Empowered Amateur Posers

Aurélie Debaene cites a lack of aesthetics research on the professional art model, concluding that the artistic enterprise of collaboration or 'partnering' between model and artist can lead viewers to under-appreciate their conjoined creativity and skill. I argue for a collaborative model that extends the notion of art model beyond the professional to the amateur art model/poser/performer. On this model, an artist can achieve success in an artwork by: (1) posing their self in a self-portrait and/or (2) inviting viewers to pose in artworks designed to 'partner' together in creating an aesthetic experience of shared creativity, skill, and pleasure.