Discovery

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Sunday, November 27, 2016

Art and Phenomenology

  Art and Phenomenology

Parry, Joseph. "Art and Phenomenology." New York: Routledge. 2011. Print

Ø  (1) To demonstrate art’s power to inform philosophy.
o   It can direct us to important phenomena that helps us understand them on their terms.
Ø  Chapter 1 – Phenomenological Relevance of Art.
o   (9) Art is capable of showing us the phenomena under consideration.
§  More so than philosophical prose.
§  Influenced by Heidegger, Ponty and Sartre.
o   Phenomenology – Every showing of a thing that reveals aspects about it.
§  The process of learning how to see things on their terms.
o   Giving language, descriptions to phenomena illustrates apprehension of the subject.
§  But language can get in the way of experience.
o   (10) Describing the substance of a hammer does reveal the sensory experience of hammering a nail.
o   Heidegger suggested poetical or pictures can reveal deeper levels of conveying experiences.
o   Nietzsche – Only artists enable people to project themselves onto a state in front of them.
§  To see past everyday life to nobler goals.
§  To lift people to what otherwise would be a standard of vulgarity of the common man.
o   (10) Art moves beyond influencing out beliefs of the world,
§  by affecting our dispositions toward encounters of the world.
o   (10) All art exercises the power of suggestion over the muscles and the senses.
o   (10) Heidegger supported the idea that art can reorient us toward the world.
§  And show us things we don’t normally see.
§  (10-11) It can bring forth possibilities of existence that cannot be understood any other way.
§  (11) He believed art was losing its ability to disclose the truths.
§  And wanted to return art as experience.
o   (11) Ponty – Focus of essay
§  Art can teach us how we perceive and engage with the world.
§  Only art can open the world as it is for our life and body.
§  Because the artist sees different and translates it to canvas.
§  People focus on the objects within art,
·      But no the light, lighting, shadows, reflections of the objects.
·      Almost invisible attributes few people see.
·      Aspects that only reside in the visual.
o   (12) Artists interrogate the world with their gaze.
§  And viewers view their gaze
§  Two separate acts.
o   (16) Art doesn’t produce the visible.
§  Rather it makes it visible.
o   (17) According to Ponty
§  A phenomenological approach addressed
·      A “sensibly and opened world, such as it is, in our life and for our body.
o   (17) We think of things in terms of how we use them.
§  With action of need and
§  Temporally through time (Heidegger).
o   (18) The world acts on us and we feel our way through events.
§  Without reflection
§  We are with the world.
§  How we move through the world is different than how we observe or reflect on it.
o   (19) Heidegger thinks ther are to views of the world.
§  One where we are with the world where we take feature sin relevant to our body
§  And one that is descriptive and primarily used for identification and communication.
·      Different than living in the world.
§  Note – There is a gap between how we experience the world, and how we present.
o   (20) It is possible to describe an experience, but it is often flat.
§  Pictorials can describe experience, because
·      It can make visible the invisibly ordinariness of the everyday life.
·      “Secret Ciphers of Vision”
o   (21) We can see things without it being a mental act.
§  Paul Klee
·      Pictorial work come into being from motion.
·      Is itself motion that has been fixed into place
o   And is taken up in motion (eye movement).
o   (22) Artists are more keenly attuned to what we pick up in perception.
o   (23) Artists must
§  find their way in the world
·      To bring order into the passing streams of images and experience.
o   (24) The aim is to elicit movements of the body,
§  and in the body of the viewer.
o   (24) Art makes visible in two ways
§  What we don’t ordinarily see, and sometimes
·      What’s so close we can’t see it,
§  And it can teach the eye to see.
o   (25) How do we change the ordinary to motivate new response to the world around us.
§  An artwork (the frame) brings into sight the world.
o   (25) The eye cannot see everything at once.
§  It must graze through the image.
§  The artist can exploit the grazing through light and emphasize design elements.
o   ** Art can teach the eye to see
§  We learn by observing how other artists see
§  And by observing our own work.
o   (26) Our perception of a thing is rooted in an temporal structure.
o   (27) It’s kind of trick to catch ourselves during the act of perceiving.
o   (28) To train people in art means
§  To get them to perceive things they having been picking up on.
·      The goal is to penetrate the cosmos deeply, and emerge with change.
o   We then wait for the things we’ve learned to see.
o   Descriptive – What we see
o   Normative – How new things become normal – How things effect change.

