The Aesthetics of Inquiry

Alex Fisher

Nele van de Mosselaer

Cryptic Crosswords

�Knowledge-Based Videogames

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Conspiracy Theories

Inquiry in art

Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges)

Roelof Louw, 1967

Inquiry in Artifacts

Zetetic turn in epistemology��ζητέω – zeteo – to inquire���Role of aesthetics in inquiry��

Inquiry

Robbie Kubala on crosswords:�Aesthetic experience of our agency�Harmony between difficulty/ability and clue/answer�

Chris Earley on art:�We can appreciate inquiry prompted by art�(rather than insight contained within the artwork)

Plan:

1. Case study: videogames
2. Inquiry: content vs affordances
3. Conspiracy theories

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TUNIC

Isometricorp Games, 2022

Aim: propositional knowledge

Aim: knowledge-how

Perspective Shift

Aesthetic consequences:��1. Replaying can offer new experience��2. Spoilers take new forms – mechanics��3. Emergent social practices of inquiry

Aesthetic consequences:��1. Replaying can offer new experience��2. Spoilers take new forms – mechanics��3. Emergent social practices of inquiry

Aesthetic consequences:��1. Replaying can offer new experience��2. Spoilers take new forms – mechanics��3. Emergent social practices of inquiry

Aim of inquiry

Aim of inquiry

The Ambassadors

Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

Affordance Inquiry

The Ambassadors

Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

Affordance Inquiry

Taylor Swift�Easter Eggs

“I think the best messages are cryptic ones”

QAnon

‘QAnon creeps into your thoughts, and changes the lens through which you see the world’��Cullen Hoback�Director of Q: Into the Storm

Perspective Shift

The School of Athens

Raphael, 1509–1511

Game Transfer Phenomena:

Game Transfer Phenomena:

Aesthetic appeal 🡪 imaginative engagement 🡪 contagion 🡪 belief