Transcultural aesthetics and contemporary art

385 Pages·2014·28.95 MB·English

by  Paul Tanchio

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TRANSCULTURAL AESTHETICS
AND CONTEMPORARY ART:
PURSUING UNITY TRADITIONS
AND THE INTENTIONS OF
ART PRACTITIONERS

BY
PAUL ALBERT TANCHIO

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of
the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

S y d n e y C o l l e g e o f t h e A r t s
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

2 0 1 4
ii
The Flower of Life

This transcultural icon represents unified
creation: a microcosm of the macrocosm.

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure
1. Eliot DEUTSCH: Four Strata of Meaning (1975) 22
2. Joseph KOSUTH: One and Three Chairs (1965) 40
3. Imants TILLERS: One Painting, Cleaving (1980-81) 49
4. ARISTOTLE: Poïesis, Telos, Praxis (450 BCE) 53
5. Unknown: Karl Jaspers’ Map of 600 BCE Axial Thinkers (1938) 70
6. XIA Gui: Sailboat in Rainstorm (1300)
LI Keran: All the Mountains Blanketed in Red (1962-64) 79
7. Unknown: Avalokitesvara (600-50)
Unknown: Krsna and Sudama (1625) 82
8. Unknown: The Lion Hunt by Alexander and Hephaestion (320-10 BCE)
Michelangelo BUONARROTI: The Creation (1508-12) 85
9. Anselm KIEFER: Deutschlands Geisteshelden (1973) 114
Imants TILLERS: Diaspora (1992)
John YOUNG: Safety Zone (Autumn 2010)

10. Anselm KIEFER: Jeder Mensch steht unter Himmelskugel (1970) 117
Imants TILLERS: Heart of the Wood (1985)
John YOUNG: The Naïve and Sentimental Painting I and II (Winter 2006)

11. Anselm KIEFER: Beserzungen (1969/75); Resurrexit (1973/82) 120
Imants TILLERS: Izkliede (1994); Paradiso (1994)
John YOUNG: Flower Market Nanjing 1936, No. 1 (2010); No. 3 (2010)

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12. Anselm KIEFER: Bilderstreit (1980) 138
Imants TILLERS: Suppressed Imagery (1981)
John YOUNG: Liberty No. 2, No. 1, and No. 3 (Winter and Spring 2003) 139

13. GAO Xingjian / Robert WILSON: Gao Xingjian, Writer (2005) 154
Helmut FEDERLE: Innerlight II (1988)
14. GAO Xingjian: Xingjian: Paintings – Dream Animation (2009) 164
Helmut FEDERLE: Landeszentralbank Sachen- Thüringen in Meniningen (2009)
15. GAO Xingjian: Soul Mountain (2000) 171
Helmut FEDERLE: Legion V (1996)
16. GAO Xingjian: Xingjian: Emptiness (2005) 174
Helmut FEDERLE: Japanese Sea in Moonlight (2009)
17. GAO Xingjian: Melancholy (2003); Question (2001) 177
Helmut FEDERLE: Zwei Felder (1995)
18. GAO Xingjian: The Appeal (1998); Mid-water (2007); Day and Night (2007) 179
Helmut FEDERLE: Three Forms: 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16 (1988); Requiem for My Cat (2009) 180
19. LEE Ufan: From Point (1973); From Line (1978) 193
20. LEE Ufan: Relatum (2011); Relatum (2003) 197
21. LEE Ufan: Dialogue 1 and Dialogue 2 (2007); Relatum (2008); Discussion (2003) 201
22. LEE Ufan: Relatum – Holzwege II (2000); Relatum (2010) 208
23. LEE Ufan: Correspondance (1999); From Winds (1986); From Point (1975); From Line (1976) 213
24. KUO-An: Ox-Herding Pictures: No. 1 (Search the Ox); No. 3 (First Glimpse of Ox) 240
25. KUO-An: Ox-Herding Pictures: No. 6 (Ride the Ox home) 261
26. KUO-An: Ox-Herding Pictures: No. 7 (Ox forgotten, Self alone);
No. 8 (Both Self and Ox forgotten); No. 9 (Back to the Source) 276