Ø  Chapter 2 – Why art matters.
o   [31] Aesthetics – 1735 – Alexander Baumgartner:
§  Philosophical inquiry into how we know things through the senses.
·      Beauty is a “sensible perfection.”
·      Indicates a normative property.
o   Measured against a standard of what it ought to be.
o   Beauty is something sensed
§  A distinctive pleasure.
·      Natural beauty is traditionally most important.
o   A sign of order and purpose
o   The standard
o   A priori
·      Natural beauty is seen as a path to the divine.
·      Artistic viewed as a copy – Plato.
·      Aristotle viewed art as a path through truth.
o   Reveals universals that people can grasp.
o   A gathering of meaning.
o   [32] By Kant’s time:
§  Beauty is reduced to a symbol or morally good.
§  Kant revealed beauty alone is not enough of a standard to evaluate art.
§  Art must include the presentation of aesthetic ideas.
§  Art’s claim is independent of beauty.
o   [33] Aesthetic ideas could become the philosophy of art once beauty was reduced to ideas as well.
§  A transition from truths to morals.
o   Again – Because it was apparent that art was separate from beauty
§  Aesthetics changed to ideas of beauty as good and moral.
§  And it could be considered a philosophy of art.
o   Hegel – Society demands its truth to be rooted in science.
§  As such, art has lost its value.
§  Its become a thing of the past.
§  It no longer informs the culture.
o   Phenomenology and Philosophy of Art
o   [46] Art places things within our vicinity.
§  Able to thin on things that normally elude us.
§  Things become noticeable as revealed by the craft of the work.
Ø  Chapter 3 Objectivity and self disclosedness
o   [54] What is the relationship between the objectivity of an artwork, the material object, and its nature as art.
o   [55] The material aspects are medium
§  Art works through the material.
o   Seeking the distinction between
§  How art works
§  The kind of thing an artwork is
o   [56] While some things may be art
§  The central question is
·      On the way it is art
·      How odes art articulate itself as a work.
o   [57] Art will always fail if we continue to perceive it as an object.
o   [58] Makes a point the nature of art is revealed through individual works,
§  rather than thinking of art as a whole.
o   Author wants to analyze how metaphors work to gain insights to art.
o   [60] The metaphor is something different than the words used to form them.
§  The meaning of the metaphor is different than then meaning of the works.
o   [61] Metaphors are mediums of language.
§  One uses language to do something with words.
§  Metaphors are much like a way of seeing.
§  It is to be understood in certain cognitive context.
o   [61] Linguistic expression – Dreamwork of language.
§  A distinction between what words are
·      And what they used to do.
·      A matter of what is done with words.
·      They are dependent on their ordinary usage and meaning.
o   A metaphor enables us to see one thing as another thought
§  A literal statement that prompts insight.
o   [62] At its best, a metaphor
§  Says something that inspires revelation.
o   The ordinary meaning in context of use is odd enough to prompt us to disregard the question of truth.
§  And to understand something under a different intention.
§  The tension between the literal and the context of what is presented.
o   [63] Appreciating art is more of a doing rather than a having.
§  Artwork makes present ideas.
o   [64] Heidegger – We cannot understand the artwork by analyzing the material only.
o   Heidegger – Art opens world
§  World – the space a work opens.
·      The relatedness of things within the image.
§  Earth – Material object
§  What its – How it relates.
§  *** There is the work – Earth
·      And how things within in relate to each other
o   And to the viewer.
·      It speaks in metaphors that –
o   Allows the presentation of things relative to their context in ordinary and cultural life.
o   It does so in a manner that enables the viewer to suspend notions of established reality and reflect on things in new context.
·      In this way the work opens itself.
·      Art opens context on
o   How things are generally perceived rather than,
o   What is presented.
o   [68] The work itself in context is put against the context of where its hainging.
§  This difference in context opens a space of possibility.
§  It also becomes a place in terms of
·      Establishing a certain topic.
·      It invokes it’s own setting.
o   [69] We tend to look for metaphors relating to our own life,
§  But art can extend beyond that to a work that appears on its own terms rather than the viewers.
Ø  Chapter 4 – Horizon Oscillation Boundaries
o   The imagination
§  Holds together in oscillation
·      The opposing spheres of the
o   Objective and the subjective.
o   The temporal and the eternal.
o   [79] The thinking subject controls the act of intuiting something.
§  The object creates the space for subjective interpretation.
·      How to stimulate the imagination and possibilities resides on the artists craft.
·      Has to be crafted well enough to enable freeplay,
·      While maintain interest while
