On Nov 7, 2008, at 9:14 AM, Chris Miller wrote:
As such - "art appreciation" is completely distinct, and irrelevant,
to
aesthetic engagement - except as a distraction.
"Art appreciation" is one kind of discourse about a piece -- but
there other
discourses as well -- political, religious, psychological,
anthropological
etc.
For the life of me, I don't understand how a person can parse and
compartmentalize his understanding, perception, evaluation, and
reaction to any experience, in this case, to viewing a painting or
other WoA.
All I know and remember is a completely engaged participant in viewing
a painting. What I understand from all those 'discourses' mixes
together in my cerebral regions and percolates together to form the
perceptual context that *always* envelopes any encounter with a WoA.
It's a commonplace, but stupid, habit of speaking to say, "As an
artist, I ..." or "As a Catholic, I ..." or "As a Libertarian,
I ...." It's particularly stupid and misguided to say, "As an artist,
I believe that X, Y, and Z will be good policies to follow in the next
administration."
I've mentioned before on this list that for the longest time, well
into my 30s, I didn't have a high opinion of Medieval pictorial art. I
had developed a strong preference for the classical qualities of
portrayal, mainly from Greek Classical and Hellenistic statuary and
Roman Republican sculputes. Then came the long interregnum, the slog
through the 10 centuries of dreary unnatural-looking, clumsy portal
sculptures and really goofy illuminations, until the splendor of the
Italian Renaissance restored the grand style of representational
realism, etc. It took me a long time of study to warm to the flat,
unnaturalistic, schematic depictions of the Medieval style. But then,
almost overnight, the scales were lifted from my eyes and I saw the
same works with a much stronger appreciation for their appearance,
their manner, their style, their whole "gestalt." The knowledge I
learned--those facts and explanations--infused my reaction to those
works. I "got" them. I got to like them. I got to appreciate them. I
didn't appreciate them "as examples of Medieval art," or "as
representatives of a discourse on didactic representations," or "as
typical exemplars of the diffusion of the remnants of the Byzantine
style as preserved in Bobbio and other locations," etc.
I liked and appreciated them because all of me, undivided,
unfragmented, *saw* their beauty and artistic quality.
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Michael Brady
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
