Writings
Joel-Peter Witkin and Julia Kristeva’s theory of the abject:
Joel-Peter Witkin is an ambiguous photographer, whose work is notorious for the depiction of human corpses and various forms of sexual perversion. His photographic images bridge the sublime with the abject and deal with issues such as mortality, body/ gender/ sexuality and also integrate themes from Christian religion and the history of painting and photography.
Julia Kristeva is a philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst and novelist. The main theory which links her and Witkin is the theory of the abject. For Kristeva (Powers of Horror, p.15) abjection is strongly related to perversion and “is above all ambiguity” (p.9).
During the 1980s there was a general spread of the aesthetics of the grotesque and the abject, partly as a means of defetishising the female body and questioning identity. One of the most influential books concerning the abject was Kristeva’s book Powers Of Horror: An Essay On Abjection. According to Kristeva, the abject refers to the reaction to a potential breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object. An obvious example for what causes such a reaction is a corpse (which raises issues of mortality and identity). The realization of mortality is an acceptance of the abject or, in other words, the negation of the self. For Kristeva (1982, p.3), “the corpse, the most sickening of wastes, is a border that has encroached upon everything” and is “the utmost of abjection”.
Kristeva argues in Powers of Horror that the abject is an absolute given of culture. It not only refers to what threatens our body but is also that which "disturbs identity, system, order". For Kristeva the abject has an element of ambiguity: it is that which both revolts and attracts; she compares the aesthetic experience of the abject to a cathartic experience, “an impure process that protects from the abject only by dint of being immersed in it”. She also establishes a connection with religion and art, which she sees as two ways of purifying the abject (p.17):
The various means of purifying the abject -the various catharses- make up the history of religions, and end up with that catharsis par excellence called art, both on the far and near side of religion.
Witkin’s art is infiltrated by his personal experiences- experiences which include witnessing the decapitation of a girl in a car accident (when he was a child) and photographing human corpses during his army service. His work is also connected to his spiritual beliefs: for him photography is a means to make visible his personal view of the world and especially his perception of God. He describes the creation of his art as a reactionary and simultaneously religious/cathartic experience (Revolt Against the Mystical, 1976):
I revolt against the mystical in order to be overwhelmed and won over by it. It is unfathomable, yet I attempt to understand it. It is invisible, yet I try to objectify it, hoping to find revelation and truth.
For Kristeva, artistic creation and all creativity requires revolt. Revolt (2003, p.217-8) has to do with the restructuring of the psyche and “can involve a return to the subject’s past in order to displace it, and, in a therapeutic sense, to find release from it.” She also establishes a connection between the abject and the sublime because in her opinion (1982, p.11) both involve a sense of loss of the self. For her (p.9) “the time of abjection is double: a time of oblivion and thunder, of veiled infinity and the moment when revelation bursts forth.”
A typical example of Witkin’s attempt to be “purified” by the means of abjection, art and religion can be seen in his photograph “Penitente” (Image 1). “Penitente” portrays his view of God in a negative/abject manner. Witkin has mentioned (Revolt Against the Mystical, 1976) that his intension is to create positive images, “but in the process…the very thing that is sought becomes twisted and represented as something else.” Chris Townsend (Vile Bodies, 1998, p.52) has commented that “Witkin’s art (is) the product of an uncertain spiritual quest rather than religious conviction”. His photography (p.52) “invites us to share in uncertainty…(his) allegories of suffering should guarantee an assurance of faith, but never quite succeed.” He also suggests (p.47) that “the desired reaction (to Witkin’s photographs) is not an understanding of our ‘superiority’, our bodily integrity, but a sense of inadequacy, of our spiritual failure.”
Bill Viola and Carl Gustav Jung’s concept of archetypes:
Bill Viola is a video and sound artist whose work has a timeless quality, as he chooses archetypal themes (reminiscent of Jung’s concept of archetypes) such as birth/death/rebirth, body/spirit, fire/water, light/darkness, the unfolding of consciousness etc. Viola’s work integrates knowledge from diverse sources (also a characteristic of Jung’s work) such as art history, psychology, religion, Eastern philosophies and Christian mysticism. “My work”, he says (http:// www.videoartworld.com), “is focused on a process of self-discovery and self-realization. Video is part of my body. It is intuitive and subconscious.” For Viola (Art in Question, 2003, p.82), the medium of video is the ideal way to present archetype images which have a very “direct” and intense effect on the viewer. His view is (p.74) that “the picture is more real than the thing itself” and what he aims to achieve (p.84) is “to bring the inner emotional spiritual eye together with the objective observer eye”.
Carl Gustav Jung was a psychiatrist whose research involved the fields of religion, alchemy, mythology and dreams. Jung was an advocate of Freud’s theories but at a certain point he reacted to Freud’s views which over-emphasized the role of suppressed sexuality as the root of all problems. He created “analytical psychology” and developed his own concepts which emphasized spirituality, the role of religion, dreams, art, cultural expression and the integration of the personality.
Jung proposed (The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 1968) that besides a personal unconscious there exists a collective unconscious, in which all of humanity’s symbols and experiences are stored- a kind of race memory or “psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals” (p.43). He encouraged the study of mythology and world cultures and located many similarities which he thought must reveal truths about the human mind- he named these collective truths “archetypes” (the word “archetype” derives from the Greek word “archetypon” which means original pattern or original mould). Examples of archetypes include: birth, death, rebirth, the wise old man, the universal mother, the animus, the anima etc.
For Jung (Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype, 1968), the archetypes “(function as) living dispositions that perform and continually influence our thoughts and feelings and actions” and (The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 1968) “are by no means useless archaic survivals or relics. They are living entities, which cause the preformation of numinous ideas or dormant representations.” He also argues (p.40) that the archetypes are “relatively autonomous; they cannot be integrated simply by rational means.”
According to Tessa Adams (The Feminine Case: Jung, Aesthetics and Creative Process) the archetype is a phantasmic entity that has no consistent reality except when it is manifested.
The archetype as an entity is not definable, rather its properties are identified through its manifestations. It is simply a schema by which experience is influenced and interpreted- a residue of numinous content within the psyche, pertaining to the collective (p.98).
Ken Wilber (The Essential Ken Wilber, 1998) agrees with Jung that archetypes are mythic forms collectively inherited in the psyche, but in his opinion (p.151) they are “meditative phenomena” and not “simply facets of experience that are common to the everyday human condition (p.148).”
Jung’s theory of archetypes helped Viola understand archetypes as a kind of “visual archaeology” of the mind, and become aware that they have the power of transforming a person’s psyche; “that art articulates processes of healing, development or self-realization (and is) a kind of knowledge, an epistemology in its deeper sense, and not just an aesthetic practice” (http://www.videoartworld.com).
An example of Viola’s use of archetype images can be seen in his video installation “Nantes Triptych” (Image 2). For this installation Viola recorded very personal and intimate moments (the birth of a child, the death of his mother) and presented these experiences as universal experiences/ archetype images. The middle pannel (an ethereal image of a man immersed in water) can be seen as the archetype of rebirth/ spiritual transformation. For Jung (C.G. Jung and the Humanities, p.191) water symbolizes “the spiritual rebirth of the individual through the change into a new individual.”
