Paul Crowther, Phenomenologies of Art and Vision: A Post-Analytic Turn, Bloomsbury, 2013, pp. 195,b/w plates 14, cloth
Whilst Crowther’s readers and the philosopher himself consider Phenomenologies of Art and Vision: A Post-Analytic Turn to be primarily a contribution to the field of aesthetics, which develops further his philosophical writing about visual art, we conclude that the book does a lot more than that. Crowther’s main point is that, if visual art is to be understood in ways going beyond the spectatorial viewpoint alone, art must be examined within both the analytic and phenomenological traditions of philosophy (page). He offers critical discussions of Wollheim, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Lacan and Dufrenne to demonstrate this. (Curiously, he omits from his analysis Ingarden’s work, Bachelard’s poetics of space and Nietzsche, whose philosophy could have helped him to develop a connection between picturing and eternal recurrence more effectively.)
Through these critical discussions Crowther develops his own position which, encapsulated in one statement, would amount to the assertion that when an artist creates a work of art, the medium of making a picture (or a sculpture) and its ontology
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This is so, he says, because ‘they embody – in aesthetic form some of the deepest truths concerning the nature of the human condition, and our place in the universe’ (page). Crowther states that ‘analytic aesthetics needs phenomenology in order to expand its ontological scope and solve the problem of expression’ (page). Phenomenology, the philosopher continues, ‘needs the discursive force and lucidity of analytic philosophy so as to develop a sustained, critically balanced, and intellectually available ontology.’ (page) This reciprocal need, according to Crowhter, warrants a postanalytic phenomenology of art.
Mitchell, Helen Buss. "Aesthetic Experience." Roots of Wisdom: A Tapestry of Philosophical Traditions. 6th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011. 303-24. Print.
It appears to me that pictures have been over-valued; held up by a blind admiration as ideal things, and almost as standards by which nature is to be judged rather than the reverse; and this false estimate has been sanctioned by the extravagant epithets that have been applied to painters, and "the divine," "the inspired," and so forth. Yet in reality, what are the most sublime productions of the pencil but selections of some of the forms of nature, and copies of a few of her evanescent effects, and this is the result, not of inspiration, but of long and patient study, under the instruction of much good sense…
Form plays a predominant role in these paintings, especially as far as value and shape are concerned. For example, the eyes of the subject in the “What surrounds us we endure…” painting are piercing and ice-cold, conveying desperation and a need to be heard. The eyes look piercing and distressed due to their light blue color which contrasts with the darks shadows enclosing them. Through their body language and facial expressions, the three men in the picture express anxiety, stress and depression which are perhaps due to the rain-streaked night sky, the lonely sidewalk and bus stop and the use of dark, cool hues which surround them. Also, the value of the man in the foreground is very intense because he is lighter than the background and creates an eerie sensation. It is also a focal point in the piece because of the drastic contrast between light and dark fashioned by the strong use of shadow. The remaining two men that occupy the background of the picture seem to be completely exposed to light, almost representing a sense of being scrutinized, but not understood due to the cry ...
In the book “Ways of Seeing,” John Berger explains several essential aspects of art through the influence of the Marxism and art history that relate to social history and the sense of sight. Berger examines the dominance of ideologies in the history of traditional art and reflects on the history, class, and ideology as a field of cultural discourse, cultural consumption and cultural practice. Berger argues, “Realism is a powerful link to ownership and money through the dominance of power. ”(p.90)[1] The aesthetics of art and present historical methodology lack focus in comparison to the pictorial essay.
Since its emergence over 30,000 years ago, one of visual art’s main purposes has been to act as an instrument of personal expression and catharsis. Through the mastery of paint, pencil, clay, and other mediums, artists can articulate and make sense of their current situation or past experiences, by portraying their complex, abstract emotions in a concrete form. The act of creation gives the artist a feeling of authority or control over these situations and emotions. Seen in the work of Michelangelo, Frida Kahlo, Jean Michel-Basquiat, and others, artists’ cathartic use of visual art is universal, giving it symbolic value in literature. In Natasha Trethewey's Native Guard, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,
From the creation of art to its modern understanding, artists have strived to perform and perfect a photo realistic painting with the use of complex lines, blend of colors, and captivating subjects. This is not the case anymore due to the invention of the camera in 1827, since it will always be the ultimate form of realism. Due to this, artists had the opportunities to branch away from the classical formation of realism, and venture into new forms such as what is known today as modern art. In the examination of two well known artists, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, we can see that the artist doesn’t only intend for the painting to be just a painting, but more of a form of telling a scene through challenging thoughts, and expressing of the artists emotion in their creation.
