Aesthetics and Mobility

A Short Introduction into a Moving Field

(From the Journal of Contemporary Aesthetics)
Ossi Naukkarinen
ABSTRACT
Aesthetics cannot by any means be defined only as philosophy of art. Everything can be approached from an aesthetic standpoint.
Aesthetically interesting ways to move about can be found in most everyday situations. Our everyday mobility consists of various ways of
getting about and sometimes our approach to them is aesthetically colored. !hat we move in different ways and lin" them with aesthetic
considerations of some sort is deeply rooted in our thin"ing. Our bodily e#periences of the world are typically movement e#periences and our
conceptual thin"ing is also built on them$ %e simply cannot ma"e sense of the world without ma"ing use of conceptions of bodily movement.
KEY WR!S
aesthetics mobility bodily e#periences phenomenology theory of mobility
"# An Aesthetic A$$roach to Mobility
&t is widely accepted that aesthetics is a discipline or a point of view that is relevant to
almost every aspect of human activity and cognition. &n principle everything can be
approached from an aesthetic standpoint even in the face of certain ethical or other
restrictions. !hus there are studies in the aesthetics of painting theatre film music
mathematics chess science advertising sports coo"ing fashion wine law nature
architecture and even violence to mention 'ust some e#amples. !hey deal with such
(uestions as %hat is art) %hat ma"es a landscape beautiful and why) *ow do people
use aesthetic concepts in mathematics and law)
&n fact it seems that at the moment most phenomena or fields which for some reason or
another are important in our cultures be it American +ritish Canadian ,utch
Estonian Finnish or some other culture are being analy-ed from the aesthetic point of
view. !hus aesthetics cannot by any means be defined as say philosophy of art only.
!his ubi(uity of aesthetics can be compared to that of politics ethics and many other
aspects of human life.
!he situation can be simplified schematically as follows$
!his chart reflects the idea that several different traditions in aesthetics as well as ethics
social sciences economics history etc. can be used in analy-ing or studying such areas
of human endeavor as art (with a number of sub.categories) science and fashion. Of
course in reality the borders of such categories are not tight and individual scholars do
not necessarily respect any institutionali-ed boundaries between academic disciplines. &n
addition these categories are not (uite comparable to each other$ some are larger and
some smaller/ some can be described with the help of ob'ects important to them while
others are characteri-ed by their attitude towards various sorts of ob'ects/ some titles
refer rather clearly to research traditions and others to targets of research/ and some can
be situated in both the hori-ontal and the vertical columns and others not.
&n any case if we tal" about aesthetics only related but still different (uestions and
answers are relevant in different areas and applications. Analytic aesthetics of art is
different from phenomenological aesthetics of coo"ing. &t is not possible to
systematically analy-e these differences here. &n fact that would mean writing a series of
very thic" boo"s on different uses and fields of aesthetics a tas" that would be very
interesting but probably (uite impossible for any single individual unless that individual
was a Frederic" Copleston of aesthetics0 All in all there are plenty of possible
combinations. !here could even be aesthetics of aesthetics.
&t is obvious that aesthetics is now used in a wide variety of conte#ts probably wider
and more varied than ever before and many approaches to aesthetic analysis are applied
depending on the occasion or the circumstances. !his is one meaning of the phenomenon
often called 1aesthetici-ation.1 &t is possible that this simply reveals how eager
philosophers social scientists and other scholars are to use this theoretical point of view
in numerous conte#ts perhaps whether or not these conte#ts otherwise actually
encourage this eagerness. &f not the use of this theoretical point of view is not very well
'ustified. +ut on the other hand this may show the ubi(uity of the aesthetic attitude
outside of academic circles$ that a non.academic non.scholarly aesthetic approach is
deliberately used in many conte#ts that also ma"es academic aesthetic analyses of these
areas relevant and useful. From this standpoint aesthetici-ation might be both a
scholarly and a non.scholarly phenomenon.234
&t seems obvious that mobility in its numerous variations is culturally a very important
field that is naturally connected with many if not most other important fields of culture.
!oday more people ob'ects images vehicles pollution information capital and other
things move more often faster and farther than ever before.
!his is easily shown by comparing the volume of mobility of the contemporary world to
the situation some 56 years bac". &n 3756 there were 58 million cars in the world/ now
there are more than 566 million and according to some estimates over 966 million. And
people do use them. &n Finland which is fairly typical in this respect the average of
private car is driven more than 36 666 "ilometers per year which is over ten times more
than in 3756. !he growth of air traffic is even more astonishing. &n 3756 :; billion
passenger "ilometers were flown by the world<s airplanes. !oday the figure is almost
8666 billion .. over a hundred times more0 &nternational business has also grown which
means greater numbers of ob'ects are transported from one place to another and more
currency transactions conducted. Furthermore information flows are much more
efficient now than they were in the 3756s/ the &nternet did not e#ist bac" then and other
modes of communication technology were less effective in their ability to transmit
information. !he details of this development are somewhat different in different
countries but all in all the direction has been the same. !he volume of mobility has
increased enormously and nobody can avoid the effects of the trend.
