the everyday aesthetics of sport extended by applying traditional art aesthetics

322 Pages·2016·2.22 MB·English

by  Darryn Brick

A new interpretation of sport derived
from art-related aesthetics

by

Danny Shorkend

submitted in accordance with the
requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Literature and Philosophy

in the subject

Art History

at the

University of South Africa

Supervisor: Professor FJ Potgieter

February 2016

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Dedicated in loving memory of my father, David Shorkend

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SUMMARY

This thesis is concerned with understanding sport theory based on art theory. In so doing,
in extending their relationship, a deeper appreciation of both may result. In turn, this may
enhance our lives.

While postmodern theories of art somewhat devalue the rarefied status of art, at the same
time art’s openness is particularly well appointed to understanding other aesthetic
domains. Scholarly attention to the so-called aesthetics of the everyday of which sport is
an example, is a relatively recent paradigm shift that attempts to give philosophical
weight to common, ordinary experiences as aesthetic. Art as the paradigm case of
aesthetic experience is therefore useful in illuminating such experiences, one of which is
sport.

The results of this study are: Like art, sport idealises in its desire for perfection. Like art,
sport is a second-order mimetic activity that is autonomous and reflects extra-aesthetic
concerns. The implications of the postmodern language turn for art, namely detotalising
and/or meaninglessness can be applied to sport. Drawing from Wittgenstein, art and sport
are culturally embedded within institutional frameworks and quite simply are learnt ways
of thinking and doing. Expressive theories of art were introduced which, it was found,
has resonance with sport, as it can be similarly described as an expression of “aesthetic
ideas”, to use Kant’s phrase. The artistic formalist perspective and the realization of form
led to describing sport as aesthetically beautiful in many ways. One might apply
Zangwell’s moderate aesthetic formalism to sport where formal qualities, representation
and content co-exist, thus somewhat combining the above conclusions.

An analysis of this kind suggests that sport may derive its meaning from an artistic
perspective, at least in theory. At the same time, though not the primary focus of this
thesis, one might describe the relationship between art and sport as an oscillation, if at
times a dialectic, in which case boundaries between them inevitably become more
complex. It is conceivable that within that complexity/struggle/play there can be self-
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realization and world-bettering. It is also conceivable that this is a result of the emergence
of a new sub-discipline, namely sports art.

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Keywords

art, sport, idealism, mimesis, postmodernism, institution, expressionism, formalism, play,
body, aesthetic
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Acknowledgements

I would sincerely like to thank my supervisor Professor Frikkie Potgieter for his guidance
and without whom this project could not have come to fruition. He has been instrumental
in helping me complete the thesis. In the struggle to work at improving this thesis, I can
only hope I live up to the idea of what a scholar is meant to be.

The following people have also helped me in various ways through discussions of various
kinds: Dr Nombe Mpako (UNISA – art history), Athena Vahla (Rhodes University –
dance), Dr Aubrey Wulfshon (Warwick University – mathematics), Dr Gregory Fried
(UCT – philosophy), Professor Tim Noakes (UCT – sports science), Rashid Begg
(University of Stellenbosch – social science), Hayden Proud (South African National
Gallery), David Zetler (gallery owner), Albert Shorkend, Reza Omar, Barnet Momsen, Dr
Sherrylle Calder (UCT – sports science), Dawie Malan (Unisa librarian), Darryn Brick,
Andrew Lamprecht (UCT – art discourse), Sanford Shamon, Davin Maltz, Jason
Solomons, Craig Marcus, Dr Tony Kelly, Marcelle Shamon, Rabbi Mendel Popack, Ilze
Holtzhausen de Beer (Unisa – editor) and Prof X, anonymous critical reader and advisor
procured by the UNISA art history department. There are also others, too numerous to
mention that have helped me forge this thesis.

A thank you to my wife, Niki and our daughters Hannah and Shira for their support and
love.
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Table of Contents