In Jung’s opinion (C.G. Jung and the Humanities, 1990) no subject is solely personal or solely archetypal, because subjects/images reflect common experiences which can be seen as both personal and archetypal. Stephen A. Martin comments (C.G. Jung and the Humanities, p.177) that
What first tips the scale in favour of the archetypal is the experience by the art viewer of powerful feelings of timelessness and truthfulness that seem to emanate from the work itself. They are not attributable to specific subject or style but appear to belong to the very essence of the work and endow it with a living presence. Our response to this intrinsic aliveness is the compulsion to look again and again, as if enchanted by the work in some inexplicable way. This is the felt experience of the numinous, the hallmark of the presence of archetypal meaning in art.
Viola not only uses visual archtypes in his work, but also elemental sounds. A characteristic example is his installation “Five Angels for the Millenium” (Image 3) in which sound (as well as image) plays a key role. There are two key elemental sounds (The Art of Bill Viola, 2004, p.158) in this installation: the sound of water (which evokes a sense of “inclusiveness”, “ceremony and ritual”) and the sound of night insects and crickets (which functions as a kind of “drone”). There is also a third elemental sound, a kind of primal noise/ roar, which Viola calls the “sound of being”. He describes it (p.155) as follows:
It is the sound you can hear when you’re standing on a bridge looking at the city, with the evening air still and nothing moving nearby. This under-sound exists at all times, even far out in the desert. Once I had heard it I could never not hear it again. I think of it now as the sound of Being itself.
Alex Grey and Ken Wilber’s integral theory:
Alex Grey is a painter/sculptor/performance artist whose work deals with issues such as death, spirituality and the synthesis of life’s polarities. His work integrates knowledge from diverse sources such as art history, science, religion and philosophy. Grey is also an author of books such as The Mission of Art (2001), in which he analyzes the history of art and his personal journey (especially in relationship to spirituality).
Ken Wilber is an author, psychologist and philosopher, mainly concerned with the evolution of human consciousness and the discovery of the transcendent self. He has developed an “integral vision” which incorporates elements from Eastern and Western scientific and spiritual traditions. Wilber defines the term “integral” (Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion, 2003) as following:
The word integral means comprehensive, inclusive, nonmarginalizing, embracing. Integral approaches to any field attempt to be exactly that-to include as many perspectives, styles, and methodologies as possible within a coherent view of the topic. In a certain sense, integral approaches are “meta-paradigms”, or ways to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of approaches that are mutually enriching.
Wilber describes integral theory (The Marriage of Sense and Soul, 1998) as a pluralistic approach which embraces important ideas from various disciplines/wisdom traditions, and also includes the major levels of existence such as matter (physics), body (biology), mind (psychology), soul (theology) and spirit (mysticism). He uses the term “The Great Nest of Being” to describe these various levels of existence- as seen in the diagram (Image 4) each level/dimension envelops and integrates the other levels/dimensions, much like a series of concentric circles.
Wilber’s integral art theory includes existing modern and postmodern theories and also incorporates “consciousness” or a spiritual dimension. For Wilber (Sacred Mirrors, 1990, p.14) the experience of spirituality which can be evoked when contemplating art is an “experience (of) nonduality, the union of the subject with all objects and the discovery of universal or transcendental awareness”.
Integral art theory incorporates major art theories (intentional, formalist, reception-and-response, symptomatic) into a single, “holonic” model. Very much like “The Great Nest of Being”, it can be visualized as concentric circles of enveloping theories and interpretations. In Wilber’s opinion (The Eye of Spirit, p.102)
Any specific artwork is a holon, which means that it is a whole that is simultaneously a part of numerous other wholes. The artwork exists in contexts within contexts within contexts, endlessly.
These contexts include (2001, p.121):
-the original intent of the maker, which may involve numerous levels of the psyche, both conscious and unconscious
-the formal relationships between elements of the work itself
-the history of reception and response to the artwork
-the wider contexts in the world at large (economic, technical, linguistic, cultural).
Wilber says (p.121) that each context “brings with it a new meaning, a new light in which to see the work, and thus constitute it anew…any particular meaning of an artwork is simply the highlighting of a particular context.”. Therefore, Wilber points out, there is no single correct interpretation of art, but a multitude of contexts/ viewpoints; each theory (p.102) “is part of a nested series of truths.”
The journalist Anne Morgan (Beyond Post Modernism: The Spiritual in Contemporary Art, 2002, p.33) has commented regarding the development of integral art theory that “it can be now be more acceptable to discuss works of art in terms of the spiritual they embrace as well as the essence they emanate”.
For the author Keith Martin-Smith (http://www.integralworld.net/martin-smith.html), integral art
Sees a continuum of sliding truths, sliding contexts, sliding meanings. These, though, do not land the artist and the critic and the viewer in aperspectival madness, but rather orient them to an important insight: there is no single standard for great literature, great art, great music, etc.
Grey embraces Wilber’s “integral vision” as he attempts to interweave multiple aspects of existence in his work (physical, emotional, spiritual etc.). For him (Transfigurations, 2001, p.102) integral art is
A work of art that integrates…the greatest range of form and content and the greatest span of being to serve the greatest good. The most inventive and harmonious diversity of forms, sounds or sensations; the broadest type of content including scientific truths, deep emotions, moral questions, and the complete span of being from matter, body, mind, and soul to spirit.
In Grey’s painting “The Soul Finds Its Way” (Image 5) one can see his interpretation of death, mainly influenced by Tibetan Buddhist theories. A recurring motif in his work is his “X-ray vision”, where numerous layers of the human body’s material and spiritual components are pictured. Grey says (2001, p.104) that his work “bridges the different levels of reality; the physical anatomy of Western medicine interlaces with subtle energetic systems of Eastern medicine”. For Grey (2001, p.128), dying is the dissolving of the essence of five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space), one into the other, which manifests with definite external and internal signs; after bodily death the human soul either becomes one with “Universal Awareness” or reincarnates into another physical body.
Grey says (The Mission of Art, p.207) that the creation of art can be a spiritual practice:
A spiritual practice is an activity that enables you to develop the qualities of mental clarity, mindfulness of the moment, wisdom, compassion, and access to revelations of higher mystic states of awareness…An artist’s craft can become a contemplative method and his or her creations can provide outward signs of an inner spiritual journey.
Wilber suggests (The Eye of Spirit, p.122-126) that not only the creation but also the contemplation of art can be a spiritual experience as it “suspends our will” and our “egoic grasping in time comes momentarily to rest.” He describes spirituality in general (The Integral Vision, 2007) as an attitude of love, compassion, understanding, and a form of awareness or transrational intuition which can be experienced by everyone (a subjective, transpersonal experience of the sacred- unique to every person). For him, spirituality represents (Integral Psychology, 2000, p. 130) “the very highest capacities, the noblest motives, the best of aspirations; the farther reaches of human nature.” As examples of spirituality (2007, p.28) he cites cases of “peak experiences”/ altered states of consciousness/ “mystical” experiences (such as feeling united with nature, experiencing a sense of primordial emptiness, sensing universal love, becoming one with the “flow” of things etc.).
Bibliography:
Adams,T. and Duncan, A. (eds.) (2003) The Feminine Case: Jung, Aesthetics and Creative Process. Karnac.
Barnaby, K. and D’Acierno, P. (eds.) (1990) C.G. Jung and the Humanities: Toward a Hermeneutics of Culture. London: Routledge.
Castro, F. Bill Viola (Aug. 15 2007). Available at: http://www.videoartworld.com/beta/reviews_int.php?id=56 (Accessed 13 March 2009)
Grey, A. (1990) Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey. Inner Traditions International.
Grey, A. (2001) The Mission of Art. Shambhala Publications.
Grey, A. (2001) Transfigurations. Inner Traditions International.