!he future seems to headed in the same direction. &n some publications world car travel
is predicted to triple between 3776 and :656 and by :686 there may be one billion cars
worldwide. !he European =nion<s publication European Energy and Transport. Trends
to 2030 which maps not only the future of Europe but of the world clearly states that
energy consumption much of which is devoted to mobility will increase strongly in the
coming decades. For e#ample the rapid globali-ation of business and science will mean
more and more traveling and transport of goods. !he rapid e#pansion of the global
computer networ" is also li"ely to continue and there is no sign that this growth will
reduce the need for people and ob'ects to move and be moved as some would hope.
>uite the contrary.2:4
As already stated everything can in principle be approached aesthetically and this goes
for mobility as well. +ut is it wise or relevant to do so) &s there anything in the
intersection of the columns of aesthetics and mobility in the diagram above)
%# Where Is Mobile Aesthetics&
!o begin with aesthetically interesting ways to move about can be found in most
everyday situations. %al"ing is probably the most fundamental way human beings move
about but nowadays it is normally combined with traveling by car bus tram subway or
airplane. Our every.day mobility consists of various ways of getting about and
sometimes our approach to them is aesthetically colored$ we pay attention to how
beautiful ugly fascinating or enthralling a wal" a drive a car or a route is. !his may
affect our choice consciously or not of the route to our office or of a 'ogging path.
%hat is even more important the fact that we move in different ways and lin" them with
aesthetic considerations of some sort is deeply rooted in our thin"ing in our very being.
Our bodily e#periences of the world are typically movement e#periences and our
conceptual thin"ing is also built on them. %e simply cannot ma"e sense of the world
without ma"ing use of conceptions of bodily movement. ?eorge @a"off and Aar"
Johnson for e#ample have shown that many of our very basic concepts such as 1up1
and 1down1 1forward1 and 1bac"wards1 and 1fast1 and 1slow1 are built on this
foundation.284 %e are bodily moving beings who categori-e mobile e#periences and
characteri-e our being in the world with concepts derived from mobility in many ways.
One important way is the aesthetic approach indicated by our aesthetic choices as well
as by our aesthetic comments and analyses. %hat this actually means is clarified in more
detail in this volume most directly by Jos de Aul and Bentti ACCttCnen. &n 1From
Aobile Ontologies to Aobile Aesthetics1 de Aul discusses the changes in mobility and
immobility in our cultural traditions in pre.modern modern and post.modern conte#ts
paying special attention to the role of information and communication technologies
technologies that strongly transform our daily lives and aesthetic traditions and relate to
our bodily mobility in many interesting ways. ACCttCnen deals with the role of mobility
and action in aesthetic e#periences from the point of view of pragmatism.
*owever both our ways of moving and our aesthetic approaches to them develop
culturally and are connected with our physical bodily being as well as with each other.
As this ma"es the issue very complicated and opens up several possibilities of how to
deal with it it is useful to mention a few more specific areas where mobile aesthetics can
be detected.
First even e#pressly stated aesthetic approaches to mobility are not unusual in our
every.day life as is clearly indicated for e#ample by car advertisements. !hey are
relevant here because they tend to epitomi-e what is rather generally e#pected of cars. &n
advertisements cars do not get into accidents or traffic 'ams and they are driven in
beautiful surroundings by handsome drivers. %hat is typically emphasi-ed is how to
drive a car how it loo"s and how it feels. &t is clear that advertisements often ma"e use
of language and visual representations that indicate that everyday traffic and the vehicles
we use are seen as aesthetically rich phenomena. &t is hoped at least that cars
motorcycles and other vehicles provide aesthetically rewarding e#periences.
Deal driving is not (uite the same thing as the vision that advertisements offer us but
driving may also have its aesthetic aspects. !o ta"e a somewhat dubious and e#treme
e#ample that also advertisements sometimes refer to we might want to drive fast ta"e
curves and pass other drivers aggressively or 1burn rubber1 when accelerating from a
dead stop. Euch acts whether acceptable or not to others offer strong "inetic visual and
auditory e#periences that can be seen as aesthetically interesting. Everyday driving need
not be as e#treme as this to be aesthetically rewarding of course but on such occasions
an aesthetic attitude is often accentuated. &n any event it is obvious that the aesthetics of
driving fast or aggressively is very different from say 1cruising1 slowly or ta"ing a
tram. !his large area of aesthetic e#perience with its positive and negative aspects has
been touched upon by many writers including %olfgang Eachs Aimi Eheller and as
early as the 3756s by Doland +arthes briefly in his Mythologies.2F4 &n this volume Gr'H
EepCnmaa deals with this area in his article 1!he Aesthetics of the Doad Doad Art and
Doad !raffic1 on the aesthetics of actual driving or 1being on the road1 and on the
aesthetics of road environments and road art.
&t is noteworthy that imaginary and real traffic live side by side especially in urban
settings. !here we drive cars and other vehicles and see ads selling cars and other
products that are meant for car drivers< eyes and are often even pasted or painted on
moving cars. !he whole is an ever.moving traffic system where different aesthetic
ob'ects and approaches mingle. Elsewhere in this special issue Basi Iolhonen<s article
1Aoving Bictures . Advertising !raffic and Cityscape1 deals with contemporary often
mobile advertising techni(ues and their 1economist<s aesthetics1 in urban surroundings.
