Full Description
What separates the chaos of fighting from the coherent ritual of boxing? According to author David Scott, it is a collection of aesthetic constructions, including the shape of the ring, the predictable rhythm of timed rounds, the uniformity of the boxers' glamorous attire, and the stylization of the combatants' posture and punches. In The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing, Scott explores the ways in which these and other aesthetic elements of the sport have evolved over time. Scott comprehensively addresses the rich dialogue between boxing and the arts, suggesting that boxing not only possesses intrinsic aesthetic qualities but also has inspired painters, graphic designers, surrealist poets, and modern writers to identify, expand, and respond to the aesthetic properties of the sport. Divided into three parts, the book moves from a consideration of the evolution and intrinsic aesthetics of boxing to the responses to the sport by cubist and futurist painters and sculptors, installation artists, poster designers, photographers, and, finally, surrealist poets and modernist writers. With distinctive illustrations and photographs in nine short chapters, Scott creates a visual as well as a textual narrative that supplements and concretely demonstrates the deep, dynamic relationship between the art of boxing and the world of art and literature.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1. Framing Violence: The Aesthetics of the Ring
1. The Evolution of Boxing as Regulated Action and Spectacle
2. Boxing Apparel and the Legible Body
3. The Ring and the Ropes
Part 2. The Art of Boxing
4. The Ring as Theater of Modernist Action
5. Visual Tensions: The Ropes
6. Mythical Confrontations: The Ring as Canvas and as Text
7. Visual Metonymies: The Fist and the Glove
Part 3. Writing Boxing
8. The Poetry of Boxing
9. Boxing and Modern Masculinity
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
