Shusterman's Performing Live

Shusterman traces the diminishing value of aesthetics in art theory. He wants to bring bodily experience back into the discussion of aesthetics through popular art/culture because, like Bourrioud, he believes aesthetics help forge relationships in an increasingly commodified world.
He also notes how as technology replaces the body, our culture becomes more body-conscious. Unlike the Greeks or Kant, he doesn't place the mind over the body, but sees the body as the center, the source of pleasure. Interestingly, he notes how to Plato, the body was seen as temporary, but to an increasingly fast-paced society, the body seems far more lasting than most things. Apparently, the "eternal" is obsolete.
Shusterman argues in favor of variety (media choices, body images), in keeping with Steiner. He also describes how bodily self-improvement has replaced religion for many. Where Adorno finds this change a sign of increasing selfishness, Shusterman thinks otherwise. One source he quotes states links the gymrat phenomenon to the fact that people today have "so little to do." Artists today, Shusterman says, have to balance the tension between "working hard" and "abandoning" themselves. One must prepare for genius, but let go to achieve it.

I see many links to relational art. Shusterman wants to expand the space for discussion of aesthetics and art.

Where is the eternal? At what point did we lose discussion of the eternal, or did we?

I laughed at the comment about people today having so little to do after Shusterman's discussion of gyms. My aunt and uncle have a small sheep farm -- built by their own hands. After working outside for much of the day or spinning, weaving, and working inside of barns or house during bad weather, the last thought on their minds would be going to the gym. Counter to many Door County people, they built their house with smallish, well-placed windows to capture small views. They don't need expansive views of nature after being out in it for much of the day. Since I just visited them, this sprang to mind.

I'm not religious, but I'm not sure that replacing the church with the gym isn't a clear sign of self-centeredness. Isn't that shifting from we to I?