For some using a car in a certain way may be a leisure.time hobby not only a way to get
from one place to another. *owever a number of other mobile and every.day hobbies
sports especially are also often aesthetically structured. &n these the sensuous aspects of
moving about are often very important. For e#ample the way one uses one<s own body
to overcome physical limits one has not encountered before for e#ample in mountain
bi"ing snowboarding or dancing can be e#tremely rewarding. Bhysically it may feel
very special and one way to categori-e this physical e#perience is by means of aesthetic
concepts. Of course this can be done with less demanding or less e#treme athletic or
dance e#periences as well/ even with normal wal"ing. Additionally e(uipment used in
such hobbies has its own aesthetics often connected with fashion and the taste
preferences of subcultures. Enea"ers sweaters stic"s and rac"ets are collector<s items
for some. Joseph *. Iupfer and Dichard Ehusterman have made use of John ,ewey<s
philosophy in analy-ing issues that are relevant for this area.254
Our daily lives however consist of more than 'ust moving ourselves from place to
place. %e also move other things around. One important aspect of this is using &C!
(information and communication technologies). Fast reliable and simple solutions are
typically highly valued here and some aspects of this value are aesthetic. !he latest
mobile computer and cellular phone systems which are able to handle large amounts of
data that can be converted to sounds te#ts and (moving) images appear to have some
"ind of aesthetic appeal in themselves. +ecause they are small we can carry them
around with us all the time and they also create new (aesthetic) ways to interact with
other people and with(in) cars houses and whole cities. Aoving information is
inseparable from other types of mobility.
&n &C! what is new effective and fast is fascinating and beautiful much li"e in early
Futurist manifestos. &n addition the artificial or virtual worlds set up in cyberspace that
are made possible by these efficient communication technologies are often approached
aesthetically. . &n some cases the aesthetics of the speed of transferring data is even
combined with possibilities to create entirely new aesthetically interesting or pleasing
ways to ma"e virtual ob'ects and characters move. Eomewhat parado#ically these
artificial worlds are often considered aesthetically more en'oyable if their characters
seem to move much in the same way as human beings do in the real world. !his is the
case for e#ample in sports games that imitate ice.hoc"ey or s"ateboarding. !he
aesthetics of information technologies as well as of cyberspace and virtual travel lin"ed
with it have been analy-ed by %olfgang %elsch in a more polemic manner by ,avid
?elernter and by numerous contributors of the 'ournal Leonardo.2J4 &n this volume of
Contemporary Aesthetics Jos ,e Aul<s above.mentioned article is relevant for this
discussion as well.
%e do not always stic" to the every.day however. Eometimes we unstic" ourselves and
then aesthetic approaches to mobility are perhaps even clearer. One such area where an
aesthetic approach and mobility often appear to go hand.in.hand is tourism. Even mere
travel advertisements are full of aesthetic notions about spectacular panoramas beautiful
beaches gorgeous tre""ing routes and pictures(ue old cities. Euch notions may only be
promises that prove to be empty in actuality but it is important to see that this is
nevertheless partly what tourists are after$ aesthetically rewarding surroundings and
e#periences. !he search for aesthetic e#periences and environments is obviously one
reason to travel even if not the only one and this has been the case since the heyday of
the classical rand tours or even longer as Orvar @Hfgren<s John =rry<s and ?eorges
Kan ,en Abbeele<s studies indicate.294 Actually even if only a small part of the massive
tourist streams are on the move because of aesthetic reasons the importance of aesthetic
mobility in this conte#t calls for further study. &n this volume the article by Aa#
DyynCnen 1Entering !hrough the +ac" ,oor . or @earning from Kenice1 deals with this
area by analy-ing the aesthetics of arriving in Kenice from the point of view of mobility.
All of the above.mentioned topics have been covered accurately and lively in numerous
novels movies songs maga-ines websites and other wor"s of art and popular culture .
much more often and one must admit many times in a more attractive style than in
scholarly te#ts. !here aesthetic notions of beauty comicalness elegance or ugliness of
driving a car sailing traveling abroad using the latest communications technologies or
s"ateboarding come up all the time and are often even dominant. One 'ust has to recall
classics li"e Jac" Ierouac<s On the !oad J.?. +allard<s Crash Jac(ues !ati<s Tra"ic Ant
Farm<s Cadillac !anch and %illiam ?ibson<s Neuromancer/ countless pop.songs where
the car culture is praised/ and !K shows where sport heroes< most imposing
achievements are commented on using clearly aesthetic terminology. All these in turn
undoubtedly affect our thin"ing and behavior in everyday life too. !hey set up e#amples
of eligible as well as of avoidable mobile aesthetics sometimes tempting us to see
mobility in some particular way some verbally some by other means. !his field is
touched upon here by Johanna *Cllsten and ?erd.*elge Kogel in their articles
1Aovement and Barticipation$ Journeys within Everyday Envionments1 and 1Aobility$
!he Fourth ,imension in the Fine Arts and Architecture1 respectively. *Cllsten
describes her own art wor"s and their relationship to mobility especially wal"ing and
Kogel ma"es a 'ourney through art history and presents wor"s that have dealt with
mobility in one way or another.
