Overview

The aesthetics of imperfection emphasises spontaneity, disruption, process and energy over formal perfection and is often ignored by many commentators or seen only in improvisation. This comprehensive collection is the first time imperfection has been explored across all kinds of musical performance, whether improvisation or interpretation of compositions. Covering music, visual art, dance, comedy, architecture and design, it addresses the meaning, experience, and value of improvisation and spontaneous creation across different artistic media. A distinctive feature of the volume is that it brings together contributions from theoreticians and practitioners, presenting a wider range of perspectives on the issues involved. Contributors look at performance and practice across Western and non-Western musical, artistic and craft forms. Composers and non-performing artists offer a perspective on what is ‘imperfect’ or improvisatory within their work, contributing further dimensions to the discourse. The Aesthetics of Imperfection in Music and the Arts features 39 chapters organised into eight sections and written by a diverse group of scholars and performers. They consider divergent definitions of aesthetics, employing both 18th-century philosophy and more recent socially and historically situated conceptions making this an essential, up-to-date resource for anyone working on either side of the perfection-imperfection debate.

Full Product Details

Author:   Professor Andy Hamilton ,  Dr Lara Pearson
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Weight:   0.757kg
ISBN:  

9781350106055

ISBN 10:   1350106054
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   01 October 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

List of Figures Notes on Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction, Andy Hamilton and Lara Pearson SECTION 1: THE POSITIVE VALUE OF IMPERFECTION 1. The Aesthetics of Imperfection: The Finished Work, and Process Versus Product, Andy Hamilton 2. Taking Aim at Imperfection , David Lloyd 3. The Aesthetics of Imperfection, John Tilbury 4. Reflections on the Value of Imperfection in Crafts Through the Japanese Philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, Vasiliki Tsaknaki 5. Built from the Root, Ever-changing at the Bloom: The Role of Imperfection in Systems of Musical Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax, Nate Wooley 6. Imperfect World, Linda Catlin Smith SECTION 2: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT 7. A Socially Situated Approach to Aesthetics: Games and Challenges in Karnatak Music, Lara Pearson 8. A Social Aesthetics of Imperfection: Spontaneity and Meaning in Pop on the Streets of China, Samuel Horlor 9. Age, Process, and Self-Raising Flour, Cara Stacey 10. Learning Music Aesthetics Through Imperfection: The Transmission of Shakuhachi Music, Kiku Day SECTION 3: COMPOSITION V. IMPROVISATION 11. The Inter-Dependence of Composition and Improvisation, Rohan De Saram 12. Improvising Beyond Hamilton’s Aesthetics of Imperfection, Louise Gibbs 13. Better Than Perfect: Dave Brubeck and The Aesthetics of Imperfection, Darius Brubeck 14. The Aesthetics of Imperfection in Jazz and Free Improvisation, Trevor Barre 15. Decisions, Revisions, Intentions and Integrity: A Subjective Understanding of Composition and Improvisation, Paul Edis 16. A Literary Aesthetic of Perfection and Imperfection, Rebecca Wallbank SECTION 4: INTERPRETATION AND FREEDOM 17. Embracing Serendipity in Classical Performance, Stephanie Cant 18. That is Not Freedom, That is Taking License: The Pitfalls in Performing Morton Feldman's Graph Scores, John Snijders 19. Expanding the Ideal: Systemic Music as a Dialogue of Becoming, Kris Tiner SECTION 5: RISK, DISRUPTION AND FAILURE 20. Live Coding and Failure, Shelly Knotts 21. The Aesthetics of Failure, Claire Zakiewicz 22. The Mistake as Material, Corey Mwamba 23. The Aesthetics of Imperfection: Mistakes, and Hearing What You Intend, Enrico Pieranunzi 24. Risk in Improvisation and in Comedy, Donnchadh O’Conaill 25. Risk, Failure and Courage: Improvisation and Stand-Up Comedy, Víctor Durà-Vilà 26. Inciting Uncertainty, Mike Baggetta 27. Championing Risk and Discovery: Satoko Fujii and the Experimental Composition Improvisation Continuum, Alister Spence SECTION 6: COLLABORATION IN PERFORMANCE 28. Imperfect Unity and Productive Frictions: Ethics and Aesthetics of Play in Dance Improvisation, Annie Kloppenberg 29. Cross Purposes: Imperfect Interactions When Improvising With Others, Graeme B. Wilson 30. An Audience for Free Jazz: Joe McPhee Interviewed, Joe McPhee 31. Is Love Too Strong a Term?The Dissolution of Distinction Between Aesthetics and Sociality in a Moving Orchestra, Jim Denley SECTION 7: THE INSTRUMENTAL IMPULSE 32. The Instrumental Impulse: Developing a Free Improvisation Vocabulary for Alternative Keyboard Instruments, Adam Fairhall 33. Rarely Heard, Small Unwanted Sounds Form the Focus, Dave Brown aka Candlesnuffer 34. The Disagreeable Subject of Varése's Father: In Conversation With David Brown, Reuben Lewis 35. The Necks on the Aesthetics of Imperfection, Chris Abrahams, Lloyd Swanton, Tony Buck 36. 'Stardust': Seeing and Imagining What isn't There, Martin Mayes SECTION 8: FINISHED AND UNFINISHED WORK 37. Architecture of Imperfection: Unfinished Sketches and Burke's Sublime, Elizabeth Baldwin Gray 38. Still Water Moves, Philip G. Robinson 39. Notating Perfection? Beethoven and the Late String Quartets, Rachel Stroud Index

Reviews

Failure, uncertainty, risk and imperfection are the topics that Hamilton and Pearson bring together, in a constellation of essays, interviews, music analysis and reflections by creative artists and writers. They show that if we embrace imperfection, we are celebrating the essence of human creativity. This book offers us solace that art will survive for as long as humans do. * Tania Caroline Chen, soundartist on piano, astro-electronics and ambient objects * This lively collection of essays and interviews offers a fresh and vital addition to studies of creativity. The volume gives practitioners the space for insightful, probing, analytic and honest reflections on their practice. Strongly recommended as a model for further explorations into creativity, as well as for the rich and engaging provocations it contains. * Philip Thomas, Professor of Performance, Huddersfield University * This book addresses very clearly some of the central artistic and musical questions that have defined my working life. The contributors help me ponder the issues of imperfection vs. perfection anew. * Gavin Bryars, composer *

Author Information

Andy Hamilton teaches Philosophy at Durham University, UK. Lara Pearson is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany.

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