Miguel Tamen’s inquiry into what it means to be an “artistic” person is a light-hearted dive into the philosophy of art. Uncovering basic assumptions about what it means to encounter an artwork by way of examples such as the city of Naples, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Tamen’s characteristic style handles weighty problems with ease.

Miguel Tamen’s enquiry into what it means to be an “artistic” person is a light-hearted dive into the philosophy of art. Uncovering basic assumptions about what it means to encounter an artwork by way of examples such as the city of Naples, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Tamen’s characteristic style handles weighty problems with ease. Horace, Bertrand Russell, Franco Moretti, and Ludwig Wittgenstein are all at play in this plea for a renewed understanding of closeness and its importance.