At the same time these activities and their artistic descriptions give rise to metaphorical
e#pressions which are also used in other conte#ts that are not literally mobile. For
e#ample to spea" of 1channel surfing1 or of 1surfing the net1 is to use a metaphor . an
e#pression transferred from its original conte#t to a new one2;4 . which easily evo"es
aesthetic aspects of the actual water sport. !his aesthetics has been built up for decades
by surfers themselves as well as by surfing maga-ines movies songs and the li"e. &n
studying such metaphors and more direct aesthetic notions the tas" of the aesthetician is
close to the "ind of meta.criticism already described by Aonroe C. +eardsley in his
Aesthetics# $ro%lems in the $hilosophy o" Criticism. &t also approaches more
contemporary versions of discourse analysis and other conte#ts where one analy-es how
aesthetic e#pressions are used. !his however is hardly a separate field but rather a part
of all studies in philosophical aesthetics and thus also entirely appropriate for this special
volume of Contemporary Aesthetics.
'# Further (uestions
?iving hints about where mobile aesthetics can be found is a good way to get started and
suggests a number of interesting problems. . !o go further however one has to
formulate these problems better. Of course this has already been done to a certain e#tent
in the literature mentioned above. *ere & have to settle for as"ing some crucial (uestions
and leave it to the rest of the articles to offer some answers.
Eome of the problems concerning the aesthetics of mobility are very theoretical
(discussed in academic conte#ts mostly) while others are more practical (more li"ely to
come up also in concrete decision.ma"ing situations such as city planning). !hey
include the following among others274$
a) %here and how can aesthetics actually be detected in these conte#ts) &n everyday.life
mobility or in art that has to do with motion) &n tourism) *ow is it possible to pinpoint
the aesthetic aspects of traffic or information flow) &n order to answer such (uestions
one has to have a well.formulated philosophical conception of aesthetics or 1the
aesthetic1 so nicely referred to in ?erman as das &sthetische. And of course one needs
to "now what is meant by mobility or movement as well. *owever this conception does
not have to be a rigorous definition.
!his is one point where various traditions of aesthetics differ from each other and
because there are several possibilities in proceeding & did not actually define aesthetics
at the outset of the article and will not do that now either. One may describe aesthetics
with the help of such concepts as e#perience sensuousness art and creativity or through
several other candidates and the whole problem might be seen as a linguistic one or as
some other type. !here are many ways to s"in the aesthetic cat. %hat is clear is that the
aesthetics of aggressive car driving to ta"e one e#ample is rather different from the
aesthetics of wal"ing in the forest and the aesthetician must find the best possible
conceptual tools for ma"ing sense of both. !he result however will probably differ
depending on whether one writes in a Aar#ist phenomenological feminist or analytic
tradition or is from +ra-il Japan Elovenia or Eweden. !he aesthetics of mobility li"e
the rest of aesthetics inevitably e#ists in the plural as Iarl ,ahlhaus so perceptively
observed in his Musik'sthetik in 37J92364. !his is the case even within a single
publication such as issue of Contemporary Aesthetics.
b) Another slightly different (uestion is how to deal with different versions of mobile
aesthetics in different traditions) Ehould we do so with words) %hat "ind of words)
%ith pictures) Aoving or still pictures) %ith second.order movements)
!his methodological (uestion does not have a single answer either but it is nevertheless
e#tremely important. &t is (uite obvious that conceptual and physical tools have a great
impact on what we notice in the first place. A microscope shows us different things than
a telescope and pictures can convey different messages than words. !hey cannot replace
each other. !raditionally the ma'ority of philosophers of aesthetics have been rather
satisfied with the possibilities provided by words and they have been suspicious
sometimes even hostile (is)*)(is other ways of formulating ideas and dealing with
things. Of course this has been (uestioned . with words mainly0 . by such thin"ers as
Aaurice Aerleau.Bonty and John ,ewey lately by Joseph @a"off and Aar" Johnson
and in a way initially by the founders of modern aesthetics Ale#ander +aumgarten
&mmanuel Iant and by many Domantic thin"ers. !hey have emphasi-ed that verbally
unarticulated bodily feelings emotions and sensations do have a role in thin"ing and
dealing with the world in general.2334
Etill the basic (uestion remains$ %hat is the best way and in which conte#t to deal with
aesthetics of mobility both in theory and in the actual e#perience of mobility itself and
what should the relationship between philosophy and other practices be) !his is
something every aesthetician of mobility has to reconsider in each case as this issue of
Contemporary Aesthetics demonstrates (uite clearly.
c) !he third (uestion has to do with aesthetic valuations. %hat "ind of mobility is
aesthetically rewarding) %hy) !o whom) %hen) %here) And what "ind is
unrewarding) An aggressive car driver surely has different aesthetic valuations from a
person who prefers to wal" in the forest. &n both cases it is interesting to analy-e what
ma"es a way of moving aesthetically attractive. &s it the bodily feeling or something
else) Aoreover it is worth pondering where and how this person or a group of people
has learned to appreciate this particular way of moving about and what larger world
view or life style his or her valuations are related to. For e#ample what role does
individuality or aiming at harmony with nature play in one<s life in general not only in
mobility or in aesthetics) And what actually causes this) One<s education the political
system one has lived in or something else) %hat is the role of aesthetic issues in a given
cultural situation) !his of course ta"es aesthetics closer to the field of the muchdebated
1cultural studies1 than many might find tolerable.23:4
*ere as in previous (uestions one also has to be careful to heed the difference between
observing movement or mobility from outside and moving by oneself. %hat is
aesthetically interesting for the person who is moving . a swimmer a runner a s"ater .
might not be anything special for an onloo"er. +ut an aesthetician should be able to
handle both aspects of mobility.
