Aesthetics for Birds

Aesthetics for Birds editor Alex King defends inclusive views of art in a new book, edited by Clifford Sosis of @whatisitliketobeaphilosopher.com

In Praise of Boring Art - Aesthetics for Birds We miss out on something important about life and art if we want things to be constantly stimulating, interesting, and engaging.

"Here’s an improbable claim that turns out to be true: there is plenty of boring art that is also good art, and, in more than a few fascinating instances, this art is good in part because it is boring." - philosophers John Gibson and Andreas Elpidorou

aestheticsforbirds.com/2025/09/16/i...

Oscar-Nominated Film Anora on the Life-Giving Power of Love and Sex - Aesthetics for Birds Sean Baker’s film Anora tells a story about sex that stays sex-positive while also challenging our current, libertine sexual climate.

First the Palme d'Or, now a pile of Oscars - including Best Picture! Wondering why there's all that buzz about Anora? A philosopher does a deep dive in this essay.

aestheticsforbirds.com/2025/02/27/o...

Oscar-Nominated Film Anora on the Life-Giving Power of Love and Sex - Aesthetics for Birds Sean Baker’s film Anora tells a story about sex that stays sex-positive while also challenging our current, libertine sexual climate.

For everyone bingeing the Oscar best movie noms:

"We inhabit a cultural moment where sexual libertinism is fast becoming the norm...Anora tells a story about sex that challenges the character of our current sexual climate."

aestheticsforbirds.com/2025/02/27/o...

Why Women Should Rethink Their Love of Gay Male Manga - Aesthetics for Birds Unraveling the mystery of yaoi manga, a genre designed for women and by women, but with no women in them.

One popular feminist approach to inclusive media is simple. Add more female characters. But there's an overlooked genre that capitalizes on an unintuitive route: creative works made primarily for women and primarily by women, but with no women in them.

How Spotify and its Genres Define Who We Are - Aesthetics for Birds Spotify and its bizarre, hyper-specific genres are rewriting how we understand music. Why? And should we bother fighting back?

Spotify and its bizarre, hyper-specific genres are rewriting how we understand music. Why? And should we bother fighting back?

Gwen Bradford on Haus der Kunst - Aesthetics for Birds University of Toronto philosopher Gwen Bradford discusses Haus der Kunst, a Nazi era building commission-turned-modern art museum.

Haus der Kunst ("House of Art") was erected by Hitler under Nazi Germany. Post-war, it was turned into a venue for modern and contemporary art, including figures like Ai Weiwei and Louise Bourgeois. Philosopher Gwen Bradford reflects.

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/11/07/g...

What the Photographer Who's Taken Hundreds of Philosopher Portraits Really Thinks of Philosophers - Aesthetics for Birds The renowned portrait photographer reflects on his work, his relationship to philosophers, and the nature of portraiture.

In an extensive and wide-ranging interview, the renowned philosopher portraitist Steve Pyke shares never-seen portraits, reminisces about his philosophers, and teases a third series!

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/09/24/s...

Barbara Montero on Balanchine Ballets - Aesthetics for Birds Philosopher Barbara Montero, who has written widely on the body, talks about George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco.

"The ballet Concerto Barocco, set to Johann Sebastian Bach's Double Violin Concerto, illustrates Balanchine’s comment that 'dancing is music made visible'."

Univ of Notre Dame philosopher Barbara Montero talks about ballet

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/09/12/b...

What FX's The Bear Says About the Art of Hospitality - Aesthetics for Birds Dedication to craft purifies living. But how pure is the kitchen of The Bear? Continue reading →

A different take on Season 3 of The Bear: It's continuous with the rest of the show's examination of craftsmanship and hospitality.
Review and discussion by philosopher Errol Lord (UPenn)

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/07/26/t...

How Autofiction, the Buzzy Literary Category, Helps Us Make Sense of YouTube - Aesthetics for Birds A media scholar explains autofiction and looks at how it is exemplified in Natalie Wynn's ContraPoints videos.

Media scholar James MacDowell (a YouTuber himself!) argues that the literary category of autofiction is important for understanding personal narrative stories on YouTube - including the very influential videos by @contrapoints.bsky.social.

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/05/30/y...

Quine on What Philosophy Means to Him - Aesthetics for Birds Taking a look at a never-before-seen letter from renowned philosopher and logician WVO Quine, plus outtakes from his portrait session with Steve Pyke

In a never-before-seen handwritten letter, Quine explains what philosophy means to him. Plus, some cool outtakes from his portrait session with Steve Pyke.

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/05/27/q...

How to Enjoy a Tiki Bar Without Guilt - Aesthetics for Birds Tiki culture rests on a history of exploitation and appropriation. What does that mean for us today?

