The document summarizes a role-playing performance called "House of Aesthetics" put on by students in an art class. It lists the philosophers portrayed by each student actor, such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant and Foucault. It also provides brief biographies of each philosopher and quotes related to their aesthetic views. The performance involved creating visual representations of the philosophers to embody and discuss their ideas about art and aesthetics at a fictional dinner party setting. Photos from the production and acknowledgments from the instructor praise the students' efforts in bringing complex aesthetic theories to life through embodied performance and visualization.

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House of Aesthetics
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2. CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH
ART 412/SPRING 2014
PRESENTS
HOUSE OF AESTHETICS
with
Alexander Antonyuk
Andrew Fong
Cecilia Montanez
Jane Wong
Chelsea Chapman
Heather Jarrard
Sarah kim
Camille Parillo
Mitchell Danford
Melinda O'Neill Mendina
Patricia Mercado-Perez
Michelle Rimpo
Choreographed & Produced by
Cast
Directed by
Karen McGarry and Cast
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3. END NOTES
Rubric: Philosopher Role Play
Window Display and Discussion Crit ique/Art 412
CRITERIA 20
Exceeding
Expect at ions
10
Meet ing
Expect at ions
0
Failing t o Meet
Expect at ions
ART ICULAT ION
OF
PHILOSOPHICAL
ISSUES IN
DISCUSSION
St rong evidence of
knowledge and
understanding of
philosophical issues
as related to specific
philosopher t rait s
and t o aest het ic
quest ions.
Some evidence of
knowledge and
understanding of
philosophical issues
as related to specific
philosopher t rait s
and t o aest het ic
quest ions.
Lit t le t o no
evidence of
knowledge and
understanding of
philosophical issues
as related to specific
philosopher t rait s
and t o aest het ic
quest ions.
VISUAL
INT ERPRETAT ION
OF PHILOSOPHER
AND AEST HET ICS
QUEST IONS
St rong use of visual
lit eracy to interpret
philosopher/aesthetic
ideas within window
display and during
in- class discussion
crit ique.
Some suggest ion of
visual lit eracy to
interpret
philosopher/aesthetic
ideas within window
display and during
in- class discussion
crit ique.
Lit t le t o no
appreciat ion f or
visual lit eracy to
interpret
philosopher/aesthetic
ideas within window
display and during
in- class discussion
crit ique.
OVERALL
PART ICIPAT ION
AND EFFORT
St rong part icipat ion
in creative display
and in discussion
sessions. St udent
worked well t o
collaborat e f ully with
peers throughout
creative/discursive
process.
Some part icipat ion
in creative display
and in discussion
sessions. St udent
could have worked
more ef f ect ively t o
collaborat e with
peers throughout
creative/discursive
process.
Part icipat ion lacking
in creative display
and in discussion
sessions. St udent
showed lit t le
at t empt s at
collaborat ing with
peers throughout
creative/discursive
process.
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Cast Members
Socrates Alexander Antonyuk
Arthur Danto Chelsea Chapman
Susan Sontag Mitchell Danford
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Andrew Fong
Jürgen Habermas Heather Jarrard
Michel Foucault Sarah Kim
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche Melinda O'Neill Medina
Marcia Eaton Patricia Mercado-Perez
Clive Bell Cecilia Montanez
Aristotle Camille Parillo
Rosalind Krauss Michelle Rimpo
Plato Jane Wong
The Professor Karen McGarry
Product ion / Creat ive
Cast and Crew STUDENTS of ART 412 CSULB
CAST
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4. WHO'S WHO
Alexander Antonyuk as Socrates
“Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your
heart’s desire; the other is to get it.”
Chelsea Chapman as Arthur Danto
What is art? "Artworks are embodied meanings"
Mitchell Danford as Susan Sontag
“Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art. ”
Andrew Fong as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Beauty can only be found in the product of man. Beauty is a
construct of the mind and as such can only be produced
through it.
Heather Jarrard as Jürgen Habermas
The aesthetic experience then not only renews the
interpretation of our needs in whose light we perceive the
world.
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END NOTES
Philosopher Role Play
Assignment Overview and Objectives:
Students work to create a dynamic visual representation of philosophical discussions
surrounding aesthetic topics for art educational teaching and learning. After choosing
a setting for the play, students work on developing individual philosopher “dolls” to
represent ideas within a group presentation display. Project culminates in a tableau
where philosophical ideas are discussed and debated.
Assignment Guidelines/Student Responsibilities:
Building on knowledge gleaned from readings and related course assignments
students complete the following tasks:
Individual Responsibilities:
Select a philosopher as a focus for role play
Respond to aesthetic questions list based on philosopher’s perspective
Create a visual model of your philosopher
Respond to and engage in at least three questions in the display
Group Responsibilities:
Determine visual strategy for representing questions in aesthetics
Build/create visual display
Engage as a discursive group to build conversations between philosophers
Determine a setting for role play enactment
Role play a “dinner party” conversation based on questions in aesthetics
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5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
House of Aesthetics
This project consisted of a collaborative effort between the
students and instructor of ART 412 based upon a brief
description of an assignment listed in the course syllabus.
The students determined the scope and visual properties for
the assignment and worked to create a rubric that would
authentically represent the nature and focus of the assigned
tasks.
Visualizing aesthetic theories guided course instruction and
worked as a model of dialogic encounters throughout the
spring term of ART 412, 2014.As students read and digested
complex aesthetic theories from a variety of respected
aestheticians, they worked on building a visual repository of
ideas and frameworks to make invisible ideas realized and
even tangible.
Their efforts at including play and visual semiotics into their
overall course work, culminated in the House of
Aesthetics project and gained each participant in the course a
measurable level of understanding and appreciation for the
role of aesthetics in visual arts educational practice.
Hats off to the students of ART 412/Spring 2014 - An
impressive display of what aesthetics can look like.
Respectfully - Karen McGarry, Instructor
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WHO'S WHO
Sarah Kim as Michel Foucault
"What is philosophy if not a way of reflecting, not so much
on which is true and what is false, as on our relationship to
truth? The movement by which, not without effort and
uncertainty, dreams and illusions, one detaches oneself
from what is accept as true and seeks other rules— that is
philosophy.”
Melinda O'Neill Medina
as Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Art is not merely an imitation of the reality of nature but in
truth a metaphysical supplement to the reality of nature,
placed alongside thereof for its conquest.
Patricia Mercado-Perez as Marcia Eaton
Distorted perspective or obsessive attention to just one
sort of feature is not a characteristic of a well-rounded,
reasonable person, let alone a good critic.
Cecilia Montanez as Clive Bell
If representative form has value, it is as form, not as
representation.
Camille Parillo as Aristotle
"Imitation is natural to man from childhood... and man "learns
at first by imitation"
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6. WHO'S WHO
Michelle Rimpo as Rosalind Krauss
"One's own perspective, like one's own age, is the only
orientation one will ever have."
Jane Wong as Plato
Art imitates physical things, or Forms. For example, art is
always a copy of a copy. The truth will always be further in
distance. The truth will be way behind an illusion. Art can be
dangerous. Art is imitation.
Karen McGarry as The Professor
Students work to create a dynamic visual representation of
philosophical discussions surrounding aesthetic topics for
art educational teaching and learning.
STUDENTS of ART 412 CSULB Cast and Crew
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PHOTOS
Cast and Crew of House of Aesthetics after the performance
Production scene - Philosophers ready for discourse
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