The Aesthetics of RuinsThis book constructs a theory of ruins that celebrates their vitality and unity in aesthetic experience. Its argument draws upon over 100 illustrations prepared in 40 countries. Ruins flourish as matter, form, function, incongruity, site, and symbol. Ruin underlies cultural values in cinema, literature and philosophy. Finally, ruin guides meditations upon our mortality and endangered world. |
Contents
15 | |
33 | |
FOUR The Ruin as Incongruity | 51 |
FIVE The Ruin as Site | 77 |
SIX The Ruin as Symbol | 107 |
NINETEEN Meditations on Humanity Self and | 153 |
SEVEN The Ruin as Aesthetic Experience | 155 |
St Andrews | 173 |
Grin and Bear It | 385 |
Museum of Ruins | 386 |
World as Ruins | 387 |
The Redemption | 396 |
Death | 405 |
The Self | 415 |
The Meaning of Existence | 425 |
World Destruction | 432 |
TEN Nature as Ruin | 201 |
ELEVEN Sculpture and Other Visual Arts as Ruin | 221 |
TWELVE Cinema and Television as Ruin | 237 |
THIRTEEN Literature as Ruin | 253 |
FIFTEEN The Terminology of Ruin | 285 |
SIXTEEN Theories of Ruin | 315 |
SEVENTEEN The Ruining Eyeand Other Senses | 335 |
EIGHTEEN Fragments of a Chapter on Ruin | 355 |
Ruinations | 356 |
Battlefields | 358 |
Psychology of Ruins | 359 |
Nostalgia | 362 |
Time | 363 |
Ruins Put to Use | 364 |
People in the Ruins | 369 |
Domestic Ruins | 370 |
A Ruin No Longer a Ruin? | 372 |
Future Ruins | 375 |
Chance Ruins | 376 |
OnSite | 378 |
Walls | 379 |
SunBurst | 381 |
Sound and Light | 382 |
Ruin Music | 383 |
Language | 384 |
Fond Farewell | 440 |
Works Cited | 449 |
Chronology of Ruin | 453 |
Common Era CE | 454 |
Uncommon Error UE | 460 |
Appendix Bibliographical Essay on the Literature and Imagery of Ruin | 461 |
Art History | 465 |
Individual Artists | 469 |
Literary History | 470 |
History of Culture | 472 |
Archaeology | 473 |
Individual Ruins | 476 |
Travel Literature | 478 |
Imaginative Literature | 479 |
Guidebooks and Souvenir Books | 481 |
Art of Photography | 482 |
Architecture | 485 |
History of Gardens | 487 |
War Ruins | 488 |
RuinArt Creations | 489 |
Philosophy | 490 |
Miscellaneous | 492 |
About the Author | 493 |
495 | |
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Common terms and phrases
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