23 June: Benefit of Clergy: Helen Lewis and Nathan Waddell
Art, Morality and the "Genius Myth"
6.30pm - 7.30pm, Monday 23rd June
31-34 Gordon Square, University College London, Archaeology LT (G6)
Tickets from £12 / £8. Friends and UCL students go free - join today
"The important thing is not to denounce him as a cad who ought to be horsewhipped, or to defend him as a genius who ought not to be questioned, but to find out why he exhibits that particular set of aberrations." – George Orwell
What do we do with great art made by deeply flawed—or even reprehensible—people?
In his 1944 essay Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dalí, Orwell wrestled with two "fallacies": that no "morally degraded" person can produce good art, and that anyone who raises moral objections to good art has no "aesthetic sense". Eighty years on, the “middle ground” Orwell sought remains elusive—and Orwell himself is now part of the debate.
In this special Orwell Festival event, Helen Lewis, journalist and author of The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers, joins Nathan Waddell, author of A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, to discuss what happens when morality, art, and "genius" collide.
Art, Morality and the "Genius Myth"
6.30pm - 7.30pm, Monday 23rd June
31-34 Gordon Square, University College London, Archaeology LT (G6)
Tickets from £12 / £8. Friends and UCL students go free - join today
"The important thing is not to denounce him as a cad who ought to be horsewhipped, or to defend him as a genius who ought not to be questioned, but to find out why he exhibits that particular set of aberrations." – George Orwell
What do we do with great art made by deeply flawed—or even reprehensible—people?
In his 1944 essay Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dalí, Orwell wrestled with two "fallacies": that no "morally degraded" person can produce good art, and that anyone who raises moral objections to good art has no "aesthetic sense". Eighty years on, the “middle ground” Orwell sought remains elusive—and Orwell himself is now part of the debate.
In this special Orwell Festival event, Helen Lewis, journalist and author of The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers, joins Nathan Waddell, author of A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, to discuss what happens when morality, art, and "genius" collide.
Art, Morality and the "Genius Myth"
6.30pm - 7.30pm, Monday 23rd June
31-34 Gordon Square, University College London, Archaeology LT (G6)
Tickets from £12 / £8. Friends and UCL students go free - join today
"The important thing is not to denounce him as a cad who ought to be horsewhipped, or to defend him as a genius who ought not to be questioned, but to find out why he exhibits that particular set of aberrations." – George Orwell
What do we do with great art made by deeply flawed—or even reprehensible—people?
In his 1944 essay Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dalí, Orwell wrestled with two "fallacies": that no "morally degraded" person can produce good art, and that anyone who raises moral objections to good art has no "aesthetic sense". Eighty years on, the “middle ground” Orwell sought remains elusive—and Orwell himself is now part of the debate.
In this special Orwell Festival event, Helen Lewis, journalist and author of The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers, joins Nathan Waddell, author of A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, to discuss what happens when morality, art, and "genius" collide.