!his and the other (uestions mentioned above seem fairly theoretical but to my mind
they should be dealt with in close connection with real.life practices and e#amples. &
thin" this becomes understandable right away when one thin"s about what conse(uences
aesthetic valuations concerning mobility can have in everyday life. !his leads us to the
following issues.
d) *ow do aesthetic conceptions and valuations about say traffic affect our behavior)
,o they along with other factors ma"e us move or in some cases prevent us from
moving) &f they do what conse(uences does that have) For e#ample if one is e#cited
about driving a car it is evident that this aesthetic preference is destined to increase all
the negative aspects of car traffic as well$ pollution traffic accidents rough treatment of
landscapes in road building and all the various mishaps and catastrophes sometimes
connected with the oil business.
On a more general level many have been worried about the conse(uences of increased
mobility for our very basic conceptions of the world. Especially do we lose our sense of
place by being enthralled by fast ways of moving about) And as a conse(uence do we
lose the whole idea of homeL,o we become blind to our physical local environments
even if we are ultimately dependent on them) !hus if we are enchanted by the aesthetics
of speed or by the possibilities of communicating with people on the other side of the
planet in real time does this lead us to some sort of placelessness) And what happens
then to our very identity) Euch (uestions have been as"ed by Baul Kirilio Christian
Morberg.Echul- Aiwon Iwon and Edward E. Casey.2384
e) Get another (uestion$ &f our aesthetic valuations do have very concrete conse(uences
can and should they also be actively and strategically used in city planning for e#ample)
&f aesthetic considerations motivate us to move in a certain way should that be steered
so that for e#ample the aesthetics of ecologically less harmful ways to move about are
supported rather than some others) &f yes how should that be done in practice) And if
that is done would and should aesthetics be subordinated to ecology or not) Of course
here one faces the old problem of the autonomy and non.autonomy of aesthetics now in
the conte#t of mobility combined with ecology a problem that comes up when aesthetics
approaches cultural studies as mentioned above. Euch (uestions pertaining to
environmental and so.called applied aesthetics have been addressed by such writers as
Arnold +erleant Allen Carlson J. ,ouglas Borteous and Gr'H EepCnmaa.23F4
f) A separate pro'ect would be to map broadly the history of aesthetics paying special
attention to mobility. *ow and by whom has the aesthetics of mobility been dealt with in
the past whether in academic philosophy of aesthetics in art criticism architecture
studies or in te#ts written by artists) %hat can be used from that tradition in analy-ing
present day mobile aesthetics)
& have already referred to Doland +arthes John ,ewey and Aaurice Aerleau.Bonty
who have written with insights on these matters. Aany others writing within a variety of
academic traditions and of different positions of time can only be mentioned here. Eome
of them have dealt with various (uite physical modes of moving about (as have many of
those mentioned above) in a way that could be of interest to aesthetics. !his is also why
most aspects of "inetics or the branch of mechanics that deals with motion of ob'ects and
masses for e#ample are not relevant in this conte#t. Other wor" that is relevant can by
found in such different writers as %alter +en'amin and his $assagen)+erk with its notes
on "l,neurs the studies of *enri @efebvre Camillo Eitte and Ievin @ynch on living and
moving in the city/ *enry ,avid !horeau<s and Dichard @ong<s thoughts on wal"ing/ the
reflections on dance of Jean.?eorges Moverre and of more recent writers/ as well as
%olfgang Echivelbusch<s writings on the railway and perhaps even the more recent
publications by !im Cresswell on tramps and *oward Dheingold on the internet and
mobile phones.2354
Eecond if one thin"s especially of the relations between mobility and philosophy itself
.between physical movement and ways of thin"ing . the wor"s of thin"ers who
emphasi-e more or less metaphorically the changing fluid or nomadic aspects of
thin"ing and ideas are relevant. !hey even set the concept of aesthetics itself into
motion. *ere it is possible to mention two different sub.groups by which the fle#ible or
mobile interpretations of truth reality and other philosophically interesting concepts are
opposed to idea(l)s where such concepts are seen as fi#ed universal and stable. On the
one hand there are the classical and more recent (American) pragmatists such as
%illiam James Charles Eanders Beirce and John ,ewey as well as Dichard Dorty and
Dichard Ehusterman whose roots go bac" to Charles ,arwin and Dalph %aldo Emerson.
23J4 On the other there are (European) post.structuralists or post.modernists such as
Jac(ues ,errida and Jean.FranNois @yotard as well as ?illes ,eleu-e and FOli# ?uattari
whose bac"ground lies in thin"ers such as Friedrich Miet-sche and even Aichel de
Aontaigne.2394 Eome of these thin"ers and of others not directly pragmatist or post.
modern are dealt with in the articles that follow while others await future treatment
from the point of view of mobility.
All in all it cannot be said that the area of mobile aesthetics is totally terra incognita.
*owever if one compares this area to many other traditional core areas of aesthetics
such as philosophy of art it is (uite evident that the discussion has not been even
remotely as active and productive. !here is much less material and the discussion is
often much less systematic and penetrating.
+ut perhaps that is a good thing. &t may guarantee that the field will "eep on living and
moving for a long time. !he fact that we live in a culture of mobility undoubtedly shapes
our aesthetic culture and aesthetic ideas and valuations have an impact on what "ind of
mobility culture we have. !he 'ob of philosophers and other scholars in aesthetics is to
find out what to ma"e of all this. !his special volume of Contemporary Aesthetics shows
some ways to proceed in doing that/ ways that inevitably remain unelaborated in a
general introduction li"e this.