·      Suspending belief.
Ø  Representing the real
o   Searching for pointing,
§  Not as its imitated,
§  But as it’s experienced.
§  Discussed realism and the greats.
o   [92] To produce images with the same power and force as reality.
§  Is the author’s perspective of realism.
o   [93] The author has the insight that realism transitions from
§  objects portrayed as real
§  to the perceptual forces that make them real.
§  How we see real life, and
·      How we see art is physically the same.
·      It is in how we perceive it that things change.
o   [95] Alber durer – self portrait – 1500
§  Portrays himself as Christ.
§  First time highlights are used in the eye.
§  First time they are used to enliven and image.
o   [96] Detached and absorbed on an object.
§  Viewers of objects are detached.
§  People doing actions in paintings are absorbed.
·      Two distinct modes of focus that cannot occur at the same time.
o   [97] the absorbed or engaged attitude is the perceptual attitude we adopt.
§  Towards objects.
§  When we see them as meaningful in the environment.
§  The detached mode is not aimed toward the meaningful,
·      But to how something looks.
o   Questions
§  How do we produce images that engage
·      When the creator is detached,
·      Or vice versa.
§  Realism used mirrors and camera obscura to present images as framed – ad detached to bring it out.
§  Author believes Cezanne and Picasso did exactly that.
o   [99] – Cezanne wanted to astonish Paris with an apple.
§  He focused on weight, heftiness, and independence.
§  He was focused on the experience of the object.
·      How we engage with them
·      Over the realistic portrayal.
§  Cezanne’s images felt like they occupied space.
o   [100] Realism was traced from a single lens – monocular.
§  However, Czanne was sensitive to binocular vision.
·      Two images a touch different that create tension and some ambiguity.
Ø  Judgment of Adam
o   [105] How could Adam understand the difference between right and wrong before eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
o   [105] Looking at an old painting to help understand the structures of consciousness, experience, and acts of human judgments.
o   [106] Adam and Eve is a story about shame.
§  Shame is a fundamental form of self-consciousness.
o   A look at the painter Cranach who depicted Adam and Eve for over 30 years.
§  His scenes require acts of judgments.
o   [107] God set forth a dietary restriction to not eat from the tree of knowledge or of good and evil.
§  Adam lacks self-consciousness – which is revealed later,
§  And lack of knowledge of good and evil.
o   [108] Author’s perspective
§  Ethics – the problem of knowing what to do.
§  We have the perspective,
·      But Adam is lacking in “what to do.”
§  Prompts the question
·      How would one deliberate
o   Without self-consciousness
o   Knowledge of good and evil.
o   Adam had no knowledge that following god’s command was good.
o   [111] If a bird eats the last of the fruit from a tree,
·      We don’t hold the bird accountable.
·      But we do if our neighbor eats the fruit,
o   Because they decided to.
o   Cranach frequently depicts Eve as similar to the serpent.
§  Same expression, same eyes.
§  Adam is depicted as baffled and infantile.
§  Further Adam’s perfect companion appears to be aligned with the serpent.
§  The deck is clearly stacked against Adam.
o   [114] Luthor – The name of “knowledge of good and evil” only makes sense in retrospect.
§  It couldn’t be good or evil without prior knowledge of what good or evil is.
§  The name came from an event that occurred in the future.
o   [119] The author suggests
§  God’s demand of Adam was the first covenant, or contract.
§  Moses and the Ten Commandments was the second.
§  Christ was the third.
§  Visual references follow a theory that links the 1st contract to the 3rd.
·      There were twelve animals in Eden – the same number of apostles.
·      There was one black animal – Judas.
·      There is a horse in the background – hoof held high –which is symbolic of resurrection and overcoming evil.
·      Jesus is taken as the new Adam.
§  It reflects a history of Christianity, but
§  The first contract had to fall in order to get to the 3rd..
§  What had to happen to get to God’s mercy on man.
o   [120} The author is not trying to validate the painting,
§  But the processes Cranach uses to engage a solution.
o   [120] Ontological self-consciousness
§  Author explores Adam’s judgment,
·      And the nature of man.
§  Adam’s decision sets a course for nature.
§  God curses man, the serpent, and the very ground.
·      Thorns and Thistles are the introduction of adverse elements.
§  [122] The painting suggests the change from peace to conflict through the animals.
·      The Lion is not a rest because he’s not living to his nature among the other animals.
·      He is gaunt because he’s not hunting meat and forced to eat vegetables.
·      Author suggests the lion knows of the impending change in his favor.
o   Through a natural self-consciousness in the lion.
§  It knows its true nature.
§  Not through knowledge, psychology, or direct awareness,
