Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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Hans-Georg Gadamer on Artists - Dictionary of Arguments
I 91 Artist/artistry/Gadamer: What we call a work of art and experience aesthetically is based (...) on a performance of abstraction. By disregarding everything in which a work is rooted as its original context of life, all religious or profane functions in which it stood and in which it had its meaning, it becomes visible as the "pure work of art". >Artworks, >Abstraction, >Aesthetic Consciousness, >Aesthetic Difference. I 92 The "aesthetic distinction" which it operates as aesthetic consciousness also creates its own external existence. It proves its productivity by preparing its sites for simultaneity, the "universal library" in the field of literature, the museum, the standing theatre, the concert hall etc. I 93 Thus, through "aesthetic distinction", the work loses its place and the world to which it belongs by becoming part of the aesthetic consciousness. This corresponds on the other hand to the fact that the artist also loses his/her place in the world. Commissioned art: This can be seen in the discrediting of what is called commissioned art. In the age of public consciousness dominated by the art of experience, it is necessary to remember explicitly that creation out of free inspiration without a commission, a given theme and opportunity was once the exception in artistic creation (...). The free artist creates without a commission. He/She seems to be distinguished by the complete independence of his/her creative work, and thus he/she acquires socially the characteristic features of an outsider whose way of life is not measured by the standards of public morality. At the same time, however, the artist who is as "free as a bird or a fish" is burdened with a vocation that makes him/her an ambiguous figure. For an educational society that has fallen out of its religious traditions immediately expects more from art than corresponds to the aesthetic consciousness on the "standpoint of art". The romantic demand of a new mythology, as expressed by F. Schlegel, Schelling, Hölderlin and the young Hegel(1) but also, for example, in the artistic experiments and reflections of the painter Runge, gives the artist and his/her task in the world the consciousness of a new consecration. >Aesthetics/Hegel. I 94 This claim has since determined the tragedy of the artist in the world. For the redemption that the claim finds is always only a particular one. But in reality this means its refutation. The experimental search for new symbols or a new "saga" that unites all may indeed gather an audience around itself and create a community. But since every artist finds his/her community in this way, the particularity of such community formation only testifies to the decay that has taken place. It is only the universal form of aesthetic education that unites everyone. The actual process of education, i.e. the elevation to the generality, has here as it were disintegrated into itself. >Aesthetic Consciousness/Gadamer, cf. >Truth of Art/Gadamer. I 98 Artists/Art/Gadamer: In order to do justice to art, aesthetics must go beyond itself and reveal the "purity" of the aesthetic. With Kant, the concept of genius possessed the transcendental function by which the concept of art was founded. >Genius/Kant. Problem: But is the concept of genius really suitable for this? Even the consciousness of the artist of today seems to contradict this. A kind of twilight of genius has arrived. The idea of the somnambulistic unconsciousness with which the genius creates (...) seems to us today a false romance. A poet such as Paul Valéry set it against the standards of an artist and engineer such as Leonardo da Vinci, in whose only genius craftsmanship, mechanical invention and artistic I 99 genius were still indistinguishable.(2) >Genius/Gadamer. 1. Cf. Fr. Rosenzweig, Das älteste Systemprogramm des deutschen Idealismus, 1917, S. 7. (Cf. for this the newer editions by R. Bubner in the Hegel-Studies, Beiheft 9 (1973), S. 261—65 and C. Jamme and H. Schneider, Mythologie der Vernunft, Frankfurt 1984, S. 11-14.) 1. Paul Valéry, Introduction ä la méthode de Léonard de Vinci et son annotation marginale, Variété I._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gadamer I Hans-Georg Gadamer Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik 7. durchgesehene Auflage Tübingen 1960/2010 Gadamer II H. G. Gadamer The Relevance of the Beautiful, London 1986 German Edition: Die Aktualität des Schönen: Kunst als Spiel, Symbol und Fest Stuttgart 1977 |
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Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-26