!he articles of this volume are not classified in groups. Aany of the above.mentioned
themes such as traveling roads mobile art wal"ing mobile technology and urban
environments are dealt with in several articles and any classification would be highly
arbitrary. !here is a certain order for the te#ts however. !he first te#ts by Jos de Aul and
Bentti ACCttCnen deal with rather large philosophical issues while the (uestions become
more specific towards the end. After the first articles Aa# DyynCnen and Basi
Iolhonen<s articles both deal with urban environments and Iolhonen<s and EepCnmaa<s
te#ts deal with cars/ these te#ts can be seen to form two pairs. ?erd.*elge Kogel<s and
Johanna *Cllsten<s papers the last ones of this volume both deal directly with art and
mobility.
+ut now let the articles spea" for themselves.
Endnotes
234 About aesthetici-ation see e.g. %olfgang %elsch &sthetisches -enken (Etuttgart$ Bhilipp Declam
'un. 3776)/ %olfgang %elsch ren.g'nge der &sthetik (Etuttgart$ Bhilipp Declam 'un. 377J)/ ?erhard
Echul-e -ie Erle%nisgesellscha"t. /ulturso.iologie der egen0art (Fran"furt Mew Gor"$ Campus Kerlag
377:)/ Aichel Foucault 1On the ?enealogy of Ethics. An Overview of %or" in Brogress1 in Michael
1oucault2 3eyond 4tructuralism and 5ermeneutics eds. *ubert @. ,reyfus and Baul Dabinow second
edition (Chicago$ !he =niversity of Chicago Bress 37;8) pp. ::7.:5:/ Aichel Foucault L6usage des
plaisirs. 5istoire de se7ualit8 2 (Baris$ ?allimard 37;F)/ Aichel Foucalt Le souci de soi. 5istoire de
se7ualit8 3 (Baris ?allimard 37;F)/ @uc Ferry 5omo aestheticus. L6in(ention du go9t * l6,ge
d8mocrati:ue (Baris$ ?rasset 3776)/ Ai"e Featherstone Consumer Culture ; $ostmodernism (@ondon
!housand Oa"s and Mew ,elhi$ EA?E Bublications 377FP3773)/ Dichard Florida The !ise o" the
Creati(e Class# And 5o0 <t6s Trans"orming +ork# Leisure# Community and E(eryday Li"e (+asic +oo"s
:66:)/ -ie Aktualit't des &sthetischen ed. %olfgang %elsch (AQnchen$ %ilhelm Fin" Kerlag 3778)/
=lrich +ec" Anthony ?iddens and Ecott @asch !e"le7i(e Moderni.ation. $olitics# tradition and
aesthetics in the modern social order (Cambridge$ Bolity Bress 377F)/ and Ossi Mau""arinen Aesthetics
o" the =na(oida%le. Aesthetic (ariations in human appearance (@ahti$ &nternational &nstitute of Applied
Aesthetics 377;).
2:4 Delevant statistics and other figures and facts can be found e.g. in the following sources$ Aanuel
Castells The <n"ormation Age. Economy# 4ociety and Culture Kols 3.8 (O#ford$ +lac"well 377J.377;$
The !ise o" the Net0ork 4ociety 377J/ The $o0er o" <dentity# 3779/ End o" Millennium 377;)/ Aanuel
Castells The <nternet ala7y. !e"lections on the <nternet# 3usiness# and 4ociety (O#ford$ O#ford
=niversity Bress :663)/ Beter ,ic"en lo%al 4hi"t. !eshaping the lo%al Economic Map in the 2>st
Century fourth edition (@ondon !housand Oa"s Mew ,elhi$ EA?E Bublications :668)/ Theory# Culture
; 4ociety Kol. :3. Mo. F.5 (:66F)/ Ecott @ash R John =rry Economies o" 4igns and 4pace (@ondon
!housand Oa"s Mew ,elhi$ EA?E Bublications 377F)/ John =rry 4ociology 3eyond 4ocieties.
Mo%ilities "or the T0enty)1irst Century (@ondon R Mew Gor"$ Doutledge :666)/ John =rry 1Aobile
sociology1 3ritish ?ournal o" 4ociology Kol. 53 Mo.3 (:666) 3;5.:68.
+ecause statistical facts go become obsolete rather (uic"ly several continuously updated web pages such
as those of Eurostat (epp.eurostat.cec.eu.intP) and Center "or Mo%ility !esearch (CeAoDe) of @ancaster
=niversity (www.lancs.ac.u"PfssPsociologyPcemorePinde#.htm) are useful.
!he causes of this change form a separate topic that cannot be addressed here. !he reasons must be sought
in the history of technology politics economy law and philosophy. & say more about this in my boo"
/ulkurin kaleidoskooppi 2The /aleidoscope o" the tramp4 which will appear in :66J (*elsin"i$ EIE).
284 ?eorge @a"off and Aar" Johnson $hilosophy in the 1lesh. The Em%odied Mind and <ts Challenge to
+estern Thought (Mew Gor"$ +asic +oo"s 3777).
