Jerrold Levinson at Kent

17.10.2008

The School of Drama, Film and Visual Arts and the Aesthetics Research Group of the University of Kent have just announced the appointment of Professor Jerrold Levinson as Visiting Leverhulme Professor in Philosophy of Art for 2008-9.

Professor Levinson is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, and the author of many significant works in aesthetics and the philosophy of art, including Music, Art, and Metaphysics, Music in the Moment, The Pleasures of Aesthetics, and Contemplating Art. Further information on his profile and publications can be found here.

Over the course of the year, he will deliver a number of research seminars and act as respondent to papers given by other scholars. In the spring term, he will deliver a series of open lectures on ten key concepts in aesthetics. Updated details on Professor Levinson’s lectures, seminars and other activities will be posted here. Recordings of his presentations will be made available on this web page.

Attention to Godard

06.10.2008

First Name: Carmen.

I was in Lisbon for a day and still I found the time to purchase two of my favourite Godards. Passion (1982) and First Name: Carmen (Prenom: Carmen, 1983) have recently been released on DVD in pristine copies with introductions by Colin MacCabe.

As I re-watched the two films at night, it became clear that, contrary to what some people say, Godard’s films do not demand a patient spectator. Passion and Prenom: Carmen ask for an attentive viewer, one who knows that this attention is not different from the kind of awareness that we should devote to ordinary and precious things, to striking images and words that we may want to remember and revisit. Seeing instead of simply looking, listening instead of merely hearing, is vital, not dull.

Cowboys in Space

03.10.2008

Serenity (2005).

I am giving an invited talk tomorrow at the Faculty of Fine Arts - University of Lisbon on Joss Whedon’s inter-genre work. My presentation is titled “Cowboys no Espaço: Convergências de Géneros em Firefly e Serenity” (“Cowboys in Space: Convergences of Genres in Firefly and Serenity”) and is part of an annual event called Fantastic Forum that is taking place for the third time. The programme is available here (in Portuguese).