ebook img

Transcultural aesthetics and contemporary art PDF

385 Pages·2014·28.95 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Transcultural aesthetics and contemporary art

Copyright and use of this thesis This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright 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. iii 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) iv 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 v 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. vi 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. vii 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 viii INTRODUCTION Transcultural Aesthetics and Contemporary Art Transcultural Aesthetics and Contemporary Art 2

Description:
Deutsch, in his On Truth: An Ontological Theory (1979), that its practitioners' .. to analogous hermeneutics in intercultural scholarship for the unity
See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.