Jung, C.G. (2005) Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Routledge Classics.
Jung, C.G. (1968) Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Jung, C.G. (1968) The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Routledge.
Kristeva, J. (1982) Powers of horror: an essay on abjection. New York : Columbia University Press
Kristeva, J. (2000) The Sense and Nonsense of Revolt. New York: Columbia University Press.
Lechte, J. and Zournazi, M. (eds.) (2003) The Kristeva Critical Reader. Edinburgh University Press.
Morgan, A. (2002) ‘Beyond Post Modernism: The Spiritual in Contemporary Art’. Art Papers. 26 (1), pp.30-36.
Raney, K. (ed.) (2003) Art in Question. London: Continuum.
Smith, M. Art, Postmodern Criticism, and the Emerging Integral Movement. Available at: http://www.integralworld.net/martin-smith.html (Accessed 7 March 2009).
Townsend, C. (ed.) (2004) The Art of Bill Viola. London: Thames & Hudson.
Townsend, C. (1998) Vile Bodies: Photography and the Crisis of Looking. Prestel Verlag.
Villasenor, M. C. (1996) ‘The Witkin Carnival’. Performing Arts Journal. 53.
Wilber, K. (2007) The Integral Vision. Shambhala Publications.
Wilber, K. (2003) ‘Foreword’ in Visser, F. Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion. State University of New York Press.
Wilber, K. (2001) The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad. Boston&London: Shambhala.
Wilber, K. (2000) Integral Psychology. Shambhala Publications.
Wilber, K. (1998) The Essential Ken Wilber. Shambhala Publications.
Wilber, K. (1998) The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion. New Leaf.
Witkin, J.-P. (2001) Joel-Peter Witkin. Phaidon Press Ltd.
Witkin, J.-P. (fall 1997) ‘Danse Macabre’. Aperture. 149, p. 37.
Witkin, J.-P. (1976) ‘Revolt Against the Mystical’, in Celant, G. (ed.) (1995) Joel-Peter Witkin: A Retrospective. Scalo.
Jannis Spyropoulos and Arthur Schopenhauer’s aesthetic theory:
Jannis Spyropoulos (1912-1990) was a Greek painter who became known as “the classicist of abstraction” (Jannis Spyropoulos, Retrospective Exhibition Catalogue, 1994). His abstract paintings of “luminous darkness” -as Marina Lambraki-Plaka once called them (Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990)- combine technical discipline with emotional and intuitive expression (Image 6).
By incorporating various elements in his images (paper collage, colour nuances which contrast against dark/monochromatic backgrounds, melted wax, signs, letters, arrows, dots, incisions, scratchings, geometric shapes, symbolic patterns), Spyropoulos attempted to create abstract “inner landscapes” which portray the “essence” of things. The individual components of his paintings seem to lose their material character, reminding one of old master paintings in which the painter endeavored to remove the marks of his brush. By supplementing a modern and “universal” pictorial language Spyropoulos gave his paintings an air of classicism and timelessness: his “poetic and yet vigorous images…(combined) the skill of the old craftsman with the verve of the pioneer” ( Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990).
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German idealist philosopher whose thinking integrated elements from eastern and western philosophies/religions, and among other topics dealt with art/aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, death and the meaning of life. Schopenhauer’s work had a big impact on other philosophers (eg. Friedrich Nietzche appropriated Schopenhauer’s idea of the “will”) and helped pave the path for psychoanalytic theories (eg. Freud’s notion of the subconscious is present in Schopenhauer’s concept of the “will”). His metaphysical aesthetic theory -which appears in the book The World as Will and Representation- had a significant impact on art (especially classical music and abstract painting) and is crucial in understanding the work of Spyropoulos- and the aesthetic work of art in general.
Schopenhauer (The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, 1969) presents the world as having two basic aspects: that of representation (the way we individually perceive things as being external to the mind) , and that of will (an equivalent of the Kantian “thing-in-itself”, the way the world is in itself). The world is the representation of a single Will (the ultimate cosmic force), of which our individual wills are phenomena; because of our individual wills we can never see things as they really are- we “represent” phenomena to ourselves according to our own immediate self-interest.
Schopenhauer suggests (Vol I, Book III) that one way to free ourselves from our distorting will is through art/aesthetic contemplation: in his opinion art can suspend the viewer’s ordinary “will-ful” perception of the world and transport him/her to the higher realm of eternal “Ideas” (Schopenhauer adopts the Platonic concept of the “Idea” as the unchanging archetypal reality which exists beneath the world of phenomena and the confines of time/space/causality). Thus, the viewer is transformed from a “willing” subject into a “purely knowing” subject. Through aesthetic contemplation (Vol. I, p.178-9)
We no longer consider the where, the when, the why, and the whither of things, but simply and solely the what…(Through contemplation we) exist only as pure subject, as clear mirror of the object, so that it is as though the object alone existed without anyone to perceive it, and thus we are no longer able to separate the perceiver from the perception…What is thus known is no longer the individual thing as such, but the Idea…
As described, by “Idea” Schopenhauer means the timeless/eternal truths of our world, the undistorted/enduring elements in all change, the “innermost nature” of things which transcends phenomenal reality. The communication of this “Idea”, Schopenhauer says, is the aim of the aesthetic work of art (Vol. I, Book III): “the object of aesthetical contemplation is not the individual thing, but the Idea in it which is striving to reveal itself.”
Manos Stefanidis (Concerning Painters, 1988) argues that it is extremely difficult to clearly articulate this world of “Ideas”, since the observer inevitably interposes himself/herself and “contaminates” the purity of the “Idea”. In his opinion (p.135), the only way of participating in “things in themselves” is to be silent, to break off the “discourse”. He acknowledges such an attempt in the “silent” pictorial language of Spyropoulos (p.135):
The interpolation and participation of the observer can produce a personal vision of “things in themselves” in abstract art…The wealth of (the imagination of Spyropoulos) in morphology and colour, the power of his brush, lay close siege to the “things in themselves” as they lie enveloped in ontological silence…
Schopenhauer argues (The World as Will and Representation, Vol. II) that art requires the co-operation of the beholder as it can only act through the medium of the imagination:
Not everything can be given directly to the senses through the work of art, but only as much as is required to lead the imagination on to the right path… the very best in art is too spiritual to be given directly to the senses; it must be born in the beholder’s imagination…
In The World as Will and Representation he also analyzes the concept of genius, which for him consists of the capacity for aesthetic experience. He describes genius as (Vol.I, p.185-6)
The ability to leave entirely out of sight our own interest, our willing, and our aims, and consequently to discard entirely our own personality for a time, in order to remain pure knowing subject, the clear eye of the world.
He suggests that it is possible for the artistic genius to reach states of heightened perception wherein (Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena Vol 2, 2000) “the most ordinary objects appear completely new and unfamiliar”; he argues that the artist-genius is able to remain in such a state for a prolonged period of time -thereby making it possible to transmit this state of “pure perception” by “reproducing” it in his/her art.
In Schopenhauer’s view (The Essential Schopenhauer, p.29-31), art which depicts objects with excessive fidelity to nature (eg. he mentions certain examples of figurative art such as still-lifes of food and drink and paintings of the nude body) cannot adequately represent the most important element of the work (the underlying “Idea”)- it is more likely to reinforce our usual will-ful/distorted way of perceiving things, rather than transport us to the realm of pure contemplation. He suggests (Schopenhauer: Essays and Aphorisms, p. 162) that music is the superior artform: since it has no specific “subject” (also a characteristic of abstract painting) it can most easily transport the viewer to the realm of imagination and pure, will-less knowing.
