Art Theory Research Articles

Centaur at the Edge of the Forest

The study is devoted to one of the most relevant topics in art theory and philosophy of art — the search for principles for constructing a world history of art that would not be Western-centric. Since the origination of art history as a discipline is impacted by Hegel's philosophical system, attempts to develop a new history of art, from its beginnings in the 1960s to contemporary decolonial initiatives, have focused on deconstructing various aspects of its Hegelian foundations. In its most radical form, Hegel can be seen as the cause of the “white colonist” view of the art history of “Other” cultures, which are attributed traits such as “primitiveness,” “backwardness,” or are completely denied a place in history. This paper examines three ideas that underlie traditional art history (linearity, the principle of significance, and monochrony), as well as three philosophical questions that create any such history (what concept of history is chosen, how the principle of movement through history is understood, and what the principle selection of art history records is). These ideas and questions will be examined in relation to Hegel's philosophy, along with how their many practical interpretations deviate to varying degrees from the original. All of them are connected by the fact that they presuppose a certain philosophy of history and time. To reconsider the critique of Hegelianism, this study proposes to examine it through the concept of temporal discursive violence, which is constructed by applying the anthropological concept of the denial of coevalness to the Other to the context of temporal relations in the history of art. It will be shown that the rejection of Hegelian principles may lead to a large number of paradoxical situations, in which the history of art turns into a meaningless catalog or even into big data. Next there will be an attempt to prove that (a) the problem with Hegelianism in the history of art can be translated into the problem of temporal discursive violence, however, (b) this problem is not solved by relativization, the rejection of Hegel, or the selective preservation of his principles.

승무의 구성미(構成美)와 무용 미학적 의의

This study examines the aesthetic significance of Seungmu in terms of its artistic spirit, artistic function, artistic symbolism, and artistic philosophy. It has been identified. To this end, the aesthetic characteristics of Seungmu as the essence of traditional dance were revealed in terms of composition, such as dance moves, music, dance clothes, and weapons. The research results are as follows. First, ‘Seungmu is a living form, and its technique and artistry are so outstanding that it can be said to be the essence of Korean traditional dance. Second, Seungmu is a dance that harmonizes the beauty of Movement-in-Stillness and Excitement, and the emotional expression of tying and releasing based on human origins and resentment. Third, based on Susan Langer's symbolic theory, the aesthetic symbols, symbolic systems, and archetypal symbols of Seungmu were examined. It is believed that this study will be helpful in understanding the aesthetic significance of dance through the compositional beauty of Seungmu.

Kielen, kulttuurin ja kognition filosofiaa rationalismista romantiikkaan

Timo Kaitaro’s Language, Culture and Cognition from Descartes to Lewes (Leiden: Brill, 2022) is an ambitious and detailed treatise on the history of the philosophy of language and mind. The book sheds new light on the history of music as well as on the conventional picture of the history of the philosophy of art.

Theme of Flowers as a Sign of Impressionism on the Example of the Work of Ivan Trush (1869-1941)

The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in art are associated with light and color in Europe, which were characteristic of the artistic philosophy of Impressionism. Prominent representatives of this movement created artworks based on a new approach to color choices and subject matter, including the depiction of real landscapes and floral compositions. The relevance of this research is driven by the need to study the artistic representation of floral compositions by the Ukrainian artist I. Trush through the prism of Impressionist stylistic elements. The research aims to identify the features of Impressionist philosophy in the works of I. Trush through a comparison of the artist's body of work with that of Impressionist contemporaries in the field of visual arts. In this research, scientific methods such as description, systematization, analysis, comparison, cultural-historical analysis, and generalization were employed. As a result of this scientific investigation, the fundamental characteristic traits of Impressionism as an art style in visual arts were studied, as well as the particular features that distinguish this artistic movement from previous artistic philosophies. The research also analyzed the conceptual framework of the term "Impressionism" and its origins. Furthermore, it examined the characteristic traits and features of the works of the Ukrainian painter I. Trush and Impressionist artists, allowing for the integration of the distinctive traits and features of Impressionism in the artist's work through comparison. Through the comparative analysis conducted in this scientific work between Impressionists and the artistic output of I. Trush, the involvement of the Ukrainian artist in the broader Impressionist movement was highlighted. This research can be utilized by scholars and art historians for further exploration of Impressionism as an artistic movement and its influence on the development of Ukrainian art.

