Misleading Questions Speaker Series

Over the course of the exhibition, Misled by Nature: Contemporary Art and the Baroque, MOCCA invites viewers to consider the “Baroque” in everyday life. This series of FREE public talks features thinkers across diverse fields who will reflect upon and explore contemporary ideas of aesthetics and judgment in varying and surprising ways.

Speakers:
Erik Anderson, Chair and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Drew University
Cheesy Goodness
Erik Anderson (Madison, NY), Chair and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Drew University and essayist, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, will address the importance of ‘cheesiness’ as a term of aesthetic evaluation in Western popular culture. For example, Memphis Elvis is cool; Vegas Elvis is cheesy.

Kevin Melchionne, artist and researcher
Infinite Warehouse: Art in the Age of Amazon
Artist and researcher Kevin Melchionne, Ph.D. (Scarsdale, NY) asks, “The internet of things is changing how we shop. Is it also changing us aesthetically?” His talk will consider the implications of Amazon, Netflix, Etsy, and other signs of the infinite warehouse for our aesthetic lives.

Generously supported by the Jack Weinbaum Family Foundation