Schopenhauer’s theories influenced many abstract painters who attempted to portray “things in themselves” (non-objective representation of things) and the “Ideas” that underlie our world of phenomena. Spyropoulos, influenced by the abstract art of his time (eg. Alberto Burri, Pierre Soulages) and driven by his unfathomable will, submerged himself in his work in an attempt to discover and portray the “imaginary reality” beyond the confines of time and space, cause and effect. He once said that he “arrived at abstraction while seeking the quintessence of certain things” (Jannis Spyropoulos, Retrospective Exhibition Catalogue, 1994, p.38), and that he “spread out darkness in search of light” (Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990”, 1995).
One could say that the art of Jannis Spyropoulos functions in the same abstract manner as that with which music acts on our consciousness: through harmonies, rhythm, colour-tones and composition it aims to transport the viewer to the realm of pure speculation. Perhaps his paintings could be described as “works of genius” as they convey a sense of heightened aesthetic awareness- they most certainly are a testimony of his search for “interiority” and “reality” beneath mere surface/form (Image 7).
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Danilopoulou, O. (ed.) (1994) Jannis Spyropoulos (1912-1990) Retrospective Exhibition. Thessaloniki : Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art.
Hollingdale, R.J. transl. (1970) Schopenhauer: Essays and Aphorisms. Penguin Classics.
Payne, E.F.J. (2000) Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena Volume 2. Clarendon Press.
Schopenhauer, A. (1962) The Essential Schopenhauer. London: Unwin Books.
Schopenhauer, A. (1969) The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I. New York: Dover Publications.
Schopenhauer, A. (1966) The World as Will and Representation, Vol. II. New York: Dover Publications.
Stefanidis, M. ‘Spyropoulos and Tsarouchis: An unforeseen dialogue on the form of the invisible’ in (1995) Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990. Athens: National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum.
Stefanidis, M. (ed.) (1988) Concerning Painters. Titanium.
Christian Boltanski and Immanuel Kant’s aesthetic of the sublime:
Christian Boltanski is an artist who deals with the human condition and the universal theme of death, but also explores the themes of truth/fiction, childhood, innocence and memory. He uses a blend of real and fabricated documents and a variety of expressive mediums such as painting, film, mail art and sculpture. Boltanski is well known for his quasi-religious installations which allude to various sources (such as public memorials, religious icons, the Jewish Holocaust, his own past) and combine photography, lighting and objects (see Image 8).
His work has a characteristic aura of mystery and uncertainty and often provokes contradictory feelings. An explanation for this may be Boltanski’s dual heritage: he has both Jewish and Catholic origins. In an interview (Christian Boltanski, 1994, p.96) he once declared that
A strange relation to the divine, the feeling of being simultaneously part of the “chosen” and the least of men, has driven me to affirm then contradict myself, to cry and laugh at myself…In Jewish culture, I’m drawn to the fact that one says one thing and its opposite at the same time, or the way of answering a question with another question and constantly mocking what one does…
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was an important philosopher and one of the first to integrate an aesthetic theory into a philosophical system. His investigation of the notion of the “sublime” is an important reference point in many fields of research ( such as art, aesthetics, literature). The “sublime” is a complex term that has been used over the centuries and is usually related to ideas of vastness, magnitude and awe. The word has many applications and can refer to varied things such as a natural phenomenon, a thought or idea, a work of art, a state of mind. Kant identifies the sublime (The Critique of Judgement) as an aesthetic quality which refers to the indeterminate relationship (or “conflict”) between the faculties of the imagination and of reason.
Kant was influenced by the writings of aesthitician-politician Edmund Burke, who mainly connected the sublime to overwhelming and awe-inspiring natural events such as a storm or an earthquake. For Burke (A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of the Sublime and the Beautiful) the sublime is “whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger…Whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror.” Burke also believes that this “terror” is counterbalanced by a certain “polluted” pleasure, “a sort of delightful horror; a sort of tranquillity tinged with terror”.
In The Critique of Judgement Kant argues that the sublime is not a formal quality of some natural phenomenon, but rather a subjective conception which originates in the human mind (a “mode” of consciousness). For Kant the sublime can be formless and is a “presentation of an indeterminate concept of reason”. He describes the sublime (The Critique of Judgement) as that “which in the very possibility of its being thought gives evidence of the existence of a faculty of the mind surpassing every standard of sense.” To clarify his position, he draws a dividing line between the closely related notions of “beauty” and “sublimity”; he describes the experience of beauty as an experience of the form of an object in nature (and thereby an experience of limits), while sublimity is described as an overwhelming experience of formlessness or limitlessness that occurs in the mind.
Kant (The Critique of Judgement) describes the experience of the sublime as a simultaneous feeling of pleasure and displeasure (“negative pleasure”)- a kind of “disruptive” event where the mind is overwhelmed and strained at the edges of its conceptual capabilities. The sublime, he suggests, is of such greatness and magnitude that the faculty of imagination is unable to grasp and comprehend/ represent it. There-by, when faced with a sublime event or concept, the human mind (sensory cognition) is deemed “inadequate” and the feeling of displeasure arises. Simultaneously, a feeling of pleasure awakens because rationality is vivified and affirmed: one’s ability to conceive of a sublime event as singular and whole (Kant describes this as a “super-added sense of totality”) indicates the superiority of human reason over nature.
Boltanski’s “monumental” installations (which consist of photographs arranged in geometric compositions, objects and lights) could be described as rather morbid as they allude to the innocent victims of the Holocaust. On the other hand, the beauty and symmetry of his installations can potentially induce an aesthetically “uplifting” experience. It seems as if Boltanski is trying to grapple with seemingly irreconcilable oppositions (such as death and innocence, horror and beauty) and present us with the fact that life has an “indeterminate” aspect. By questioning the meaning the viewer brings to his art, Boltanski challenges the human mind’s conceptual capabilities, its ability to discover “truth” and its “authority” to interpret and pass judgement. Furthermore, his work suggests that the human mind is unable to completely comprehend “reality” which is something undecideable and constantly in flux.
As mentioned, the paradoxical and ambiguous nature of Boltanski’s art strains the beholder’s perceptual and imaginative capacities to the utmost. The attempt to decipher the unsteady and ambivalent meanings which underlie his work, brings the viewer to the uncomfortable position where he/she must face his/her limits of understanding. Therefore, it could be said that Boltanski’s art creates a kind of “intensification” of one’s conceptual-imaginative capacity (an ambivalent enjoyment) and, subsequently, challenges the mind to discover its potentially infinite inventive capacity and sublime nature.
Bibliography:
Boltanski, C. (1990) Christian Boltanski: Reconstitution. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery.
Burke, E. (1987) A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origins of the Sublime and the Beautiful. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Cassirer, H.W. (1970) A Commentary on Kant’s Critique of Judgement. Barnes &Noble Inc. and Methuen&Co. Ltd.
Gumpert, L. (1994) Christian Boltanski. Paris: Flammarrion.
Guyer, P. (ed.) (1992) The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (1978) The Critique of Judgement. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Semin, D., Garb, T. And Kuspit, D. (1997) Christian Boltanski. London: Phaidon.
Shaw P. (2009) The Sublime. London and New York: Routledge.
Joel-Peter Witkin is an ambiguous photographer, whose work is notorious for the depiction of human corpses and various forms of sexual perversion. His photographic images bridge the sublime with the abject and deal with issues such as mortality, body/ gender/ sexuality and also integrate themes from Christian religion and the history of painting and photography.
