Paper short abstract:

Proposing an anthropological notion of slowing down, the paper explores the role of an 'anthropology of aesthetics' and of 'gradual gaze' as contemplation and 'sensing the perceiving'.

Paper long abstract:

Based on my previous work on 'gradual gaze', I refer to slowing down as a process of both unlearning and learning, which is to say, discovering and deconstructing one's own automatisms and connecting with the environment. In this regard, slowing down does not mean slowness and is not the counterpart of speeding up. But "the art of slowing down is a way of attentive thinking and having an impact on the kind of knowledge development" (Kashanipour 2015). Elaborating further the concept of 'gradual gaze', this paper proposes an 'anthropology of aesthetics' which, unlike most aesthetic theories, is not concerned with art and beauty but refers to the Greek word (aisthanomai), meaning 'to perceive' and 'to sense the perceiving'.

Due to life conditions in neo-capitalism which define the human as 'homo oeconomicus' exclusively, the gradual loss of 'sensing the perceiving' makes one vulnerable to abstract structures of high speed processes and systematic McDonaldization of life (Ritzer). At the same time one feels the fear of being dropped out of this high speed train. Being trapped, but at the same time involved in the structures of the present makes it a challenge to break this entanglement. Considering the constant loss of 'sensing the perceiving' and its consequences, the paper explores the role of an 'anthropology of aesthetics' and of 'gradual gaze' as contemplation.