Table of Contents

List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Culture and the Up-Ending of Tradition 2. Hegel, Art and Adequation 3. Adorno, The Constriction of the Aesthetic and Difficult Art 4. Modern Music and the Pact with the Devil 5. At the Precipice of Pop Culture: Wagner and Mahler 6. Art Beyond the Horizon 7. The Culture Industry and Popular Culture 8. Light Music and Lazy Listening 9. Jazz and “Jazz” 10. Ugliness and Kitsch 11. Aesthetics of Alienation 12. “Fashion Theory”: A Philosophy of Dress 13. Lady Gaga’s Gaga Aesthetics 14. Madonna to the Power of X 15. Fashion and the Redeployment of Kitsch 16. Philosophy in Fabric: Deconstruction in Contemporary Fashion Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

Explores the philosophy of art theory, showing how high and low visual cultures draw extensively on each other's influence.

About the Author

Adam Geczy is an artist and writer who teaches at Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney, Australia. Vicki Karaminas is Professor of Fashion and Director of Doctoral Studies in the School of Design, Massey University, New Zealand, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre of Visual Arts, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Reviews

Starting from the question of culture and the up-ending of tradition, passing through Hegel, Adorno, the culture industry, light music, jazz and fashion, examining closely the aesthetics of alienation, ugliness and kitsch, and finally arriving to Madonna and Lady Gaga, Gaga Aesthetics offers a convincing and fascinating interpretation of leading trends and fundamental aspects of both contemporary art and everyday life, which can be of the greatest concern not only for academic scholars but also, in general, for all readers genuinely interested in understanding our time.
*Stefano Marino, Associate Professor of Aesthetics, University of Bologna, Italy*

A sharp and polished new theory book by two mature, well-published and highly respected scholars. It represents a major contribution to not just culture studies but to art theory, visual culture, philosophy, fashion theory and communication studies, and it will be of general interest to anyone interested in today’s global intersectional and intertextual world.
*Joy Sperling, Professor of Art History and Visual Culture, Denison University, USA*