Rhythms are everywhere, both within and outside ourselves. Exploring the reciprocal interactions between these external and internal energy patterns means advancing our understanding of how we relate to the world. Aesthetic Rhythms is an interdisciplinary work that addresses the role of different aspects of rhythm – repetition, form, coordination, and energy – and notions such as entrainment and attunement in artistic and everyday aesthetic experiences, from dancing with other people to playing videogames, watching films or just strolling through an unknown city. Vara Sánchez discusses theories from different philosophical traditions, with particular emphasis on John Dewey’s pragmatist aesthetics, and empirical studies concerning the dynamics of our engagement with the environment. Building upon this framework, he offers an enactive account of the progressive emergence of the aesthetic from general experience.

Carlos Vara Sánchez is a two-time Marie-Skłodowska-Curie research fellow, currently at Complutense University of Madrid and previously at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. He works on aesthetics, affectivity and cognition from an embodied and enactive perspective with a particular focus on dynamic notions such as rhythm, affordance, and attunement. These topics are at the core of his publications in international journals and edited volumes.