Indefinite Openess: Thinking Love in Art

307 Pages·2017·2.72 MB·English

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Academic Research and Dissertations Maine State Library Special Collections
8-2016
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Kathryn A. McFadden
IDSVA
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INDEFINITE OPENNESS: THINKING LOVE IN ART

Kathryn A. McFadden

Submitted to the faculty of
The Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy

August 2016
Accepted by the faculty of the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts in partial
fulfillment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Sigrid Hackenberg, Ph.D.
Dissertation Director’s Name, Ph.D.

Doctoral Committee
Christopher Yates, Ph.D.
Other member’s name, #1 Ph.D.

Kathy Desmond, Ph.D.
Other member’s name, #2, Ph.D.

February 19, 2017

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© 2016

Kathryn A. McFadden

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Love does not call for a certain kind of thinking, or for a thinking of love, but for thinking in
essence and in its totality. And this is because thinking, most properly speaking, is love.
Jean Luc Nancy

For my daughter, Kate.
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ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

First I must acknowledge my director, Dr. Sigrid Hackenberg. Words fail to express how
much I appreciate your singular presence over the duration; for sharing your wisdom and
intelligence—you took me to a limit. You are the embodiment of poiesis in a philosopher.
I am also grateful to IDSVA’s teachers, staff and administration for their guidance over the
past seven years. Dr. George Smith must take credit for the topic of this thesis. I remember
the moment at Brown University when he said, “You should write about love.” I should?
Well, I took his words to heart as I began the writing process. Certainly love is immanent in
the concept and praxis of IDSVA, which cultivates many crossings. I thank all of the students
and instructors for time and effort extended to me even in the most transient of moments.
There are a few individuals who have gone above and beyond any expression of friendship I
could imagine. In particular I want to single out these friends for their extremity of presence:
Nell Stifel, Dr. Jen Hall, Dr. Rob Anderson, Dr. Conny Bogaard and Blyth Hazen. When I
became deathly ill in the middle of writing this dissertation, you made me want to live; I felt
cherished by you. Thank you.
My further appreciation goes to Dr. Bob Carroll for being my cross-country study-buddy,
and to my oldest friend Jesse Crawford for his bottomless well of tender concern. Many
thanks also to my perceptive and generous copy editor, Lis Bralow as well as my former
teacher and friend Sanda Iliescu, who has always made me feel like I have something to
offer; hugs to Dr. Elin Danien for her cheerful support and wisdom since my undergraduate
years. Also a warm shout out to the Beverly Philosophical Society: a dedicated group of
philosophers and artists who are keen to formulate the questions. Thank you, all.
Last but not least, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my daughter, Kate McFadden for
putting up with many distractions on my end for the past few years and for my mother who
gave me a moral compass. And—although gone from this world for over twenty years—I
must acknowledge Billy James for his encouragement to follow a dream; his optimism for
life’s possibilities lives on in my heart.

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ABSTRACT

Kathryn A. McFadden

INDEFINITE OPENNESS: THINKING LOVE IN ART

What happens when someone confronts a work of art—the inexplicable connection to
something brought into the world by an artist? Might we call this moment love? If so, how
does this love differ from other loves, like eros or philia? Love originating in the
interconnectedness of viewer, artwork and artist resists conventional positions; art is in fact a
philosophy of love in action.
I argue the primary action for love in art is thinking. Thinking about art is a manifestation of
love when the viewer is overcome by wonder when contemplating a work of art. This love
arises from a movement—yet something beyond the semblance of logical movement—that
occurs in the viewer and artist. This conveyance offers the potential of a rupture, a burst that
takes place in the between, a theoretical zero space of love. As a space of pure potential, the
between allows for the connection necessary for thinking love, a love that asks unanswerable
questions. Love in art offers indefinite openness because it initiates endless possibilities for
what a subject can feel or know.
Love as I define it is not necessarily dependent on empathy, struggle, hierarchy or
equivalence; it is not dogma, ideal or truth; it is neither rational nor irrational. It is not to be
desperately sought and located; it is a matter of presence and duration. Love in art waivers
between understanding and ignorance; it is embodied, immeasurable, generous, fleeting and
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erratic. It is a manner of thriving in the expansion of self. With this paper I stake a claim for
the importance of love in contemporary aesthetic practice.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………v
Abstract……….……………………………………………………………………………..vi
Introduction: The Progress of Love……….………………………………………………….1
Chapter One: Origins of possibility……….………………………………………………….35
Chapter Two: Intermedius ………………………………………………..............................74
Chapter Three: Wonder full………………………………………………………………...105
Chapter Four: Indefinite openness…………………………………………………….........142
Chapter Five: Pure knowing………………………………………………………………..175
Coda………………………………………………………………………………………...239
Notes………………………………………………………………………………………..247
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………..289

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Figure 0.1. Valérie Oka (left) at In her presence performance in 2011 at Lagos Centre for
Contemporary Arts Photo: Valerie Oka Flickr page.

Introduction
The Progress of Love

Let us consider the subject of love, specifically in the context of works of art. What
happens when someone experiences an inexplicable connection to something brought into
the world by an artist? Might we call this moment love? If so, how does this love differ from
other loves like eros or philia? If it is not comparable, is it possible that love in art stands
outside the Western canon of conventional notions of love? How does art explain, connect,
and participate in love? What is art’s role in the act of thinking? To begin to take on these
questions and by way of example, I commence with a particular contemporary artwork that is
both performative and collaborative in nature. This work was included in an expanded
exhibition titled The Progress of Love.
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