Sense & Sensation: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century

Adapted from his book The Pleasures of the Imagination, historian/host John Brewer's Sense & Sensation has a fascinating core subject: the seismic cultural shift that occurred in Britain when the standards for art appreciation “moved out of the courtyard and into the marketplace.” The 18th century Georgian period was punctuated by, among other attributes, an increase in public art, from Handel's live concerts in the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (kind of like Simon & Garfunkel in Central Park) to the selling of mementos to patrons of John Gay's decidedly rakish “The Beggar's Opera” (the Natural Born Killers of its day). Looking at “our unashamedly neon culture,” in which art and commerce not only regularly bed down together but produce offspring (and spin-offs), Brewer--to quote Talking Heads' David Byrne--implies that it's “same as it ever was,” at least since the 18th century. In making his argument, Brewer offers voiceover narration exploring various period illustrations and paintings, supplemented with live interviews of contemporary curators of sundry museums. Unfortunately, the latter tend to go on far too long and drift a considerable thematic distance from Brewer's admittedly intriguing thesis. Still, there is much here that should be of interest to historians and art aficionados. A strong optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)