Проблема применимости понятия парадигма к философскому процессу

Since the second half of the 20th century, Kuhn's concept has been used in philosophy of natural science, sociology and history of science, biology, medicine, political sciences, economics and history of economics, anthropology and history of anthropology, psychology and history of psychoanalysis, theory of art and literature, mathematics, linguistics. A.P. Ogurtsov and S.S. Neretina systematized the controversial issues of this concept, including the question of the qualification of philosophy as a discipline. The author joined this discussion in the process of reconstructing the political philosophy of M.K. Petrov. This article discusses several new topics related to the interpretation of T. Kuhn's concept.

«Реальное дело художника» и философия искусства: Соловьев – Федоров – Чекрыгин

The article is dedicated to the aesthetic views of an artist and philosopher V.N. Chekrygin (1897–1922). His ideas are compared to the philosophy of art of V.S. Solovyev and N.F. Fyodorov. Theoretical heritage of the artist is analyzed, it reflects understanding of the tasks of creativity, history and language of the visual art. The research is based on the texts of Chekrygin: “A Manifest of the Painters (1920)”, “The Program of One-year Course on Art Philosophy” (1920), “About Upcoming New Era of the All-European Art” (1921), “About Convocation of the Resurrecting Museum’ (1921), and his epistolary art. Little-known materials from the archive are considered. Studying aesthetic works of Fyodorov and Solovyev allows to make comparative-typological research of the artist and philosopher of art. The connection is shown between Chekrygin’s ideas and aesthetic tradition of the Russian religious philosophy. Signs of aesthetics of Christian universalism can be seen in his project of a new era of the art. The idea of the project of “living art” of Chekrygin is opposed to the research of avantgarde art and it was inspired by the ideas of conciliarity and theurgy. It is shown that philosophical-aesthetic ideas of the artist are close to the philosophy of art of V.S. Solovyov and even more to the doctrine of the aesthetic supramoralism of Fyodorov. The research discloses particularities of the aesthetic ideas of the artist, which are permeated with the spirit of eschatological anxiety. Chekrygin shows the way that modern art should follow referring to the topics of theophany, to the process of contemplation of the space evolvement and the creation of the church-museum of the universal resurrection. It is proved that the artist creates the image of the final ideal of art conceiving the philosophical ideas of Solovyov and Fyodorov. It is proved that the artist remains in line with modernism discourse at the same time creating the outlines of the art of the future.

МИМ У НАСТАВИ: КА ВИСОКООБРАЗОВНОМ КОНТЕКСТУ

The subject of the paper is the analysis of memes in the teaching context of higher education, with a focus on their functionality in the teaching process, from the adoption of new material to the renewal and synthesis of the acquired knowledge. Due to the fact that the meme is one of the theoretically insufficiently studied phenomena in the teaching context, in this paper we approach it through the diachrony of its study in the theory of art, and the process of its introduction into the teaching context from the role of an auxiliary teaching tool to the curriculum of university study programs fully aimed at the study of meme creation and the study of meme in the context of social and humanities studies. In the final part of the paper, we provide a concise overview of our empirical research into the functionality of meme in university literature teaching, from which we derive certain conclusions specific to the use of meme in this educational domain.

The very possibility of contemplation: The dialectics of intellect and will in Schopenhauer's aesthetics

AbstractIn this article, I explore how Schopenhauer's theory of aesthetic experience—independently of his theory of arts—accommodates the possibility of contemplation. The standard reading of his aesthetics is that contemplation becomes possible because of a certain “surplus” of intellect and facilitating external occasions. I argue, however, that the “essential imperfections” of intellect and Schopenhauer's overall metaphysics are inconsistent with the very idea of will‐less cognition and, hence, of a free intellect. An alternative explanation of contemplation better fits with Schopenhauer's philosophy overall by stating that it is driven by the will itself. I analyze two approaches to elaborating such a theory. First, the “metaphysical” account, according to which the will as thing‐in‐itself brings forth the (surplus of) intellect needed for contemplation as a means of self‐cognition. Second, the “physiological” account, which presupposes a quasi‐evolutionary process that has aesthetic cognition as a byproduct of intellect. The two accounts complement each other and in tandem better explain the possibility of contemplation than postulating a will‐less intellect.