§  But through its own being and what is right for the self.
o   [123] Adam is self conscious before the fall
§  Because he knows the kind of being he is.
§  That Eve is a fitting mate, and not the other animals.
§  Adam can discriminate what is good, as according to being.
§  That Adam realizes it is fitting for his nature to know good and evil.
o   The author believes it is the ontological self-consciousness was how peopled viewed man’s interaction with the world,
§  What is in man’s nature,
§  What is fitting for man.
o   [129] The scripture has god placing man at the cross roads.
§  He consistently tempts and challenges man while knowing
·      There is only one path for man’s nature.
·      The decision will be based with self-knowledge and self-awareness.
·      To teach man about his own constitution.
·      Show man his inability to do good and to then despair.
·      To make every man a sinner,
o   In the realm of self-esteem and awareness.
o   The author notes Luther’s dark interpretation of surrounding.
§  Self-knowledge
§  Self-recognition
§  Self-Awareness.
§  The aim of scripture is to make every man a sinner.
o   [130] God doesn’t place commandments to be obeyed,
§  he knows they won’t.
§  It is the nature of the commandment, and how they are directed towards man.
o   Man despairs at his inability and then seeks help elsewhere.
§  The nature of the commandments is to seek help because of
§  Self-consciousness and ontological despair.
o   [131] The self, the norm and failure emerge at once.
§  When we fail, what norm do we use.
·      The public sphere
·      Or the personal.
o   [133] The primary manifestation of self-consciousness is
§  an awareness of the self.
§  A norm
§  A sense of failure.
§  From a religious view
·      A norm no conforming to scripture or god’s law.
§  Failure from within to obey
·      That forces help from other sources.
Ø  Phenomenological History and Freedom
o   Knowing the history of painting is needed for:
§  Full understanding of a work, and
§  Phenomenological insight.
o   The visual has a greater capacity to radicalize the question of being,
§  More so than writing.
o   Intent to demonstrate how visual interpretation makes us rethink our understanding of the meaning of being.
o   The annunciation as history.
§  The shift from the old testament to the new testament.
·      Prompts questions in terms of history through epochs.
o   It is a continuation of history, or
o   A rupture.
o   Annunciation
§  When Gabriel announced to Mary the future of Christ.
§  [164] It is presented as a future,
·      and not a question of willingness.
§  Botticellies Cestello Annunciation
·      Depicts the Annunciation,
·      In a way or context, in which we know the ending,
·      But it is still a happening with massive changes for Mary.
o   [165] Because it’s visual
§  There are several things happening at once.
·      It gives a moment that we understand, because
·      We already know the story.
o   [166] The author discussed the path his eyes follow,
§  and how it affects interpretation.
o   [168] History as Phenomenology
§  History doesn’t exist for its own sake,
·      But how it can inform our present and our future.
§  History shapes our institutions, culture, etc.
o   Heidegger – history
§  The possibility of existence that has already been there.
§  What we can become is based on what we have been
§  We formulate the choices of what we would like to be.
o   [169] As such, we have an interest in
§  Mary’s life – her history
§  Gives context to the story.
o   We make sense of a moment in the past,
§  A moment configured by its future.
§  By a sense of possibilities formed
§  By context and concrete in the contingencies of the moment.
o   Our ability to recognize something important in the past occurs only
§  Because its important to us now.
§  The present draws from the past to inform the future.
·      It gives context and possibilities to what we don’t know in the present.
o   Phenomenology rejects I think therefore I am.
§  It is – I am what I lived through
§  My experiences.
§  History needs to be oriented toward experience,
·      To include the particulars as oriented toward the body.
§  [170] Ponty – the aim of phenomenology is a reconnecting with world and giving it philosophical status.
o   [171} The world provides me the tools to grasp it.
§  It has determined my perceptions relative to the other constructs within it.
§  The historian looks for patterning of the world
·      Unique events that occur within it.
·      Unique events w/context of the patterning.
§  However, the pattern recognition is something the world has given the historian.
·      Without reflection, the historian can only see something one way,
o   And as a given.
o   [172] Heidegger’s clearing
§  When something gives us meaning
§  But we become of the forces that shape it.
·      Culture – Assumptions – structure.
§  A seeing of the background of the world.
§  History is a study of the foreground to reveal the background.
o   [175] Heidegger
§  The essence of freedom must by more primordial than man.
§  Human freedom now means
·      A possibility of freedome







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