Forword………………………………………….……………………………………1
List of illustrations……………………………………………………………………3
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………5
Chapter 1: Idealization in art and sport ................................................................... 47
1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 47
1.2. Idealist theories of art…...…………………………………………………. 48
1.3. Idealist theories of sport ............................................................................... 61
1.4. Common-sense confluences between art and sport via the lens of idealism
72
1.5. A Kantian theory of sport ............................................................................ 75
1.6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 79
Chapter 2: Mimetic theories of art and sport .......................................................... 80
2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 83
2.2. Plato’s critique of mimesis ........................................................................... 85
2.3. Four “orders” of mimesis: a hermeneutic approach ................................. 87
2.4. The “orders of mimesis” in relation to sports theory ................................ 95
2.5. A common-sense observation: mimetic “play” ........................................ 100
2.6. Common-sense confluences between art and sport via the lens of mimesis
108
2.7. The athletic contest as a “tragic” form of art ………….…………….. . 113
2.8. Conclusion. .................................................................................................. 116
Chapter 3: The postmodern “language turn” in relation to art and sport ......... 119
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 120
3.2. The “language turn” ................................................................................... 121
3.3. Postmodern art ............................................................................................ 124
3.4. Postmodern sport ........................................................................................ 138
3.5. The argument from “intertwining” ........................................................... 147
3.6. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 152
Chapter 4: Institutional theories of art and sport ................................................. 155
4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 155
4.2. Institutional theories of art……………………………………………….156
4.3. The “art world” ........................................................................................... 161
4.4. The rise of the institution of sport ............................................................. 170
4.5. A Marxist critique of the institution of sport ........................................... 174
4.6. Two observations: how does this comparison enrich our understanding of
both? 179
4.7. On Wittgenstein and intransitive knowledge ........................................... 188
4.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 192
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Chapter 5: Expressive theories of art and sport .................................................... 195
5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 195
5.2. Expressive theories of art – definition and history .................................. 196
5.3. Critique of expressive theories ................................................................... 205
5.4. Comparative expressive theories of sport ................................................. 209
5.5. Critique of an “expressive” theory of sport towards multiple emotional
states .................................................................................................................... 218
5.6. Two surface observations ........................................................................... 219
5.7. An extension of sport aesthetics by applying Guyer’s “Kant and
philosophy of Architecture” ................................................................................. 224
5.8. Conclusion....................................................................................................226
Chapter 6: Formalist theories of art and sport ...................................................... 229
6.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………….229
6.2. Defining formalist theories of art .............................................................. 230
6.3. Critique of formalist theories of art .......................................................... 240
6.4. Formalism in sport ...................................................................................... 245
6.5. Critique of formalist theories of sport ...................................................... 253
6.6. An observation: The will to form .............................................................. 254
6.7. Elaborations on the “will to form” extended with reference to Nietzsche
and others .............................................................................................................. 259
6.8. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 265
Conclusion: ................................................................................................................ 270
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………….285
References:................................................................................................................. 287

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Foreword

Maradona, turns like a little eel, comes away from trouble, little squat man…comes inside Butcher,
leaves him for dead…outside Fenick, leaves him for dead…and puts the ball away and
that is why Maradona is the greatest player in the world. He buried the English defense…he picked up
that ball forty yards out…

I can still hear it. I call still see it. Those glorious few moments when Diego Armando
Maradona dribbled past half the English side to score that fantastic quarter final goal for
Argentina against England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The English commentator described
that superlative effort but probably did not match the emotional intensity of his Spanish
colleague. It was an iconic moment, like the wonderfully documented Bobby Fischer of the
United States taking on the reigning World Chess champion of the time, the Soviet Union’s
Boris Spassky during the Cold War era, a 24 match dual that has often being described as
scintillatingly beautiful.

Sport is common, but such moments are rare1. They are beautiful. They are also historic,
inimical to their sport and yet they reach out, even changing history, inspiring, motivating
and captivating. The beautiful, the aesthetic is usually reserved not for sport, but for “higher”
culture, namely art. Nevertheless, I have an intuition that art and sport interplay. In the
process an oscillation between sport theory and art theory results, because they share an
aesthetic dimension.

When I was a boy, winning a judo contest was of great importance (chess and soccer were
almost equally significant). Later, making a painting expressed my creative impulse. I grew
more philosophical, turning inward in order to attempt to understand life. In this thesis such
interests are combined and “intertwined” – and this is at the heart of a study of this sort. In
understanding culture, such as art and sport, is therefore also a kind of self-knowledge. It is at
once an engagement with the tradition of Western art and the rather recent academic attention
to sport, as well as a personal compass that enables me to navigate towards self-
understanding. In the process, I hope to offer the reader why art is useful in bringing to light
aspects of sport that are perhaps not that conscious, at least discursively and so to develop a
mere intuition into a detailed account of why sport fascinates to the point of perhaps being the

1 Such examples are the heights of sport, part of its very tradition and do not cancel the power and beauty of
sport played recreationally and at “lower” levels, including the viewing thereof.
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