The Concept of Music from Kafka’s The Metamorphosis: Author vs Translator

This article examines the problem of preserving the meaning of the translation of fiction texts. The author refers to the translation into Russian of “War er ein Tier, da ihn Musik so ergriff?”, a phrase from Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It is argued that in the only translation of the novella into Russian by S. K. Apt, there is an inaccuracy in the translation of this phrase, which distorts the semantics of the source. The article reveals the grounds for the assumption of this inaccuracy in the translation of the outstanding Russian Germanist. They relate to the translator’s intuitive rejection of the concept of musical art, which is reflected in the phrase analysed. While reconstructing Kafka’s thought, the author of the article concludes that Kafka’s work expresses an understanding of music that completely disagrees with the one that distinguishes the classical works of European philosophy of music, forged on the basis of Romantic aesthetics. Kafka has a non-Romantic understanding of music: he refuses to venerate it as an ideal metaphysical essence, reflecting on the nature of the impact of music on the listener. The author puts forward a hypothesis that in Kafka’s work, there is a rethinking of the philosophy of musical art belonging to F. Nietzsche, who opposed music to the non-musical human world, subordinated to logic and language. Kafka radicalises this opposition: in his logic, music alienates people from the rational world, plunging them into an animal, primordially natural state. Gregor Samsa’s sensitivity to music, which he discovers after the metamorphosis, makes him recognise his animal essence, which requires that the analysed phrase be translated as a sentence with a clause of reason (“Was he an animal because music excited him so much?”) rather than a clause of condition (as in Apt: “Was he an animal if music excited him so much?”). The reference to other novellas about “animals responsive to music” (Investigations of a Dog, Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk) reinforces the proposed reconstruction of Kafka’s understanding of music, which, in turn, opens significant semantic layers of the novella related to the interpretation of the images of other characters (Gregor’s family, three guests in Mr. Samsa’s apartment) and its deep tragic content.

Heidegger’s World: Re-Enchanting through Thingness

This study investigates how Martin Heidegger’s notion of “the thing” (Das Ding) can help rescue modern disenchantment with regard to its root in the World, a concept developed from “being-in-the-world” presented in Being and Time, and later taken as a participant in the bilateral polemos illustrated in die Gestalt (signifying Being’s strife to disclose itself against the Earth: self-concealing concealment). In Section 1, I analyze the occurrence of disenchantment by critically reviewing several thinkers’ discussions of it, pointing out that “faciality”—which has structured the modern Western understanding of reality—is the cornerstone of ontotheology, as well as the collapse of it: disenchantment. In Section 2, to demonstrate how Heidegger’s rediscovery of usefulness in a de-subjectified discourse of signification has challenged the positivistic view attached to “faciality”, I examine Heidegger’s idea of “readiness-to-hand,” revealing the basic temporal–spatial units composing the “handiness” of categorical beings and its relation to Dasein, progressing thereon to the analysis of a thing-centered worldview of Heidegger’s phenomenology. In Section 3, I demonstrate how this thing-centered worldview has the potential to form a preparative stage for re-enchantment of the World by uncovering the concealed existentiality within things, aligning with Heidegger’s polemos in his philosophy of art.

The Ontology and Aesthetics of Genre

AbstractGenres inform our appreciative practices. What it takes for a work to be a good work of comedy is different than what it takes for a work to be a good work of horror, and a failure to recognize this will lead to a failure to appreciate comedies or works of horror particularly well. Likewise, it is not uncommon to hear people say that a film or novel is a good work, but not a good work of x (where x is the genre of that work). A work can be good all things considered, but genre membership provides us with an additional set of evaluative criteria over and above those of the medium, which colors how we interpret and appreciate the work. Given this importance, it is not surprising that philosophers of art have been interested in providing an account of what, exactly, a genre is. Despite this interest, there is not widespread agreement about what it takes for something to be a genre, nor what kinds of considerations are relevant in determining whether a work is a member of that genre. Beyond this, we might also want to know to what degree we ought to consider genre in evaluating a work of art and why it should matter at all. Here, I explore the variety of recent theories that philosophers have taken up on the topic of genre and why we should ultimately think of genres as artistic practices rather than the alternatives.

Aesthetics and predictive processing: grounds and prospects of a fruitful encounter.