2F4 %olfgang Eachs 1or Lo(e o" the Automo%ile. Looking 3ack into the 5istory o" Our -esires (+er"eley$
=niversity of California Bress 377:)/ Aimi Eheller 1Automatic Emotions. Feeling the Car1 Theory#
Culture ; 4ociety Kol. :3 Mo. FP5 (:66F) pp. ::3.:F:/ Doland +arthes Mythologies (Baris$ Sditions du
Eeuil 3759). & have dealt with tram use in Ossi Mau""arinen 1Aobile Cities. !he !ram and the =ses of
=rban Epace1 in $lace and Location <<< eds. Kirve Earapi" and Iadri !QQr (!allinn$ Estonian Academy
of Arts :668) pp. :F7.:J3.
254 Joseph *. Iupfer E7perience as art. Aesthetics in e(eryday li"e (Albany MG$ Etate =niversity of Mew
Gor" Bress 37;8)/ Joseph *. Iupfer 1Engaging Mature Aesthetically1 ?ournal o" Aesthetic Education
Kol. 89 Mo.3 (Epring :668) pp. 99.;7/ Dichard Ehusterman $racticing $hilosophy. $ragmatism and the
$hilosophical Li"e (especially chapter J) (Mew Gor" and @ondon$ Doutledge 3779). Eee also the double
issue of /unst"orum <nternational titled 1Iunst und Eport1 (+ds 3J7 and 396 ACr-.April :66F and Aai.
Juni :66F).
2J4 %olfgang %elsch =ndoing Aesthetics (@ondon$ Eage 3779)/ ,avid ?elernter The Aesthetics o"
Computing (@ondon$ %eidenfeld R Micolson 377;).
294 Orvar @Hfgren On 5oliday. A 5istory o" @acationing (+er"eley @os Angeles @ondon$ =niversity of
California Bress 3777)/ John =rry The Tourist a.e. Leisure and Tra(el in Contemporary 4ocieties
(@ondon Mewburry Bar" Mew ,elhi$ EA?E Bublications 3773P3776)/ ?eorges Kan ,en Abbeele Tra(el
as Metaphor. 1rom Montaigne to !ousseau (Ainneapolis O#ford$ =niversity of Ainnesota Bress 377:).
Eee also the double issue of /unst"orum <nternational entitled 1Tstheti" des Deisens1 (+d. 38J Aai 3779)
and 1Atlas der IQnstlerreisen1 (+d. 389 August 3779).
2;4 !he conception of metaphor & have in mind here is best described by @a"off and Johnson 3777. On
several other interpretations see Claes Ent-enberg Metaphor as a Mode o" <nterpretation. An Essay on
<nteractional and Conte7tual 4ense)Making# $rocesses# Metaphorology# and @er%al Arts. (=ppsala$
=ppsala =niversity ,epartment of Aesthetics 377;).
274 & presented a somewhat different list in my article 1Aesthetics and *omo Aobilis1 -ialogue and
=ni(ersalism Kol. U&&& Mo.33.3: (:668) pp. 3J8.39J.
2364 Ausi"verlag *ans ?erig IHln.
2334 John ,ewey E7perience and Nature. The Later +orks# @ol. >2 >A2B. Edited by Jo Ann +oydston with
an introduction by Eidney *oo" (Carbondale$ Eouthern &llinois =niversity Bress 37;3P37:5)/ John ,ewey
Art as E7perience. The Later +orks# @ol. >02 >A3C edited by Jo Ann +oydston with an introduction by
Abraham Iaplan (Carbondale$ Eouthern &llinois =niversity Bress 37;9P378F)$ Aaurice Aerleau.Bonty
$h8nom8nologie de la perception (Baris$ ?allimard 37F5)/ @a"off and Johnson 3777/ Ale#ander
+aumgarten !e"lections on $oetry. Ale7ander ottlie% 3aumgarten6s Meditationes philosophicae de
nonnullis ad poema pertinenti%us translated with the original te#t an introduction and notes by Iarl
Aschenbrenner and %illiam +. *olther (+er"eley and @os Angeles$ =niversity of California Bress
375FP3985)/ *ans Dudolf Echwei-er &sthetik als $hilosophie der sinnlichen Erkenntnis. Eine
<nterpretation der Aesthetica A.. 3aumgartens mit teil0eiser +iederga%e des lateinischen Te7tes und
deutscher D%erset.ung (+aselPEtuttgart$ Echwabe R Co Kerlag 3798)/ &mmanuel Iant /ritik der
=rteilskra"t (Etuttgart$ Bhilip Declam 'un. 3773P3976)/ Jos ,e Aul !omantic -esire in E$ostFmodern Art
; $hilosophy (Albany$ Etate =niversity of Mew Gor" Bress3777P3776)/ Andrew +owie Aesthetics and
4u%Gecti(ity2 "rom /ant to Niet.sche (Aanchester and Mew Gor"$ Aanchester =niversity Bress
3778P3776).
23:4 On the somewhat tense relations between aesthetics and cultural studies in the =E especially see The
Aesthetics o" Cultural 4tudies ed. Aichael +OrubO (Aalden O#ford Carlton$ +lac"well Bublishing
:66F).
2384 Baul Kirilio La @itesse de li%8ration (Baris$ Sditions ?alilOe 3775)/ Edward E. Casey etting 3ack
into $lace. To0ard a !ene0ed =nderstanding o" the $lace)+orld (+loomington R &ndianapolis$ &ndiana
=niversity Bress 3778)/ Aiwon Iwon 1!he %rong Blace1 (:J.5.:665$ www.findarticles.com/ Art
?ournal Epring :666)/ Christian Morberg.Echul- enius Loci. To0ards a $henomenology o" Architecture
(@ondon$ Academy Editions 37;6P3797).