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My foremost thanks go to the Associate Professor Ann Elias and for her patient and
solicitous supervision. Her comments on drafts and unstinting supports have been
invaluable to me during the writing of this thesis. Special thanks to Dr. Danie Mellor,
and Mr Nicholas Tsoutas for their comments and generous assistance with practicalities.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Debra Dawes, Professor Ross Gibson,
Professor Brad Buckley, Dr. Eril Baily, Dr. Kerry Sanders, Dr. Michael Goldberg, Dr.
Lindy Lee and my fellow colleagues, all whom have gone out of their way to offer
support and encouragement during my candidature.
For the many things – comments with suggestions, helps with proofreading, and much
more with such steady and generous care – my heartfelt thanks to Peter Blamey. Sincere
thanks to the librarians at The University of Sydney: SCA, Fisher, and Power Libraries,
University of California, Berkeley Libraries, and Yale University Library. My gratitude,
finally, to my wife Janet and Daren, and all my families: the Tan family, the Mrs Nancy
Goh and family, and Dr. Allan and Mrs Winnie Kuan, who have financially supported
me well beyond so graciously and cheerfully.
Only an attraction to error as powerful and resilient as my own could defeat the
vigilance of all these friendly persons and institutions. None of them is responsible for my
lapses.

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ABSTRACT

‘Transcultural aesthetics’, in Proceedings of the Pacific Rim Conference in Transcultural
Aesthetics (1998), is a generic term used by comparative philosophers and aestheticians to
denote a theoretical assessment of distinctive applied aesthetic concepts and experience of
cultures. This thesis is concerned with transcultural art and transcultural aesthetics, and it
uses the argument put forward by comparative philosopher and aesthetician Eliot
Deutsch, in his On Truth: An Ontological Theory (1979), that its practitioners’ distinctive art
forms, especially Anselm Kiefer, Imants Tillers, John Young, Gao Xingjian, Helmut
Federle and Lee Ufan, all bear a consistent singular presentation of intentionality –
crossing boundaries that are philosophical, material and aesthetic – one that draws its
relationship of unity-in-diversity (an expression of unity without uniformity and diversity
without fragmentation) to pure human experience. I will analyse these art forms creation
with reference to key transcultural concepts such as ‘catharsis’ (cleansing), ‘kenosis’
(emptying) and ‘homeostasis’ (harmonising into equilibrium), as drawn from the Chinese,
Indian and European aesthetics traditions (commonly known as unity traditions by
Philosopher Karl Jaspers) and argue that transcultural aesthetics calls for critical
theoretical reflexion on the hermeneutics of discourse and action, as well as on the ‘selves-
as-agents’ hermeneutic: a cultivation of insight into one’s own approach to the one
regulative ideal of inter-dialogue among multiple cultures. These three key concepts of
transcultural aesthetics allow practitioners to regard a form of transcultural unity as the
site of their final purpose and meaning in their art and practices. Finally, the actions of
practitioners in their practices are not performed in a moment of impulse, but rather they
stemmed from a concerted, unified motivation. Part One thus examines transcultural
aesthetics’ use of mediation practices and unity traditions, Part Two discusses theoretical
elements of transcultural art, and Part Three addresses the actions toward transcultural
presentation in art practices, and specifically the motif of the action in their art forms.
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CONTENTS

List of Illustrations iv
Acknowledgements vi
Abstract vii
INTRODUCTION
Transcultural Aesthetics and Contemporary Art
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………..……. 3

PART I
Historical Explications
1. Freedom and Meaning: History of world art and the practice of transcultural aesthetics …………….. 14
2. Beyond transculturality: Creative art form of recurrent desire …………………………………………. 39
3. Transcultural unity: Uncovering the aspiration of unity traditions ………….…………………….…… 66
Conclusions to Part I ………………….………………………………………………………..……………. 102

PART II
Discourses Meditation
Introduction to Part II …………………………………………………………………………………………………... 106
4. The attraction of Kiefer, Tillers and Young’s art form: Catharsis of being …………………………….. 112
5. The attraction of Gao and Federle: Kenosis of desire ……………………………………………………. 149
6. Spatial time of Lee Ufan's Relatum: Homeostasis of reality …………………………………………….. 188
Conclusions to Part II …………………………………………………………………………………………. 228


PART III
Ecological Application
Introduction to Part III …………………………………………………….……………………….………….. 234
7. Art practitioners in transcultural art forms (Process I): Processional gesture ………….….……………. 252
8. Art practitioners in transcultural art forms (Process II): Transitional actions ……………..…………….. 272
9. The recessional act: Reconstitution, manifestos and the artworld ………………………………..………. 291
Conclusions to Part III …………………………………………………………………………………....…… 294


CONCLUSION

Transcultural Quests

10.

Pursuit of contemporary art practitioners and the unity traditions ………………………………..……. 299


Appendice: Prospect for further transcultural aesthetics research, Glossary, and Platform Sūtra …..……………………...…… 308

Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....… 333
About the author ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 377
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INTRODUCTION

Transcultural Aesthetics and Contemporary Art

Transcultural Aesthetics and Contemporary Art 2