In the last few years, a remarkable convergence of interests and results has emerged between scholars interested in the arts and aesthetics from a variety of perspectives and cognitive scientists studying the mind and brain within the predictive processing (PP) framework. This convergence has so far proven fruitful for both sides: while PP is increasingly adopted as a framework for understanding aesthetic phenomena, the arts and aesthetics, examined under the lens of PP, are starting to be seen as important windows into our mental functioning. The result is a vast and fast-growing research programme that promises to deliver important insights into our aesthetic encounters as well as a wide range of psychological phenomena of general interest. Here, we present this developing research programme, describing its grounds and highlighting its prospects. We start by clarifying how the study of the arts and aesthetics encounters the PP picture of mental functioning (§1). We then go on to outline the prospects of this encounter for the fields involved: philosophy and history of art (§2), psychology of aesthetics and neuroaesthetics (§3) and psychology and neuroscience more generally (§4). The upshot is an ambitious but well-defined framework within which aesthetics and cognitive science can partner up to illuminate crucial aspects of the human mind. This article is part of the theme issue 'Art, aesthetics and predictive processing: theoretical and empirical perspectives'.

How Art Could Be Used to Educate Science

The paper examines theories and examples between art and science, showing where they are similar, and how art and design can be used to educate and inform scientific data. Due to how vast both fields are in terms of specilizations, theories, and practices, the paper will mostly focus on theories of physics, mainly revolving around Isaac Newton, and art and design theories related to Newton and to color, and how these theories are foundational for pracitioners of these fields respectively. The paper will then propose methods of using art and design to educate science, and situations where that may apply.

The epistemological aspect of conceptual sphere in the artistic world of A.P. Chekhov

The purpose of the study is to explore the gnoseological aspect of Anton Chekhov’s art world conceptual sphere, specifically the disconnect between reality and human perception. The research is grounded in theoretical works on the gnoseological nature of creativity and scientific works on Chekhov’s artistic philosophy. The literary analysis focuses on Chekhov’s works from the 1880s to 1890s. It is stated that Chekhov’s conceptosphere of fiction delves into the existential experiences of individuals, which can either reinforce or erode their belief in positive change of their destinies. The authors demonstrate that Chekhov skillfully portrays the scholastic consciousness imposed on individuals by society, as well as the consequences of erroneous consciousness resulting from dramatic circumstances and leading to fatal tragic consequences. Chekhov’s prose avoids excessive melodrama while maintaining an engaging narrative structure and style. It is revealed that the conceptosphere of Chekhov’s art world doesn’t contain the image of ideal hero, but is based on the position of gnoseological optimism, which lies in the fact that the world can still be cognized, and the discovery of its laws is an infinite trajectory of human knowledge.

Art without an Artist: On the Question of the Criteria of Contemporary Art

The article raises the question of the authorship of works of contemporary art, the institutional nature and socio-economic conditions of its production, as well as the spatial and media-aesthetic mediations of its perception. The main research problem is formulated at the intersection of two questions: is everything that artists produce may be considered art? And: are artists the only authors of the works they signed? The problem is the appearance of a commodity form for works of contemporary art, which does not interfere with them, but, on the contrary, becomes a condition for their social and cultural legitimation, recognition in the context of the history of world art, i.e. museumification. In addition, the article discusses: The ontological status of art objects produced by contemporary artists or, more precisely, by the entire industry and contemporary art market; a specific way of their impact on a person, which, as a purely aesthetic, is abstracted from other channels of sensory and existential experience; and: The integral artistic experience of being-with-art or in-art of spectators and artists, its structure and essence. The methodological approach to the phenomenon of contemporary art developed in the article simultaneously criticizes the positions of aesthetic nominalism and realism, relying on the vocabulary and tools of the theory of art by Walter Benjamin and Russian constructivism. As an alternative to the currently dominant criteria for evaluating works of contemporary art (for example, by T. de Duve), the authors propose an original theory of the Russian left avant-garde with the central concepts of the artistic “thing-comrade” and the collective author-producer.

Aesthetics in Art

What is beauty? This question is what each of us is pursuing and exploring. Everything have their own beauty, this recognition of "beauty" is constantly changing along with the development of human civilization. The word aesthetic comes from the Greek and its original meaning is "feeling to the senses". Everyone has different opinion on beauty. Some scholars think that the object of aesthetics research is beauty itself, while others believe that the object of aesthetics research is art, and aesthetics is the philosophy of art.