Julia Kristeva is a philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst and novelist. The main theory which links her and Witkin is the theory of the abject. For Kristeva (Powers of Horror, p.15) abjection is strongly related to perversion and “is above all ambiguity” (p.9).
During the 1980s there was a general spread of the aesthetics of the grotesque and the abject, partly as a means of defetishising the female body and questioning identity. One of the most influential books concerning the abject was Kristeva’s book Powers Of Horror: An Essay On Abjection. According to Kristeva, the abject refers to the reaction to a potential breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object. An obvious example for what causes such a reaction is a corpse (which raises issues of mortality and identity). The realization of mortality is an acceptance of the abject or, in other words, the negation of the self. For Kristeva (1982, p.3), “the corpse, the most sickening of wastes, is a border that has encroached upon everything” and is “the utmost of abjection”.
Kristeva argues in Powers of Horror that the abject is an absolute given of culture. It not only refers to what threatens our body but is also that which "disturbs identity, system, order". For Kristeva the abject has an element of ambiguity: it is that which both revolts and attracts; she compares the aesthetic experience of the abject to a cathartic experience, “an impure process that protects from the abject only by dint of being immersed in it”. She also establishes a connection with religion and art, which she sees as two ways of purifying the abject (p.17):
The various means of purifying the abject -the various catharses- make up the history of religions, and end up with that catharsis par excellence called art, both on the far and near side of religion.
Witkin’s art is infiltrated by his personal experiences- experiences which include witnessing the decapitation of a girl in a car accident (when he was a child) and photographing human corpses during his army service. His work is also connected to his spiritual beliefs: for him photography is a means to make visible his personal view of the world and especially his perception of God. He describes the creation of his art as a reactionary and simultaneously religious/cathartic experience (Revolt Against the Mystical, 1976):
I revolt against the mystical in order to be overwhelmed and won over by it. It is unfathomable, yet I attempt to understand it. It is invisible, yet I try to objectify it, hoping to find revelation and truth.
For Kristeva, artistic creation and all creativity requires revolt. Revolt (2003, p.217-8) has to do with the restructuring of the psyche and “can involve a return to the subject’s past in order to displace it, and, in a therapeutic sense, to find release from it.” She also establishes a connection between the abject and the sublime because in her opinion (1982, p.11) both involve a sense of loss of the self. For her (p.9) “the time of abjection is double: a time of oblivion and thunder, of veiled infinity and the moment when revelation bursts forth.”
A typical example of Witkin’s attempt to be “purified” by the means of abjection, art and religion can be seen in his photograph “Penitente” (Image 1). “Penitente” portrays his view of God in a negative/abject manner. Witkin has mentioned (Revolt Against the Mystical, 1976) that his intension is to create positive images, “but in the process…the very thing that is sought becomes twisted and represented as something else.” Chris Townsend (Vile Bodies, 1998, p.52) has commented that “Witkin’s art (is) the product of an uncertain spiritual quest rather than religious conviction”. His photography (p.52) “invites us to share in uncertainty…(his) allegories of suffering should guarantee an assurance of faith, but never quite succeed.” He also suggests (p.47) that “the desired reaction (to Witkin’s photographs) is not an understanding of our ‘superiority’, our bodily integrity, but a sense of inadequacy, of our spiritual failure.”
Bill Viola and Carl Gustav Jung’s concept of archetypes:
Bill Viola is a video and sound artist whose work has a timeless quality, as he chooses archetypal themes (reminiscent of Jung’s concept of archetypes) such as birth/death/rebirth, body/spirit, fire/water, light/darkness, the unfolding of consciousness etc. Viola’s work integrates knowledge from diverse sources (also a characteristic of Jung’s work) such as art history, psychology, religion, Eastern philosophies and Christian mysticism. “My work”, he says (http:// www.videoartworld.com), “is focused on a process of self-discovery and self-realization. Video is part of my body. It is intuitive and subconscious.” For Viola (Art in Question, 2003, p.82), the medium of video is the ideal way to present archetype images which have a very “direct” and intense effect on the viewer. His view is (p.74) that “the picture is more real than the thing itself” and what he aims to achieve (p.84) is “to bring the inner emotional spiritual eye together with the objective observer eye”.
Carl Gustav Jung was a psychiatrist whose research involved the fields of religion, alchemy, mythology and dreams. Jung was an advocate of Freud’s theories but at a certain point he reacted to Freud’s views which over-emphasized the role of suppressed sexuality as the root of all problems. He created “analytical psychology” and developed his own concepts which emphasized spirituality, the role of religion, dreams, art, cultural expression and the integration of the personality.
Jung proposed (The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 1968) that besides a personal unconscious there exists a collective unconscious, in which all of humanity’s symbols and experiences are stored- a kind of race memory or “psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals” (p.43). He encouraged the study of mythology and world cultures and located many similarities which he thought must reveal truths about the human mind- he named these collective truths “archetypes” (the word “archetype” derives from the Greek word “archetypon” which means original pattern or original mould). Examples of archetypes include: birth, death, rebirth, the wise old man, the universal mother, the animus, the anima etc.
For Jung (Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype, 1968), the archetypes “(function as) living dispositions that perform and continually influence our thoughts and feelings and actions” and (The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 1968) “are by no means useless archaic survivals or relics. They are living entities, which cause the preformation of numinous ideas or dormant representations.” He also argues (p.40) that the archetypes are “relatively autonomous; they cannot be integrated simply by rational means.”
According to Tessa Adams (The Feminine Case: Jung, Aesthetics and Creative Process) the archetype is a phantasmic entity that has no consistent reality except when it is manifested.
The archetype as an entity is not definable, rather its properties are identified through its manifestations. It is simply a schema by which experience is influenced and interpreted- a residue of numinous content within the psyche, pertaining to the collective (p.98).
Ken Wilber (The Essential Ken Wilber, 1998) agrees with Jung that archetypes are mythic forms collectively inherited in the psyche, but in his opinion (p.151) they are “meditative phenomena” and not “simply facets of experience that are common to the everyday human condition (p.148).”
Jung’s theory of archetypes helped Viola understand archetypes as a kind of “visual archaeology” of the mind, and become aware that they have the power of transforming a person’s psyche; “that art articulates processes of healing, development or self-realization (and is) a kind of knowledge, an epistemology in its deeper sense, and not just an aesthetic practice” (http://www.videoartworld.com).
An example of Viola’s use of archetype images can be seen in his video installation “Nantes Triptych” (Image 2). For this installation Viola recorded very personal and intimate moments (the birth of a child, the death of his mother) and presented these experiences as universal experiences/ archetype images. The middle pannel (an ethereal image of a man immersed in water) can be seen as the archetype of rebirth/ spiritual transformation. For Jung (C.G. Jung and the Humanities, p.191) water symbolizes “the spiritual rebirth of the individual through the change into a new individual.”
In Jung’s opinion (C.G. Jung and the Humanities, 1990) no subject is solely personal or solely archetypal, because subjects/images reflect common experiences which can be seen as both personal and archetypal. Stephen A. Martin comments (C.G. Jung and the Humanities, p.177) that
What first tips the scale in favour of the archetypal is the experience by the art viewer of powerful feelings of timelessness and truthfulness that seem to emanate from the work itself. They are not attributable to specific subject or style but appear to belong to the very essence of the work and endow it with a living presence. Our response to this intrinsic aliveness is the compulsion to look again and again, as if enchanted by the work in some inexplicable way. This is the felt experience of the numinous, the hallmark of the presence of archetypal meaning in art.
