The essential role of aesthetics in human potential
Marc Chagall reviews his stained-glass work, Peace Window, installed in the United Nations building. New York, 1964. Photo by Lee Lockwood/Getty
"Aesthetic life is driven by cycles of imitation, expression, and sharing. But notice that you cannot do this alone. Aesthetic life requires another person – the one you imitate or who imitates you; the one who gifts you their song or who is open to your works. When we engage in aesthetic life in this way, we connect ourselves to others doing the same: we share with them, imitate them, or become imitable to them, receiving their aesthetic offerings in turn. When you live your aesthetic life well, you distribute and create new value that resonates with community: you imitate, express and share, and when you succeed, you become genuinely funny, stylish, playful, discerning, musical, poetic, quirky, bold or creative. In doing so, you augment the aesthetic value in the world by adding to it your own beauty – your riffs and tweaks, your insights and enthusiasms – thereby yourself becoming a source of imitation, expression and sharing. In doing so, you keep collective aesthetic life, our practice of aesthetic valuing, alive." - Nick Riggle
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