Yes! That's what art enables. It evokes involuntary memories and puts them over the voluntary. The intentions of artists -- the voluntary memory -- can't foresee the involuntary in themselves or in others. That's why intentions don't count with respect to meaning. Meaning is in those involuntary memories for each viewer. Content is the conscious voluntary fusion of those meanings with the form (the formal attributes of an artwork). I have put my whole career into this concept. That is why I reject Greenbergian formalism with respect to abstract art. That's why I insist that abstraction is the trigger for 'involuntary memory' and the construction of personal narratives.
wc ----- Original Message ---- From: joseph berg <[email protected]> To: aesthetics-l <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, November 5, 2012 12:37:06 AM Subject: "Proust viewed involuntary memory as containing the "essence of the past", claiming that it was lacking from voluntary memory. In his novel, he describes an incident where he was eating tea soaked cake, and a childhood memory of eating tea soaked cake with his aunt was "revealed" to him.[1] From this memory, he then proceeded to be reminded of the childhood home he was in, and even the town itself. This becomes a theme throughout In Search of Lost Time, with sensations remind Proust of previous experiences. He dubbed these Involuntary memories." - Proust viewed involuntary memory as containing the "essence of the past", claiming that it was lacking from voluntary memory. In his novel, he describes an incident where he was eating tea soaked cake, and a childhood memory of eating tea soaked cake with his aunt was "revealed" to him.[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_memory#cite_note-Mace2007-0> From this memory, he then proceeded to be reminded of the childhood home he was in, and even the town itself. This becomes a theme throughout *In Search of Lost Time*, with sensations remind Proust of previous experiences. He dubbed these Involuntary memories. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_memory
