UNC professor ponders beauty

The wood-paneled room, hung with thick tapestries and oil paintings, where Robert Vance lectured Tuesday afternoon, might traditionally be considered beautiful.

But for Vance, an artist and a retired professor of philosophy who taught at UNC for 35 years, the space probably lacked some qualities inherent in a beautiful room.

His talk, “Why Beauty is Important,” explored the intersection between philosophy and art, encouraging attendees to explore the significance of the beauty they find in both art and nature.

“Throughout the art world, beauty remains in short supply,” Vance said. “It has been the impulse of modern art to destroy beauty.”

Vance also said beauty is relevant even in today’s world of war, famine and disease.

But Vance differentiated between what he deemed “Vogue beauty,” ephemeral ideas discerned from fashion magazines and Hollywood stars, from a “transformative beauty” that he said can exist only in art.

Transformative beauty, as defined by Vance, is revelatory about deep truths, enlightening us about common human expression.

“Without art whose beauty is transformative, we are cut off from one of the highest human experiences: the experience of how it is for us all.”

Vance cited examples of both tragic and commonplace transformative art, ranging from Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.”

He said the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, for example, is transformative in that it transfigures grief and despair for one person into a more general reverence of human life.

About 15 people showed up for the 90-minute lecture.

Vance used typed handouts and PowerPoint slides to connect with the audience members and better illustrate his complicated philosophical arguments.

“It’s important to wrap one’s mind around the philosopher’s construction and to counter the emotional response to beauty,” said Karyn Traut, a local playwright and previous student of Vance who attended the event.

Tuesday’s program was one of a series of lectures that are part of the General Alumni Association’s Carolina College for Lifetime Learning, which usually hosts about 30 to 35 events like this each semester.

The event was organized by Steffi Kinton, coordinator of alumni education and travel.

“Typically our audience is comprised of alumni that are retired and live in the area, but the events are open to anyone who is interested,” she said.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.