (aside from its historical relevance?) How did the avant garde force such a widespread change in aesthetics and art?

Finally, I'm also interested in Ranciere's notion of "collective bodies." That totally went over my head!

I liked the allusion to Chris Marker (a favorite director of mine), and when Ranciere discusses technological reproduction, I couldn't help but think about Harun Farocki. Sigh. I miss visual studies sometimes.