Viola not only uses visual archtypes in his work, but also elemental sounds. A characteristic example is his installation “Five Angels for the Millenium” (Image 3) in which sound (as well as image) plays a key role. There are two key elemental sounds (The Art of Bill Viola, 2004, p.158) in this installation: the sound of water (which evokes a sense of “inclusiveness”, “ceremony and ritual”) and the sound of night insects and crickets (which functions as a kind of “drone”). There is also a third elemental sound, a kind of primal noise/ roar, which Viola calls the “sound of being”. He describes it (p.155) as follows:
It is the sound you can hear when you’re standing on a bridge looking at the city, with the evening air still and nothing moving nearby. This under-sound exists at all times, even far out in the desert. Once I had heard it I could never not hear it again. I think of it now as the sound of Being itself.
Alex Grey and Ken Wilber’s integral theory:
Alex Grey is a painter/sculptor/performance artist whose work deals with issues such as death, spirituality and the synthesis of life’s polarities. His work integrates knowledge from diverse sources such as art history, science, religion and philosophy. Grey is also an author of books such as The Mission of Art (2001), in which he analyzes the history of art and his personal journey (especially in relationship to spirituality).
Ken Wilber is an author, psychologist and philosopher, mainly concerned with the evolution of human consciousness and the discovery of the transcendent self. He has developed an “integral vision” which incorporates elements from Eastern and Western scientific and spiritual traditions. Wilber defines the term “integral” (Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion, 2003) as following:
The word integral means comprehensive, inclusive, nonmarginalizing, embracing. Integral approaches to any field attempt to be exactly that-to include as many perspectives, styles, and methodologies as possible within a coherent view of the topic. In a certain sense, integral approaches are “meta-paradigms”, or ways to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of approaches that are mutually enriching.
Wilber describes integral theory (The Marriage of Sense and Soul, 1998) as a pluralistic approach which embraces important ideas from various disciplines/wisdom traditions, and also includes the major levels of existence such as matter (physics), body (biology), mind (psychology), soul (theology) and spirit (mysticism). He uses the term “The Great Nest of Being” to describe these various levels of existence- as seen in the diagram (Image 4) each level/dimension envelops and integrates the other levels/dimensions, much like a series of concentric circles.
Wilber’s integral art theory includes existing modern and postmodern theories and also incorporates “consciousness” or a spiritual dimension. For Wilber (Sacred Mirrors, 1990, p.14) the experience of spirituality which can be evoked when contemplating art is an “experience (of) nonduality, the union of the subject with all objects and the discovery of universal or transcendental awareness”.
Integral art theory incorporates major art theories (intentional, formalist, reception-and-response, symptomatic) into a single, “holonic” model. Very much like “The Great Nest of Being”, it can be visualized as concentric circles of enveloping theories and interpretations. In Wilber’s opinion (The Eye of Spirit, p.102)
Any specific artwork is a holon, which means that it is a whole that is simultaneously a part of numerous other wholes. The artwork exists in contexts within contexts within contexts, endlessly.
These contexts include (2001, p.121):
-the original intent of the maker, which may involve numerous levels of the psyche, both conscious and unconscious
-the formal relationships between elements of the work itself
-the history of reception and response to the artwork
-the wider contexts in the world at large (economic, technical, linguistic, cultural).
Wilber says (p.121) that each context “brings with it a new meaning, a new light in which to see the work, and thus constitute it anew…any particular meaning of an artwork is simply the highlighting of a particular context.”. Therefore, Wilber points out, there is no single correct interpretation of art, but a multitude of contexts/ viewpoints; each theory (p.102) “is part of a nested series of truths.”
The journalist Anne Morgan (Beyond Post Modernism: The Spiritual in Contemporary Art, 2002, p.33) has commented regarding the development of integral art theory that “it can be now be more acceptable to discuss works of art in terms of the spiritual they embrace as well as the essence they emanate”.
For the author Keith Martin-Smith (http://www.integralworld.net/martin-smith.html), integral art
Sees a continuum of sliding truths, sliding contexts, sliding meanings. These, though, do not land the artist and the critic and the viewer in aperspectival madness, but rather orient them to an important insight: there is no single standard for great literature, great art, great music, etc.
Grey embraces Wilber’s “integral vision” as he attempts to interweave multiple aspects of existence in his work (physical, emotional, spiritual etc.). For him (Transfigurations, 2001, p.102) integral art is
A work of art that integrates…the greatest range of form and content and the greatest span of being to serve the greatest good. The most inventive and harmonious diversity of forms, sounds or sensations; the broadest type of content including scientific truths, deep emotions, moral questions, and the complete span of being from matter, body, mind, and soul to spirit.
In Grey’s painting “The Soul Finds Its Way” (Image 5) one can see his interpretation of death, mainly influenced by Tibetan Buddhist theories. A recurring motif in his work is his “X-ray vision”, where numerous layers of the human body’s material and spiritual components are pictured. Grey says (2001, p.104) that his work “bridges the different levels of reality; the physical anatomy of Western medicine interlaces with subtle energetic systems of Eastern medicine”. For Grey (2001, p.128), dying is the dissolving of the essence of five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space), one into the other, which manifests with definite external and internal signs; after bodily death the human soul either becomes one with “Universal Awareness” or reincarnates into another physical body.
Grey says (The Mission of Art, p.207) that the creation of art can be a spiritual practice:
A spiritual practice is an activity that enables you to develop the qualities of mental clarity, mindfulness of the moment, wisdom, compassion, and access to revelations of higher mystic states of awareness…An artist’s craft can become a contemplative method and his or her creations can provide outward signs of an inner spiritual journey.
Wilber suggests (The Eye of Spirit, p.122-126) that not only the creation but also the contemplation of art can be a spiritual experience as it “suspends our will” and our “egoic grasping in time comes momentarily to rest.” He describes spirituality in general (The Integral Vision, 2007) as an attitude of love, compassion, understanding, and a form of awareness or transrational intuition which can be experienced by everyone (a subjective, transpersonal experience of the sacred- unique to every person). For him, spirituality represents (Integral Psychology, 2000, p. 130) “the very highest capacities, the noblest motives, the best of aspirations; the farther reaches of human nature.” As examples of spirituality (2007, p.28) he cites cases of “peak experiences”/ altered states of consciousness/ “mystical” experiences (such as feeling united with nature, experiencing a sense of primordial emptiness, sensing universal love, becoming one with the “flow” of things etc.).
Bibliography:
Adams,T. and Duncan, A. (eds.) (2003) The Feminine Case: Jung, Aesthetics and Creative Process. Karnac.
Barnaby, K. and D’Acierno, P. (eds.) (1990) C.G. Jung and the Humanities: Toward a Hermeneutics of Culture. London: Routledge.
Castro, F. Bill Viola (Aug. 15 2007). Available at: http://www.videoartworld.com/beta/reviews_int.php?id=56 (Accessed 13 March 2009)
Grey, A. (1990) Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey. Inner Traditions International.
Grey, A. (2001) The Mission of Art. Shambhala Publications.
Grey, A. (2001) Transfigurations. Inner Traditions International.
Jung, C.G. (2005) Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Routledge Classics.
Jung, C.G. (1968) Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Jung, C.G. (1968) The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Routledge.
Kristeva, J. (1982) Powers of horror: an essay on abjection. New York : Columbia University Press
Kristeva, J. (2000) The Sense and Nonsense of Revolt. New York: Columbia University Press.
