Aesthetic Subjectivity: Conduit between Subject- Object and Creativity- Knowledge

A notion of an ‘aesthetic subjectivity’ may be a useful in the understanding, practice and validation of creative based research. This notion emerged from a practice based examination of the traditional duality of subject and object. This model posits that the subject emerges from, and exists in, aesthetic continuum with the processes of embodiment and experiences of its environment. The idea of embodied consciousness has been recently validated by neuroscience; the idea that our sense of self extends socially has been endorsed by research presented by Semin, et al 2008. What happens when we formally construct this extended mode of subjectivity as a device of knowledge production? The knowledge produced from this basis of subjectivity is of a different nature to conventional knowledge. It uses a different method of inquiry and its inquiries extend beyond the objective environment, and into non-linear psycho-social-spiritual environments. ‘Aesthetic subjectivity’ is underpinned by the variables of bodily, cultural and environmental specificity. Artists have always drawn knowledge from the world using this mode. Using creative practice to examine the interrelation of synaesthesia, memory and imagination showed how subjectivity can be imprinted by social-sensory experience which leads to the creation of ‘aesthetic formations’. These are multi-lateral intersections of emotion, cognition and behaviour. ‘Aesthetic formations’ correlate to Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s notion of ‘corporeal schema’ and with the concept of ‘body maps’ postulated by Antonio Damasio. Neuroscience has produced profound insights into the embodied mind; an important opportunity exists for arts researchers to talk back to that science.