Beauty and aesthetics
Communication and language
idea
What is the secret to an evocative smell description?
Many languages have very few odour-related words, so conveying what a scent is like requires knowing your audience
by Giulia Martina
Philosophy of art
idea
To master the art of close looking, learn to hold time still
Visual literacy is a skillset that’s rarely taught, but it begins with learning how to look – and how to hold time still
by Grace Linden
Architecture
guide
How to appreciate buildings
It’s easy to become blasé about the built world. Tune in more deeply and architectural adventures await around each corner
by Colin Ellard
Disability
film
‘I’ll always err on the side of beauty’ – a mother’s cinematic ode to her son
Directed by Kelly O’Brien
Artists and art history
idea
Is the attunement of abstract art and music more than a metaphor?
How does the abstract art of Kandinsky and Klee imitate the meaning and emotion in the music of Shostakovich and Bach?
by Michelle Liu
Beauty and aesthetics
idea
Beauty is not an ornament to the good life, it is at its heart
Why does the hand want to draw what the eye sees as beautiful? Why do we respond to beauty by creating the beautiful?
by Nick Riggle
Beauty and aesthetics
guide
How to curate (just about) anything
Sure, tidying up is a start. But it won’t get you to the kind of lived-in, personalised space that defines an ideal of home
by Glenn Adamson
Beauty and aesthetics
film
The quiet exuberance of wintering alone on an empty island off New England
Directed by Brian Bolster
Music
idea
They’re playing our song! The philosophical puzzle of cover songs
Can a song be both the original and a copy? Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and the ‘crazy’ philosophical puzzle of song covers
by P D Magnus
Beauty and aesthetics
idea
What happens if we make the Mona Lisa more symmetrical?
The Golden Ratio and symmetry are two universal rules of beauty. The problem is they conflict with one another
by Manil Suri
Artists and art history
film
An artist’s serene moving paintings probe the surface of reality itself
Films by Susi Sie