From Popular Art To Somaesthetics

In the 1990s, popular art is the focus of Richard Shusterman's theories. Since 1999, Somaesthetics has absolutely played the main role which is called Somatic Turn by himself. Except the new theory, Shusterman have almost no elaboration on the association between the previous theory and the latter.This dissertation illustrates the outline of pop art theory and Somaesthetics. Meanwhile, the purpose of dissertation is trying to discusss the concealed clues that connect pop art theory to Somaesthetics. It concludes that moral hazard of pop art overturns the standpoint of meliorism, which is also a variant of elitism. The foundation of meliorism is transplanted from pop art's texts to the subject's body, which aims to maintain the central value of pop art and eliminate ethical controversy. Also, the change in foundation of meliorism indicates a clear shifting from pure aesthetics to interdisciplinary field. As a result of the academic steering, Somaesthetics emphasizes on the importance of philosophical practice and body-mind theory, confirming the body as a workplace where experience can be improved. But due to the excessively ambitious blueprint, Somaesthetics not only fails to accommodate the complex phenomena, but also hardly realize the promise of all-round improvement. Therefore, the problem of pop art remains unsolved.