„Do świętych pomieszczeń sztuki weszło ciało”1, czyli Berleanta estetyka uczestnictwa i ucieleśnienia

Arnold Berleant rejects the traditional aesthetics of Kantian detached contemplation and selfl essness. Instead of separation of art from everyday life, he introduces the concept of aesthetic fi eld. It assumes a coexistence of several factors: appreciative, focused, creative, and performative. Berleant resign from frag„ mentation of the world of art into spectator, artist, and artwork, and proposes to merge it all together in the aesthetic experience based on active participation and personal involvement. This article presents some selected issues of Berleant’s aesthetics. His theses are confronted with Richard Shusterman’s somaesthetics (pragmatism) and phenomenological attitude of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Berleant’s ideas are illustrated with some examples of contemporary art. I try to explain the issue of participation in a work of art, the role of the body in aesthetic experience and the crucial concept of aesthetic embodiment. I also seek to explore some of the relationships between art and games.