# Aesthetic Effortlessness  ## Metadata - Author: [[Barbara Gail Montero]] - Full Title: Aesthetic Effortlessness - Category: #articles - Summary: insert summary - My notes: - Summary: The text explores the concept of effortlessness in bodily movements and artistic expression. Effortlessness is often admired in athletes, artists, and performers, but it can be complex to define and appreciate fully. The relationship between effortlessness and difficulty in creating or perceiving art is also examined. - URL: https://readwise.io/reader/document_raw_content/165294602 - Source File: Aesthetic Effortlessness by Barbara Gail Montero.pdf ## LLM Chats ## NotebookLM ## LLM Audio ## Highlights > To look at just a few examples, the ancient Chinese Daoist thinkers Laozi and Zhuangzi exalted effortless action, or wu-wei (literally translated as “no trying”), in both the artisan and the political leader. The Italian Renaissance theorist Baldassare Castiglione’s (1528/1975, 67) Book of the Courtier inspired the artists of his day to, as he puts it, “practice in all things a certain nonchalance which conceals all artistry and makes whatever one says or does seem ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa15zksdghfj2wj5kyznwyt)) > uncontrived and effortless.” And, arguably, one aspect of what Kant (1790/2007, 135) meant when he said that “the fine arts must not seem purposeful, although they are purposeful,” or, as he explains, that “fine art must be able to be considered as nature,” is, in part, that fine art must appear to be merely a product of nature, that is, it must appear to be effortless.2 ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa1640345jhdhzp9afk4e42)) > To mention one more historical period during which the concept of effortlessness garnered the attention of theorists (a period I shall return to), we find effortlessness and the closely related concept of grace discussed, analyzed, and greatly admired by the late nineteenth-/early twentieth-century thinkers Henri Bergson and Herbert Spencer, with Bergson (1889/2001) describing the impression of grace as “the perception of a certain ease, a certain facility in the outward movements,” and Spencer claiming that “truly graceful motions . . . were those performed with comparatively little effort” (1852/1892, 381) and that “a good dancer . . . makes us feel that . . . an economy of effort has been achieved” (1852/1892, 382–3). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwmdw8116tzs323w8rabg0jt)) > In appreciating a work of art such as a dance, a sculpture, a painting, or a musical performance, the accolade “effortless” may apply to three aspects of a work, what I shall call the “medium,” the “representation,” and the “process.” The medium encom- passes the relatively lower-level entities, properties, processes, and relations that comprise the work. For a dance, this might be bodily movements; for a painting, this might be the array of paint. The representation is, unsurprisingly, what the work rep- resents. For example, John Ward’s sculpture of William Shakespeare represents the great author in a pensive, yet effortless pose. And the process is what goes into creat- ing the work, as it appears in the work (rather than, say, the hours in the rehearsal room). > Perhaps a few examples will help clarify these distinctions: > The painting is of an effortless figure (the representation is of an effortless figure). > The painting looks as if the painter created it effortlessly (the process seems effortless). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwmed6s6645hg7eeg7gfe0hv)) > The brushstrokes seem effortless (the medium is effortless). > She played a piece representing a carefree dance (a representation of effortlessness). It sounds as if the pianist plays effortlessly (the process of playing seems effortless). The piano sonata sounds effortless (the medium, the sound produced, is effortless) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa1htak3s1e3jxyn9e0cf84)) > On Bergson’s view, effortlessness, which he closely aligns with grace, is the spilling of one movement right into another.6 With effortless movements, according to Bergson, you expect what is going to happen next: “perception of ease in motion passes over into the pleasure of mastering the flow of time and of holding the future in the present.” Music that accompanies dance, for Bergson, adds to this effect. As he says, “the rhythm and measures [allow] us to foresee to a still greater extent the movements of the dancer” (1889/2001, 12). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa1nxg22cxn4grfdd7s6xqd)) > However, although many actions that we understand as effortless do appear smooth and flowing, it is not clear that all effortless movements are like this. A breakdancer’s movements, for example, may appear effortless yet include at least some sharp, jerky movements, and in fencing, a riposte may be quick, sharp, brilliant, and effortless. True enough, Michael Jackson’s breakdancing was preternaturally fluid, but, arguably, even he could include a sharp, effortless, pop or lock now and again. If these examples are accurately described—and there is room to question them—not all effortless actions are smooth. In addition, the sharp accents or quick ripostes, though effortless, may not be predictable from looking at the current movement. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwmetqyt7v0gdea9vw3wkpgv)) > I am not sure that the connection between gracefulness and effortlessness is as tight as Bergson sees it since, as I shall explain later, I understand our attributions of effortlessness to depend in part on our knowl- edge of the difficulty of the movement; it is not clear that our attributions of gracefulness depend on this, or at least depend on this to the same degree ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa1rzmjgm4vwhyd0y6d04jn)) > Butoh can be smooth and beautiful, yet look extremely effortful. Moreover, effortful actions, such as Butoh, might also contain, as Bergson saw it, the future in the present. You might know, for example, that a Butoh dancer is going to fall, in an excruciatingly painful and protracted way, to the bottom of a staircase.7 Yet you may also feel that this fall takes all his effort and then some ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwmeztq4hcdcpd4fvxjwe10n)) > 381). And in line with this view, it does seem that in praising the effortlessness of a dancer’s or athlete’s movements, we are noting, among other things, an apparent reduction in bodily effort. We may not see his or her movements as requir- ing little bodily exertion—it would be hard to explain all that sweat if that were the case. Rather, we perceive the movements as efficient. As Spencer notes: “after calling to mind sundry confirmatory facts,” he concludes that “grace, as applied to motion, describes motion that is effected with economy of force” (1852/1892, 381). “A good dancer,” he tells us, “makes us feel that . . . an economy of effort has been achieved” (1852/1892, 382–3). Effortless bodily movement seems to use just the muscles neces- sary for the job. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa1wfwmwek4wgem0r64v1eq)) > What else must be present if we are to understand a work of art as effortless? When we attribute effortlessness to bodily movements in dance, it seems that at least in many cases we also see the work as, in some sense, difficult; we see it as difficult, yet appearing easy. Osipova’s effortless leaps are certainly difficult. > In classical music, as well, we often attribute effortlessness to pieces that are techni- cally challenging; that is we attribute effortlessness to the medium—the notes played— in light of an underlying difficulty. Even the Golden Gate Bridge seems to accomplish something very difficult—the longest span—with ease. > This seems to be part of what we love: accomplishing something difficult with ease, or at least apparent ease ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa222v419kp4nmd0nj344rb)) > However, in dance the efficiency equation is a bit more complicated, for in dance sometimes many little steps, as in a pas de couru (which involves many fast, tiny steps), are exactly what is called for. Or consider a pas de cheval, a movement in which the foot moves from a standing position, sensuously wraps around the ankle, and then, after a slight lilt, is extended from the body and lowered down to the floor. Clearly this is not the most direct way to get from point A to point B. Efficient bodily movements in dance, then, cannot be understood as moving with the minimum number of motions or in the most direct way possible from one point to another. Rather, in this context, it seems that an efficient movement is one that involves no superfluous muscle tension. Raised shoulders, for example, will not help one to perform the pas de cheval better, so raised shoulders while doing this step would typically indicate superfluous muscle ten- sion. (Of course, sometimes a raised shoulder is an important part of the movement, such as if one is trying to portray coquettishness. But here the movement would not be superfluous.) > Perhaps the idea that effortless movements do not involve superfluous muscle ten- sion helps explain some of the apparent counterexamples to the Bergsonian view of effortlessness as involving smooth, predictable flowing movements. Perhaps the breakdancer’s sharp movements might seem to involve no excessive effort, that is, no superfluous muscle use. On the other hand, glacially slow yet smooth movement may appear effortful because we sense both the effortful willpower and bodily control. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwmf3npmcpppp4543mwheehr)) > But in what sense is it difficult? I said that we can, at times, sepa- rate our attributions of an effortless process from both an effortless medium and rep- resentation. For example, we might see a painting as representing an effortless individual yet not think that the process was effortless. Yet, it may be that if the individual who is observing a work of art is positively convinced that the process is difficult for an artist, then the appearance of effortlessness, at least effortlessness of medium and perhaps even of representation, may be lessened or destroyed; for effortlessness, it seems, is highly cognitively penetrable: our beliefs about it affect how we experience it ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa233g33vy5ntfa8494kmw7)) > For there are those charmed individu- als who, without any training, seem to just have a naturally effortless gait. Certain indi- viduals just seem to embody aesthetic effortlessness in the way they move about in everyday situations. But even here perhaps we can find that the difficulty resides in how they are moving. They are moving in a way—so smoothly and evenly—that would be difficult for us.8 The seagull spreads its wings and effortlessly soars. It’s not hard for the seagull to do this, but it is an impossibility for us, and so we see it glide unencumbered ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2682bw5kx5qqvbmrvnq4b)) > If this is correct, those who walk effortlessly should not see or appreciate effortlessness (as opposed to merely smooth even movement) in the gait of others, for they do not see it as anything that would be diffi- cult for them to do. Or at least they would not see it to the same extent as those who are not endowed with such grace. Whether this is true, however, I do not know. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa27g115p0hjbgjyr1ceqfj)) > In certain cases of natural effortlessness, such as the seagull’s effortless soar, the action is not difficult to perform for the one who is per- forming it. Yet we are in awe that it can be done at all—we certainly could not soar— and done with such ease. However, how are we to understand the effortlessness of actions that require long hours of deliberate practice to perfect? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa29mjtdz6h0m91s9mkvw42)) > In particular, when we admire the effortlessness of a dancer or athlete, do we marvel at the fact that someone has mastered a movement to such a high degree that it has actually become easy for her to perform? Or is it that we value the appearance, that is, the artist or athlete’s ability to make what is difficult for her appear easy? In most sports, athletes do not deliberately try to make their movements look easy (exceptions might be gymnastics, figure skat- ing, and other such endeavors). However, even in basketball, one can still ask: do we cherish the actual ease of the athlete’s movements, or the (unintentional) appearance of effortlessness in movements that are, for the athlete herself, extremely difficult to perform? Finally, in cases where there is a deliberate attempt to create effortlessness, do we, in addition to treasuring the beauty of the apparent effortlessness of the move- ment, treasure the ability to create the guise of effortlessness ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwmfhfhbpxzxm4tybkjvz1h1)) > The 2012 US Women’s Open champion, Na Yeon Choi, was lauded for her “easy swing that makes her game look effortless”; “yet,” it is pointed out, “it was anything but” (Manoyan 2012). It seems that what is being noted in such cases is not that the athlete’s movements are easy for her to perform, but rather that they appear easy. Thus, it might be that the more one knows about a type of highly skilled movement, the less likely one is to see it as actually easy rather than as merely appearing easy. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2e936fe5f8rqf09zv3pvc)) > It may be that in thinking about the effort of one’s own movements, we place more > weight on whether the task requires effortful will power (than, say, whether it requires great muscular strength) and thus whether we judge an action as requiring a great effort often turns on whether we judge it as requiring great willpower. And whether we determine that an action requires great willpower often depends, it seems, on whether > the action is pleasurable. Doing the dishes, though in some objective sense an easy task, is an activity I find unpleasant—especially when I have waited until midnight— and thus it requires willpower to do, and thus I judge it as effortful. A dancer, in con- trast, may perform something that is in some objective sense effortful; in watching him I might think of his movements, not as presenting the guise of effortlessness, but as truly effortless (with regard to the will) if I assume that the movement is pleasurable and thus requires little willpower ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2ft1zvvcz2d4xx14ek7mb)) > Over and above the appreciation of apparent ease, is the appreciation of the guise of ease, that is, the deliberate creation of ease. Castiglione held that a courtier’s manner should not only appear effortless but also give no indication of the great pains the cour- tier must take in order to create this appearance, for it was believed by him that the courtier’s effortlessness, or sprezzatura, would be destroyed by any suggestion that the process of creating an effortless manner itself required effort. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2gkatt1sqhwv9xh98bjbn)) > How is it that we perceive effortless movement? Most simply, while an effortless piano cadenza is heard, an effortless bodily movement is seen. But is there something special about the way we see effortless movement? Bergson (1889/2001) thought that our per- ception of grace had to do with “physical sympathy”; we feel, in watching a graceful movement, that our body, though stationary, is in some way attuned to the body of the graceful individual. As I understand this, it is the process by which upon watching someone else move, one feels as if one were moving in a similar way oneself. One might call this “proprioceptive sympathy,” and what I have elsewhere called “proprioceiving another’s movement” (Montero 2006a; 2006b).10 Is proprioceptive sympathy relevant to our perception of effortlessness? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2jxn6cx4f3ykrpezet5d8)) > How could Spencer account for why grace affords us such pleasure, he wanted to know, if it is just the saving of effort? > I think Spencer’s (1852/1892) view, however, might have something to recommend it. If the movements we dub as effortless are movements that would be for us difficult to perform yet appear to be performed with reduced effort, then part of the reason why effortless action is attractive could be that it reveals a superfluity of fitness. Of course, proprioceptive sympathy could be part of the reason we admire effortless movement as well. Whether this is in part because proprioceptive sympathy makes us feel as if we were attuned to our fellow human beings, as Bergson seemed to think, I am not so sure, but it does seem that upon watching effortless movement, one of the things we enjoy is the feeling of performing difficult movements in a smooth, coordinated, efficient way (and this, perhaps, can be experienced even if we know great work was put into creat- ing this coordinated efficiency). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2pyrqa5wvjdvev7sjyr96)) > But perhaps most importantly, effortless movements are pleasurable because they are beautiful. And it may be that we recognize them as beautiful because we both sym- pathetically proprioceive them and see them as revealing a superfluity of fitness ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hwa2qpk3n1e4ngds8f90prv8))