Lechte, J. and Zournazi, M. (eds.) (2003) The Kristeva Critical Reader. Edinburgh University Press.
Morgan, A. (2002) ‘Beyond Post Modernism: The Spiritual in Contemporary Art’. Art Papers. 26 (1), pp.30-36.
Raney, K. (ed.) (2003) Art in Question. London: Continuum.
Smith, M. Art, Postmodern Criticism, and the Emerging Integral Movement. Available at: http://www.integralworld.net/martin-smith.html (Accessed 7 March 2009).
Townsend, C. (ed.) (2004) The Art of Bill Viola. London: Thames & Hudson.
Townsend, C. (1998) Vile Bodies: Photography and the Crisis of Looking. Prestel Verlag.
Villasenor, M. C. (1996) ‘The Witkin Carnival’. Performing Arts Journal. 53.
Wilber, K. (2007) The Integral Vision. Shambhala Publications.
Wilber, K. (2003) ‘Foreword’ in Visser, F. Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion. State University of New York Press.
Wilber, K. (2001) The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad. Boston&London: Shambhala.
Wilber, K. (2000) Integral Psychology. Shambhala Publications.
Wilber, K. (1998) The Essential Ken Wilber. Shambhala Publications.
Wilber, K. (1998) The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion. New Leaf.
Witkin, J.-P. (2001) Joel-Peter Witkin. Phaidon Press Ltd.
Witkin, J.-P. (fall 1997) ‘Danse Macabre’. Aperture. 149, p. 37.
Witkin, J.-P. (1976) ‘Revolt Against the Mystical’, in Celant, G. (ed.) (1995) Joel-Peter Witkin: A Retrospective. Scalo.
Jannis Spyropoulos and Arthur Schopenhauer’s aesthetic theory:
Jannis Spyropoulos (1912-1990) was a Greek painter who became known as “the classicist of abstraction” (Jannis Spyropoulos, Retrospective Exhibition Catalogue, 1994). His abstract paintings of “luminous darkness” -as Marina Lambraki-Plaka once called them (Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990)- combine technical discipline with emotional and intuitive expression (Image 6).
By incorporating various elements in his images (paper collage, colour nuances which contrast against dark/monochromatic backgrounds, melted wax, signs, letters, arrows, dots, incisions, scratchings, geometric shapes, symbolic patterns), Spyropoulos attempted to create abstract “inner landscapes” which portray the “essence” of things. The individual components of his paintings seem to lose their material character, reminding one of old master paintings in which the painter endeavored to remove the marks of his brush. By supplementing a modern and “universal” pictorial language Spyropoulos gave his paintings an air of classicism and timelessness: his “poetic and yet vigorous images…(combined) the skill of the old craftsman with the verve of the pioneer” ( Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990).
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German idealist philosopher whose thinking integrated elements from eastern and western philosophies/religions, and among other topics dealt with art/aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, death and the meaning of life. Schopenhauer’s work had a big impact on other philosophers (eg. Friedrich Nietzche appropriated Schopenhauer’s idea of the “will”) and helped pave the path for psychoanalytic theories (eg. Freud’s notion of the subconscious is present in Schopenhauer’s concept of the “will”). His metaphysical aesthetic theory -which appears in the book The World as Will and Representation- had a significant impact on art (especially classical music and abstract painting) and is crucial in understanding the work of Spyropoulos- and the aesthetic work of art in general.
Schopenhauer (The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, 1969) presents the world as having two basic aspects: that of representation (the way we individually perceive things as being external to the mind) , and that of will (an equivalent of the Kantian “thing-in-itself”, the way the world is in itself). The world is the representation of a single Will (the ultimate cosmic force), of which our individual wills are phenomena; because of our individual wills we can never see things as they really are- we “represent” phenomena to ourselves according to our own immediate self-interest.
Schopenhauer suggests (Vol I, Book III) that one way to free ourselves from our distorting will is through art/aesthetic contemplation: in his opinion art can suspend the viewer’s ordinary “will-ful” perception of the world and transport him/her to the higher realm of eternal “Ideas” (Schopenhauer adopts the Platonic concept of the “Idea” as the unchanging archetypal reality which exists beneath the world of phenomena and the confines of time/space/causality). Thus, the viewer is transformed from a “willing” subject into a “purely knowing” subject. Through aesthetic contemplation (Vol. I, p.178-9)
We no longer consider the where, the when, the why, and the whither of things, but simply and solely the what…(Through contemplation we) exist only as pure subject, as clear mirror of the object, so that it is as though the object alone existed without anyone to perceive it, and thus we are no longer able to separate the perceiver from the perception…What is thus known is no longer the individual thing as such, but the Idea…
As described, by “Idea” Schopenhauer means the timeless/eternal truths of our world, the undistorted/enduring elements in all change, the “innermost nature” of things which transcends phenomenal reality. The communication of this “Idea”, Schopenhauer says, is the aim of the aesthetic work of art (Vol. I, Book III): “the object of aesthetical contemplation is not the individual thing, but the Idea in it which is striving to reveal itself.”
Manos Stefanidis (Concerning Painters, 1988) argues that it is extremely difficult to clearly articulate this world of “Ideas”, since the observer inevitably interposes himself/herself and “contaminates” the purity of the “Idea”. In his opinion (p.135), the only way of participating in “things in themselves” is to be silent, to break off the “discourse”. He acknowledges such an attempt in the “silent” pictorial language of Spyropoulos (p.135):
The interpolation and participation of the observer can produce a personal vision of “things in themselves” in abstract art…The wealth of (the imagination of Spyropoulos) in morphology and colour, the power of his brush, lay close siege to the “things in themselves” as they lie enveloped in ontological silence…
Schopenhauer argues (The World as Will and Representation, Vol. II) that art requires the co-operation of the beholder as it can only act through the medium of the imagination:
Not everything can be given directly to the senses through the work of art, but only as much as is required to lead the imagination on to the right path… the very best in art is too spiritual to be given directly to the senses; it must be born in the beholder’s imagination…
In The World as Will and Representation he also analyzes the concept of genius, which for him consists of the capacity for aesthetic experience. He describes genius as (Vol.I, p.185-6)
The ability to leave entirely out of sight our own interest, our willing, and our aims, and consequently to discard entirely our own personality for a time, in order to remain pure knowing subject, the clear eye of the world.
He suggests that it is possible for the artistic genius to reach states of heightened perception wherein (Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena Vol 2, 2000) “the most ordinary objects appear completely new and unfamiliar”; he argues that the artist-genius is able to remain in such a state for a prolonged period of time -thereby making it possible to transmit this state of “pure perception” by “reproducing” it in his/her art.
In Schopenhauer’s view (The Essential Schopenhauer, p.29-31), art which depicts objects with excessive fidelity to nature (eg. he mentions certain examples of figurative art such as still-lifes of food and drink and paintings of the nude body) cannot adequately represent the most important element of the work (the underlying “Idea”)- it is more likely to reinforce our usual will-ful/distorted way of perceiving things, rather than transport us to the realm of pure contemplation. He suggests (Schopenhauer: Essays and Aphorisms, p. 162) that music is the superior artform: since it has no specific “subject” (also a characteristic of abstract painting) it can most easily transport the viewer to the realm of imagination and pure, will-less knowing.
