The Discursive Field of Aesthetic Practice as Critique in Switzerland (1913–1985)

This dissertation project, which forms part of the SNSF Sinergia project “Practices of Aesthetic Thinking”, examines on a historical and discursive level the emergence of aesthetic practice as critique in German-speaking Switzerland between 1913 and 1985. The dissertation begins by examining the founding of the design schools after 1880.

Individuals including Hermann Kienzle, Georg Schmidt, Werner Jehle and Alfred Altherr Jr. were educated in a university setting and would later work in design schools or museums. The initial hypothesis posits that working on and with artistic and design artefacts gave rise to the, development of a material and practice-based aesthetic concept. Aesthetic critique can therefore be viewed as a condensing process of interpreting the perceptual experience. Aesthetic criteria for evaluating artistic and design objects are created through the interplay between linguistic and non-linguistic elements, drawn from participation in different discourses involving a range of actors, institutions, media and artefacts. This project explores the discursive and historical conditions that engendered the formation of the categories developed in aesthetic practice.

This project investigates the way in which knowledge of the history and theory of art migrated from the university and academic context to the institutional environment of schools of art and design, how knowledge content was restructured and transformed, and how the interrelationship between individual actors, institutions, media and artefacts contributed to a practice of critique in art and design.

Project duration: 2017 – 2021