This book is a note written by Roland Barthes to record the dialectical way he thought about the eidos(form, essence, type, species) of Photographs. Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist in his lifetime, but surprisingly he was not a photographer. As Barthes had a belief that art works consists with signs and structures, he had investigated semiotics and structuralism. However, through Camera Lucida, he realized the limitation of structuralism and the impression to analyze Photography with only semiotics and structuralism. Barthes concludes with talking about unclassifiable aspects of Photography. I could sense the direction Barthes wanted to go through the first chapter ‘Specialty of the Photograph’. He tried to define something by phenomenology
In Confronting Images, Didi-Huberman considers disadvantages he sees in the academic approach of art history, and offers an alternative method for engaging art. His approach concentrates on that which is ‘visual’ long before coming to conclusive knowledge. Drawing support from the field of psycho analytics (Lacan, Freud, and Kant and Panofsky), Didi-Huberman argues that viewers connect with art through what he might describe as an instance of receptivity, as opposed to a linear, step-by-step analytical process. He underscores the perceptive mode of engaging the imagery of a painting or other work of art, which he argues comes before any rational ‘knowing’, thinking, or discerning. In other words, Didi-Huberman believes one’s mind ‘sees’ well before realizing and processing the object being looked at, let alone before understanding it. Well before the observer can gain any useful insights by scrutinizing and decoding what she sees, she is absorbed by the work of art in an irrational and unpredictable way. What Didi-Huberman is s...
Both the 1983 poem, “Musée des Beaux Arts” by Wystan Hugh Auden and the 1555 portrait, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel, inflict the reminiscence of a parable conflicting human aspiration. Auden and Bruegel weave an interpretation of Greek mythology on Daedelus and reinforce its moral into human society and the effects of exposing dilemmas to humanity brimming with apathy. Through his artwork, Bruegel encompasses the ending of a myth and challenges the viewers to make personal connections, by adding in his own features, while Auden interprets the commotion between the civilians in the painting and associates his experiences of careless human attitude through his responsorial poem. Evidently, both texts explore the depths
Mr. Berger states in his essay, “The reciprocal nature of vision is more fundamental than that of a spoken dialogue. And often dialogue is an attempt to verbalize this- an attempt to explain how, either metaphorically or literally, “you see things” (120). This statement is a use of the rhetorical strategy, ethos, which is what Mr. Berger uses to gain influence and trust with the academic audience that he is intending to instill new knowledge in. This is a strong use of ethos that leads into how art is viewed so
But, Foucault goes on to explain, “from the eyes of the painter to what he is observing there runs a compelling line that we , the onlookers, have no power of evading...this line reaches out to us ineluctably, and links us to the representation of the picture” (Foucault 4). Foucault shows through this line that a third method is possible and that is the method that functions on seeing what the author intended through the work itself, or “seeing what they want us to see.” Foucault condemns this process due to its lack of close interpretation, but
Among the many theories of art that have emerged over time, the theory I will defend in this paper is the Neo-Wittgensteinian theory of Art. I will defend this view against the following (two) objections: a) The “open concept” idea of art is too expansive, and b) the “family resemblance” theory of artworks is also too expansive.
Walter Horatio Pater gives art critic’s some very pertinent advice about what constitutes true beauty in aestheticism in the overall schema of good art criticism. He describes beauty as being something that has no formula, that it is something we find through our own experiences, impressions, and senses; through this we can, according to Pater, “see the object as in itself it really is.” Thus, with this idea in mind, art critics should find the source of what sparked their interest in the first place, that being the impression of beauty and pleasure. Pater describes to us that the aesthetic critic must distinguish, analyze, and separate any confounding factors that led to the source of his impression and the conditions which produced it. He creates a respectable analogy for aesthetic criticism as being something similar to how a chemist makes notes to describe some natural element. This is a perfect analogy as the chemist must analyze the natural elements to others in a way that is both eminent and crucial to their understanding of whatever it is that they are seeing. Thus, his purpose is the same rationale as the aesthetic critic’s is to be, that of analyzing the objects and reducing it down to its bare element; therefore distilling its true purpose of being there. Lastly, Pater argues that it is exceedingly important for an art critic to not have any preset definition of what is abstract beauty; but rather to have a certain kind of attribute in their personality, that being of one who is stimulated and in a state of child like ecstasy in seeing any genuine work of art.
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen Dedalus defines beauty and the artist's comprehension of his/her own art. Stephen uses his esthetic theory with theories borrowed from St. Thomas Aquinas and Plato. The discourse can be broken down into three main sections: 1) A definitions of beauty and art. 2) The apprehension and qualifications of beauty. 3) The artist's view of his/her own work. I will explain how the first two sections of his esthetic theory relate to Stephen. Furthermore, I will argue that in the last section, Joyce is speaking of Stephen Dedalus and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as his art.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce, exemplifies the model of art it proposes as it also offers the reader on how to read that very art. Following the main character, Stephen Dedalus, through life, Joyce uses Stephen’s immediate perception to convey how an artist views the world. The reader witnesses Stephen encountering everyday aspects of life as art—the words of a language lesson as poetry or the colors of a rose as beautiful. Through Stephen’s voyage and words, Joyce introduces the theory that “beauty” as a label for an object is not born from the actual physical object itself, but rather lies within the process one goes through when encountering the object. Joyce’s theory is also experienced by the reader as he or she encounters Stephen’s perceptions as well as the beauty of the poetic language and vivid description within Joyce’s narrative. The rhythmic patterns and stylistic sentences create a multitude of authorial voices that blend at various points in the novel involving Joyce, Stephen, and the reader.