23F4 Arnold +erleant The Aesthetics o" En(ironment (Bhiladelphia$ !emple =niversity Bress 377:)
Li(ing in the Landscape (@awrence$ =niversity Bress of Iansas 3779) and Aesthetics and En(ironment#
Theme and @ariations (Aldershot$ Ashgate Bublishing @td :665)/ Allen Carlson Aesthetics and the
En(ironment (@ondon and Mew Gor"$ Doutledge :666)/ J. ,ouglas Borteous En(ironmental Aesthetics.
<deas# $olitics and $lanning (@ondon and Mew Gor"$ Doutledge 377J)/ Gr'H EepCnmaa The 3eauty o"
En(ironment (*elsin"i$ Euomalainen !iedea"atemia 37;J)/ Gr'H EepCnmaa 1Applied Aesthetics1 in Art
and 3eyond. 1innish Approaches to Aesthetics ed. Ossi Mau""arinen and Olli &mmonen (@ahti$
&nternational &nstitute of Applied Aesthetics 3775) pp. ::J.:F;.
2354 %alter +en'amin -as $assagen)+erk hrsg. von Dolf !iedemann (Fran"furt am Aain$ Euhr"amp
37;8P37:7.37F6)/ *enri @efebvre $roduction de l6espace (Baris Anthropos :666P379F) / Ievin @ynch
+hat Time is this $laceH (Cambridge Aass.$ A.&.!. Bress 379:)/ Camillo Eitte -ie 4t'dte)3au nach
seinem kInstlerischen runds't.en (%ien$ Kerlag von Carl ?raeser 3;;7)/ *enry ,avid !horeau
1%al"ing1 The Atlantic Monthly June 3;J:/ Dichard @ong +alking in Circles (@ondon$ !hames and
*udson 3773)/ Jean.?eorges Moverre Letters on -ancing and 3allets (Alton$ ,ance +oo"s translated by
Cyril %. +eaumont :66FP39J6)/ %olfgang Echivelbusch eschichte der Eisen%ahnreise. Jur
<ndustrialisierung (on !aum und Jeit im >A. ?ahrhundert (AQnchen %ien$ Carl *anser Kerlag 3799)/
!im Cresswell The Tramp in America (@ondon$ Dea"tion +oo"s :663)/ *oward Dheingold 4mart Mo%s.
The Ne7t 4ocial !e(olution (Cambridge Aass.$ Berseus Bublishing :66:).
23J4 !he wor"s of James Beirce and ,ewey have been edited as collected wor"s$ The +orks o" +illiam
?ames ed. Frederic" *. +ur"hardt (Cambridge. Aass./ *arvard =niversity Bress 3795.37;;) consists of
37 volumes/ Collected $apers o" Charles 4anders $eirce ed. Charles *artshorne et al. (Cambridge.
Aass./ *arvard =niversity Bress 3783.37JJ) has ; volumes/ and ,ewey<s The Early +orks (3;;:.3;7;)
The Middle +orks (3;77.37:F) and The Later +orks (37:5.3758) ed. Jo Ann +oydston (Carbodale$
Eouthern &llinois =niversity Bress 37J9.37;8) includes 89 volumes. Dichard Dorty<s pragmatism is best
"nown for his boo"s $hilosophy and the Mirror o" Nature (Brinceton$ Brinceton =niversity Bress 37;6)
and Conse:uences o" $ragmatism (+righton$ *arvester Bress 37;6) and Dichard Ehusterman has
contributed in his $ragmatist Aesthetics (O#ford$ +lac"well 377:) and in the boo" mentioned above in
endnote 5. Of many overviews on the field one could mention the following$ $ragmatism ed. Dussell +.
?oodman (@ondon and Mew Gor" Doutledge 3775)/ @ouis Aenand The Metaphysical Clu% (@ondon$
Flamingo :66:P:663) and *.O.Aounce The T0o $ragmatisms. 1rom $eirce to !orty (@ondon and Mew
Gor" Doutledge 3779).
2394 For e#ample$ Jac(ues ,errida La (8rit8 en peinture (Baris$ Flammarion 379;)/ Jean.FranNois
@yotard La condition postmoderne2 rapport sur le sa(oir (Baris$ Sditions de Ainuit 3797)/ ?illes
,eleu-e and FOli# ?uattari Capitalisme et schi.ophr8nie (Baris$ Sditions de minuit : vols. 379: and
37;6). Of the innumerable overviews published since the late 3796<s and early 37;6<s on post.structuralist
andPor postmodern andPor deconstructionist thin"ers one can mention Eteven Connor<s $ostmodernist
Culture2 an introduction to theories o" the contemporary (O#ford Cambridge Aass.$ +lac"well 3779)
and %olfgang %elsch<s =nsere postmoderne Moderne ,ritte Auflage (%einheim$ KC* Acta *umaniora
3773).
Ossi Mau""arinen$ Echool of Kisual Culture. =niversity of Art and ,esign *elsin"i.
*Cmeentie 385 C. 665J6 *elsin"i. Finland
ossi.nau""arinenVuiah.fi
Bublished ,ecember :3 :665