Schopenhauer’s theories influenced many abstract painters who attempted to portray “things in themselves” (non-objective representation of things) and the “Ideas” that underlie our world of phenomena. Spyropoulos, influenced by the abstract art of his time (eg. Alberto Burri, Pierre Soulages) and driven by his unfathomable will, submerged himself in his work in an attempt to discover and portray the “imaginary reality” beyond the confines of time and space, cause and effect. He once said that he “arrived at abstraction while seeking the quintessence of certain things” (Jannis Spyropoulos, Retrospective Exhibition Catalogue, 1994, p.38), and that he “spread out darkness in search of light” (Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990”, 1995).
One could say that the art of Jannis Spyropoulos functions in the same abstract manner as that with which music acts on our consciousness: through harmonies, rhythm, colour-tones and composition it aims to transport the viewer to the realm of pure speculation. Perhaps his paintings could be described as “works of genius” as they convey a sense of heightened aesthetic awareness- they most certainly are a testimony of his search for “interiority” and “reality” beneath mere surface/form (Image 7).
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Danilopoulou, O. (ed.) (1994) Jannis Spyropoulos (1912-1990) Retrospective Exhibition. Thessaloniki : Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art.
Hollingdale, R.J. transl. (1970) Schopenhauer: Essays and Aphorisms. Penguin Classics.
Payne, E.F.J. (2000) Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena Volume 2. Clarendon Press.
Schopenhauer, A. (1962) The Essential Schopenhauer. London: Unwin Books.
Schopenhauer, A. (1969) The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I. New York: Dover Publications.
Schopenhauer, A. (1966) The World as Will and Representation, Vol. II. New York: Dover Publications.
Stefanidis, M. ‘Spyropoulos and Tsarouchis: An unforeseen dialogue on the form of the invisible’ in (1995) Jannis Spyropoulos: A Classicist of Abstraction 1912-1990. Athens: National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum.
Stefanidis, M. (ed.) (1988) Concerning Painters. Titanium.
Christian Boltanski and Immanuel Kant’s aesthetic of the sublime:
Christian Boltanski is an artist who deals with the human condition and the universal theme of death, but also explores the themes of truth/fiction, childhood, innocence and memory. He uses a blend of real and fabricated documents and a variety of expressive mediums such as painting, film, mail art and sculpture. Boltanski is well known for his quasi-religious installations which allude to various sources (such as public memorials, religious icons, the Jewish Holocaust, his own past) and combine photography, lighting and objects (see Image 8).
His work has a characteristic aura of mystery and uncertainty and often provokes contradictory feelings. An explanation for this may be Boltanski’s dual heritage: he has both Jewish and Catholic origins. In an interview (Christian Boltanski, 1994, p.96) he once declared that
A strange relation to the divine, the feeling of being simultaneously part of the “chosen” and the least of men, has driven me to affirm then contradict myself, to cry and laugh at myself…In Jewish culture, I’m drawn to the fact that one says one thing and its opposite at the same time, or the way of answering a question with another question and constantly mocking what one does…
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was an important philosopher and one of the first to integrate an aesthetic theory into a philosophical system. His investigation of the notion of the “sublime” is an important reference point in many fields of research ( such as art, aesthetics, literature). The “sublime” is a complex term that has been used over the centuries and is usually related to ideas of vastness, magnitude and awe. The word has many applications and can refer to varied things such as a natural phenomenon, a thought or idea, a work of art, a state of mind. Kant identifies the sublime (The Critique of Judgement) as an aesthetic quality which refers to the indeterminate relationship (or “conflict”) between the faculties of the imagination and of reason.
Kant was influenced by the writings of aesthitician-politician Edmund Burke, who mainly connected the sublime to overwhelming and awe-inspiring natural events such as a storm or an earthquake. For Burke (A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of the Sublime and the Beautiful) the sublime is “whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger…Whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror.” Burke also believes that this “terror” is counterbalanced by a certain “polluted” pleasure, “a sort of delightful horror; a sort of tranquillity tinged with terror”.
In The Critique of Judgement Kant argues that the sublime is not a formal quality of some natural phenomenon, but rather a subjective conception which originates in the human mind (a “mode” of consciousness). For Kant the sublime can be formless and is a “presentation of an indeterminate concept of reason”. He describes the sublime (The Critique of Judgement) as that “which in the very possibility of its being thought gives evidence of the existence of a faculty of the mind surpassing every standard of sense.” To clarify his position, he draws a dividing line between the closely related notions of “beauty” and “sublimity”; he describes the experience of beauty as an experience of the form of an object in nature (and thereby an experience of limits), while sublimity is described as an overwhelming experience of formlessness or limitlessness that occurs in the mind.
Kant (The Critique of Judgement) describes the experience of the sublime as a simultaneous feeling of pleasure and displeasure (“negative pleasure”)- a kind of “disruptive” event where the mind is overwhelmed and strained at the edges of its conceptual capabilities. The sublime, he suggests, is of such greatness and magnitude that the faculty of imagination is unable to grasp and comprehend/ represent it. There-by, when faced with a sublime event or concept, the human mind (sensory cognition) is deemed “inadequate” and the feeling of displeasure arises. Simultaneously, a feeling of pleasure awakens because rationality is vivified and affirmed: one’s ability to conceive of a sublime event as singular and whole (Kant describes this as a “super-added sense of totality”) indicates the superiority of human reason over nature.
Boltanski’s “monumental” installations (which consist of photographs arranged in geometric compositions, objects and lights) could be described as rather morbid as they allude to the innocent victims of the Holocaust. On the other hand, the beauty and symmetry of his installations can potentially induce an aesthetically “uplifting” experience. It seems as if Boltanski is trying to grapple with seemingly irreconcilable oppositions (such as death and innocence, horror and beauty) and present us with the fact that life has an “indeterminate” aspect. By questioning the meaning the viewer brings to his art, Boltanski challenges the human mind’s conceptual capabilities, its ability to discover “truth” and its “authority” to interpret and pass judgement. Furthermore, his work suggests that the human mind is unable to completely comprehend “reality” which is something undecideable and constantly in flux.
As mentioned, the paradoxical and ambiguous nature of Boltanski’s art strains the beholder’s perceptual and imaginative capacities to the utmost. The attempt to decipher the unsteady and ambivalent meanings which underlie his work, brings the viewer to the uncomfortable position where he/she must face his/her limits of understanding. Therefore, it could be said that Boltanski’s art creates a kind of “intensification” of one’s conceptual-imaginative capacity (an ambivalent enjoyment) and, subsequently, challenges the mind to discover its potentially infinite inventive capacity and sublime nature.
Bibliography:
Boltanski, C. (1990) Christian Boltanski: Reconstitution. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery.
Burke, E. (1987) A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origins of the Sublime and the Beautiful. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Cassirer, H.W. (1970) A Commentary on Kant’s Critique of Judgement. Barnes &Noble Inc. and Methuen&Co. Ltd.
Gumpert, L. (1994) Christian Boltanski. Paris: Flammarrion.
Guyer, P. (ed.) (1992) The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Cambridge University Press.
Kant, I. (1978) The Critique of Judgement. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Semin, D., Garb, T. And Kuspit, D. (1997) Christian Boltanski. London: Phaidon.
Shaw P. (2009) The Sublime. London and New York: Routledge.
Image 3
1/6/09
Viola, B. (2001). Five Angels for the Millenium
[Sound/Video Installation- Online Image] ...more
[Sound/Video Installation- Online Image] ...more
Image 5
1/6/09
Grey, A. (2001) The Soul Finds Its Way
[Painting]. Inner Traditions International ...more
[Painting]. Inner Traditions International ...more
Image 6
7/14/10
Spyropoulos, J. (1965) Logos A [Painting]
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art ...more
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art ...more