Tiki bar thoughts:
"Yum!"
"So fun!"
"Um, how is this still a thing?"

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/05/17/t...

Embracing the Chaos of Adult Swim and Frisky Dingo - Aesthetics for Birds Adult Swim's style was messy, chaotic, and pointless. That's what makes it bad, but also what makes it great.

"As much as I like Adult Swim’s original programming, a nice chunk of it is... kinda bad."

Film scholar Gianni Barchiesi looks at the chaotic pointlessness of the show "Frisky Dingo" and explains how it changes our understanding of the nature of storytelling.

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/05/09/e...

Alt Text for Artwork, Alt Text as Artwork - Aesthetics for Birds What's the best way to write alt text for artworks? Read our best practices guide, including four practical tips.

Artistic images pose a special problem for alt text*: How can you describe a visual artwork in 150 characters?? This raises interesting philosophical & artistic questions. Plus we offer some practical tips.

*the textual description of online images, used by blind and visually impaired readers

This was such a good roundtable. Thanks @aestheticsforbirds.bsky.social !

Five Scholars Discuss Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" - Aesthetics for Birds Five academics review "Cowboy Carter" from different angles: genre, place and community, politics and the market, and the boldness of Beyoncé herself. Continue reading →

We asked five scholars to reflect on, analyze, and think through "Cowboy Carter". Here's what they said.

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/04/18/f...

What Is the Aesthetic Value of Science? - Aesthetics for Birds How scientific experiments and instruments, and the scientific method itself, can be a source of aesthetic appreciation.

Scientific discoveries, instruments, and performances of experiments can "evoke unrivaled aesthetic responses in us."

- Milena Ivanova (Cambridge), on the beauty of science

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/04/11/w...

Jonardon Ganeri on the Poetry of Fernando Pessoa - Aesthetics for Birds Pessoa writes that "Countless lives inhabit us." But what does that mean? Philosopher Jonardon Ganeri discusses.

"Countless lives inhabit us.
I don’t know, when I think or feel,
Who it is that thinks and feels.
I am merely the place
Where things are thought and felt."

aestheticsforbirds.com/2024/03/14/j...

Two of my students contributed to this terrific roundtable. Check it out!!!!

I was lucky enough to get think deeply about internet ‘aesthetics’ & subcultures for this new roundtable, and it is now out! Definitely interesting to read all the responses, and I’m really glad there were some students on the panel! I wish I could written many more hundreds of words about this!

Thanks to Aaron Meskin who came up with and coedited this discussion, and to @evanmalone.bsky.social & others for offering their reflections!

Are the Kids Alright? On Cottagecore, Quiet Luxury, Clean Girl and Other Internet Aesthetics - Aesthetics for Birds Seven Gen Z and cusp-Millennials working in philosophy give their perspective on internet and TikTok-viral aesthetics. Continue reading →

A recent @nytimes.com mag piece came for Gen Z's TikToks and internet aesthetics. Kids these days, they said. No subcultures, they said. No good can come of this, they said.

We asked our Gen Z students and some young cusp-y faculty, and - shocker - the doom and gloom might be premature.

I agree with every bit of this, especially re: petit fours

The Hidden Privilege of "The Great British Bake Off" - Aesthetics for Birds A show about home baking should actually be about home baking. This one isn't.

Philosopher and baking enthusiast Christopher Bartel talks about his love-hate relationship with the Great British Bake-Off (er, the Great British Baking Show?).

Nic Bommarito on Krazy Kat - Aesthetics for Birds This is entry #91 in our ongoing 100 Philosophers, 100 Artworks, 100 Words series. Philosopher: Nic Bommarito (Simon Fraser University) Artwork: Krazy Kat, George Herriman, 1913 until 1944 Words: Geor...

In the mood for vintage comics? Check out philosopher Nic Bommarito discussing George Herriman's early 20th century Krazy Kat.

#philsky (<- are people still doing that?)

Aesthetics for Birds Staff Give One Rec from 2023 - Aesthetics for Birds From the 1990s silver screen to the depths of the internet, here are our staff picks of 2023.

‘Tis the season for year-end recommendations! So some of our staff are bringing you one thing that we experienced this year that’s worth telling others about.

*Although not necessarily from this year!

aestheticsforbirds.com/2023/12/30/a...

The Real Problem with AI Art - Aesthetics for Birds The artworld is not a place of equality. But if we input bias, we can only get biased outputs.

If art history exhibits biases, then so will art generators trained on it. That's what we should be wringing our hands about.

So philosopher Milena Ivanova argues in our latest piece.

@aestheticsforbirds.bsky.social
The lovely philosophy blog, Aesthetics for birds is now on Bluesky.

aestheticsforbirds.com

Philsky