Decorative Art of the Latvian SSR, Searching the Way Between Party-Mindedness and National-Mindedness

The basic principle of socialist realism was the belief in the political ideals proposed by the ruling Communist party (party-mindedness) of the Soviet Union, enriched by national-mindedness and ideinost (ideological-content). Already since the early 1930s, in the Soviet Union every single cultural worker in every single discipline of art had to strictly follow the method of socialist realism. The canon of socialist realism was equally applicable to fine art as well as applied art, the specific function of which was supposed to be purely utilitarian use. Decorative art in the national republics of the Soviet Union usually took the forms of folk art, and decorative art since the beginning of the 1960s was perceived as an integral component of Soviet culture. The essence of Soviet culture had already been formulated several decades earlier, and it had to be socialist in content and national in form, emphasizing the importance of national traditions.
 It was possible to treat this principle in various, even very disparate ways, so the problem of adherence to the party principles and the manifestastion of national distinctiveness was an inexhaustible topic of theoretical and practical discussions. Conceptual ambiguity, as well as very different visions among artists, theoreticians, as well as party officials, did not allow to develop a unified theory of applied art. Due to the afore mentioned ambiguity and the pluralism of opinions artists of applied art could enjoy some space of freedom for creativity, without directly violating the canons of socialist realism.
 The author of the paper examines and analyzes the development of professional decorative art in the Latvian SSR of that time, ideological currents in art theory, and center–periphery relationship.

Enlightenment Response: A Study of Rational Spirit in the Works of Jean-Honoré Fragonard

This paper utilizes Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s paintings, housed in collections across Europe and North America, as primary source material. Employing methods from art history, social art history, literary analysis, and intellectual history, the study aims to explore the connections between Fragonard’s artistic philosophy, the social context of 18th-century France, and the cultural trends of the time. The paper investigates Fragonard’s response to Enlightenment and rationality through his paintings. The results indicate that, situated in an era oscillating between Rococo and realistic styles, Fragonard’s works provide a glimpse into the social and cultural milieu of late 18th-century France. Driven by the spirit of reason, Fragonard created a series of landscapes and genre paintings. Simultaneously, his sensitivity to emotions rendered his works vivid and dynamic, embodying the collaborative interplay of sensibility and reason.

THE NOTIONS OF XIE-SHI («WRITING REALITY»), XIE-YI («WRITING IDEA») AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO REALISM

This article discusses terminological problems in the context of contemporary art practice and theory in China. Contemporary Chinese sculpture criticism has evolved in the context of certain influence of Western theories of art. Against the background of the integration of Western theories and terminology system of sculpture in the present stage, the Chinese sculpture community has perceived and internalized terms such as realism, depiction, figurative, abstract, and so on. This has greatly enriched the theory and practice of Chinese sculpture. At the same time, there are sculptural terms rooted in the Chinese national art practice, such as “xie-shi” and “xie-yi”. Unfortunately, limited by the cultural and linguistic contexts of China and the West, and by the fact that most Chinese sculptors still preserve the creative habit of relying on traditional experience and personal judgment, these terms lead to vagueness and speculation in defining the type of sculptural artwork. This situation can very easily lead to ambiguity and misinterpretation in interlingual translation, which becomes an obstacle to the understanding of Chinese sculptural art in other countries and limits the development of Chinese sculptural criticism. This is an important academic problem that requires long-term research. The author would like to express his gratitude to Prof. Maria Burganova for drawing his attention to this problem. According to the results of the author's search in the Chinese full-text database of periodicals, master's theses and doctoral dissertations CNKI, there are still no papers on Chinese art history specifically dealing with this relevant topic, which remains to be explored.

Riding against patriarchy

Equestrian portraiture has historically upheld gender norms by depicting powerful men and excluding women artists. 17th and 18th-century equestrian portraits of women depicted them as passive objects, often overshadowed by their male counterparts. These portraits reinforced traditional gender roles and upheld the patriarchal hierarchy prevalent during that time. This paper examines how Ghanaian contemporary artist Sarfowaa challenges patriarchal traditions through feminist self-portraiture in appropriated historical equestrian paintings. Through visual analysis of composition, techniques, symbols and contextualize selected artworks, this article explores how Sarfowaa subverts the equestrian genre by inserting herself into these male-dominated paintings. Her self-portraits provide a powerful statement of resistance that reclaims authority and agency for women. By contextualizing Sarfowaa's work within feminist art movements and theory, this paper analyzes how her art dismantles traditional gender roles and norms. The results demonstrate that Sarfowaa's portraits further the aims of feminist portraiture through their bold questioning of patriarchal power structures. This research expands current scholarship on the intersections of art, portraiture, feminism, and political resistance. It appeals to academics, artists, and audiences interested in the capacity of contemporary art to drive social change.