What Good Are the Arts?

Sorry, this event’s been and gone

When:

Fri 14 May ’10, 6:00pm–7:00pm

Where: ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, 50 Mayoral Drive, Auckland CBD Show map

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

Standard, from 12 May: $23.00
Earlybird: $19.50
Club Member: $18.50
Student: $11.50
Booking fees may apply

Website:

www.writersfestival.co.nz

Favourites:

Angela Radford

John Carey’s controversial book What Good Are the Arts? (2005) tackled a number of questions designed to agitate art-lovers: “What is a work of art? Is ‘high art’ superior? Can science help? Do the arts make us better? Can art be a religion?”

Denis Dutton’s The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution asks why we dedicate so much time, effort and resources to art when it seemingly does nothing to increase our chances of survival, and goes on to set out what Darwinian aesthetics can bring to our understanding of art.

And despite having thrown herself into the vortex of the contemporary art world in the course of researching Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton continues to be fascinated by artists and amused by the world that supports them.

They discuss the complexities of art and its enduring fascination for humankind with Linda Tyler.

Presented as a part of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival.