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Twofoldness: Pictorial Art and the Imagination

Paul Crowther

in Defining Art, Creating the Canon: Artistic Value in an Era of Doubt

This chapter gives an analysis of the distinctive ontology of pictorial art. It is argued that the ‘twofoldness’ of pictorial art enables us to become conscious not only of imagination per se, but ... More

This chapter gives an analysis of the distinctive ontology of pictorial art. It is argued that the ‘twofoldness’ of pictorial art enables us to become conscious not only of imagination per se, but also of the specific characteristics which allow it to function as a necessary condition of experience. This is shown through a general theory of the transcendental significance of imagination, which further develops the theory broached in previous chapters. Arguments are then formulated to show that the images of visual art are based on stylistic interpretation, and that this exemplifies a distinctive relation between picturing on the one hand, and imagination and self-consciousness on the other.Less

The Hidden Shaman: Fictive Anatomy in Paleolithic and Neolithic Art

David Wengrow

in The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction

This chapter considers the case for a much earlier beginning to the composite's story, among the hunter-gatherers and villagers of remote prehistory. It has been suggested that “imaginary animals,” ... More

This chapter considers the case for a much earlier beginning to the composite's story, among the hunter-gatherers and villagers of remote prehistory. It has been suggested that “imaginary animals,” “monsters,” and composite figures are found throughout the Upper Paleolithic art tradition that flourished among hunter-gatherers of the last Ice Age, between around 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. That tradition, or better complex of traditions, is most richly documented across a broad swath of southern Europe, on what were then the fringes of a vast steppe bordering the zone of maximum glaciation. The chapter first examines the frequency of composites among the surviving corpus of Paleolithic art, along with the significance of such images in the ritual life of prehistoric societies, before discussing the development of pictorial art in the later Neolithic of the Near East. It also describes animal figures in predynastic Egypt.Less

Introduction

Jerrold Levinson

in Contemplating Art: Essays in Aesthetics

This introductory chapter presents a description of the essays included in this volume.

Timely Images: Chinese Art and Festival Display: Elsley Zeitlyn Lecture on Chinese Archaeology and Culture

Jan Stuart

in Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 167, 2009 Lectures

This chapter presents the text of a lecture on Chinese art and festival display given at the British Academy's 2009 Elsley Zeitlyn Lecture on Chinese Archaeology and Culture. This text suggests that ... More

This chapter presents the text of a lecture on Chinese art and festival display given at the British Academy's 2009 Elsley Zeitlyn Lecture on Chinese Archaeology and Culture. This text suggests that Chinese art displayed in museums seem either unrelated to the passage of time or to defy its natural course. It analyzes the bond between Chinese visual culture and its temporal conventions in order to expand the interpretive framework for understanding Chinese pictorial art.Less

Neuroscience, Biology, and Brain Evolution in Visual Art

Dahlia W. Zaidel

in The Aesthetic Mind: Philosophy and Psychology

Art is a system of human communication arising from symbolic cognition, conveying ideas, experiences, and feelings. The view adopted here is that pictorial representation by artists is influenced by ... More

Art is a system of human communication arising from symbolic cognition, conveying ideas, experiences, and feelings. The view adopted here is that pictorial representation by artists is influenced by the neurological status of their brain, physiological status of their eyes, biological motivations shared by animals and humans, and by evolutionary adaptive processes expressed uniquely in Homo sapiens. The appearance of art is affected by both sensory and brain systems, and clues can be obtained from damage to either one of these systems. A review of brain-damage effects on artists suggests that artistic talent, skill, and creativity, to say nothing of art-related ideas, are resistant to the damage and are generally diffusely represented in the brain. This is consistent with (1) the view that art is a multi-component system, and (2) with the biological motivation background of art, namely that the display draws on resources not easily associated with localized brain regions. Evolutionary changes have shaped the human brain to be uniquely neuronally “wired-up” to produce art, to interpret it, and to receive pleasure from it. The perspective adopted here is that the neural basis of pictorial art is a multi-regional brain function.Less

Shitao (1642–1707) and the Traditional Chinese Conception of Ruins: Aspects Of Art Lecture

Wu Hung

in Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 167, 2009 Lectures

This chapter presents the text of a lecture on Shitao and the traditional Chinese conception of ruins given at the British Academy's 2009 Aspects of Art Lecture. This text investigates the conception ... More

This chapter presents the text of a lecture on Shitao and the traditional Chinese conception of ruins given at the British Academy's 2009 Aspects of Art Lecture. This text investigates the conception of ruins in traditional Chinese pictorial art focusing on the work of Chinese master Shitao. It traces the indigenous definitions of ruins as well as a broad variety of images related to the idea of ruination. It analyzes Shitao's Yellow Mountain paintings, and links his depictions of architectural ruins with the idea of qi or the strange or extraordinary phenomena.Less

Fact and Fiction in the Neuropsychology of Art

Roman Frigg and Catherine Howard

in The Aesthetic Mind: Philosophy and Psychology

This paper provides a critical discussion of Zaidel's (2005) attempt to shed light on the neuropsychology of art by studying brain damage in established artists. We conclude that the methods used are ... More

This paper provides a critical discussion of Zaidel's (2005) attempt to shed light on the neuropsychology of art by studying brain damage in established artists. We conclude that the methods used are inappropriate to the subject matter, and progress in the study of neuropsychology of art is more likely to be made if the topic is approached in a different way. Rather than relying on gappy historical records, data should be gathered on living painters using state of the art technology, and these painters can be chosen arbitrarily since nothing depends on their standing in the art world.Less

Introduction: Coming to Terms with Meaning in Persian Painting

Chad Kia

in Art, Allegory and the Rise of Shi'ism in Iran, 1487-1565

Highlighting a neglected function of pictorial arts in the Persianate world, the introduction exposes the phenomenon of the “fixed figure-types” by presenting a mid-sixteenth-century Safavid painting ... More

Highlighting a neglected function of pictorial arts in the Persianate world, the introduction exposes the phenomenon of the “fixed figure-types” by presenting a mid-sixteenth-century Safavid painting from Jami's epic Haft awrang. The composition is used to describe this extraordinary trend in the history of Islamic art which had begun some eighty years earlier during the rule of the last Timurid prince. Understanding the implied significance of these enigmatic figures within an otherwise coherent illustration is possible through familiarity with discourse of Sufism and the contemporary production and reception of Persian Sufi poetry during the latter part of Jami’s life, when Sufi manuscript paintings began to include emblematic figure types.Less

The Porters, Polypragmatic Paradigms, and Pseudoselves in III.4

Richard Brown

in Joyce's Allmaziful Plurabilities: Polyvocal Explorations of Finnegans Wake

Richard Brown’s study of III.4 raises the question of mimesis in Finnegans Wake: the chapter draws attention to the problem of what exactly is being represented, of what is its elusive subject ... More

Richard Brown’s study of III.4 raises the question of mimesis in Finnegans Wake: the chapter draws attention to the problem of what exactly is being represented, of what is its elusive subject matter. The ostensible topic of the Porter family leads to a profusion of intertextual points of contact, many of which serve to foreground systems of representation. The focus on watching produces mimetic paradigms from stage theater, film, pictorial arts, sports reporting, sex manuals, and photography. The residues of realism in III.4, which may remind us of other bedroom scenes from Joyce’s other works, are ultimately dissipated by the chapter’s self-conscious references to performativity and by its ongoing polyvocality.Less

The Pictures

in The Pataphysician's Library: An Exploration of Alfred Jarry's 'Livres pairs'

This chapter describes the pictures and other pictorial art that can be found in the wall of Dr. Faustroll, the protagonist in Alfred Jarry's Gestes et Opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien. ... More

This chapter describes the pictures and other pictorial art that can be found in the wall of Dr. Faustroll, the protagonist in Alfred Jarry's Gestes et Opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien. These include Henri de Toulouse–Lautrec's painting Jane Avril, Pierre Bonnard's La Revue Blanche, and Aubrey Beardsley's portrait of Dr. Faustroll. It analyses the relevance of this pictorial art for Jarry and suggests that there is a possibility that they can also be found in Jarry's own home.Less