Joseph D. Parry

The Sun Voyager by Jón Gunnar Árnason

In the early years of the 20th century, German philosopher Edmund Husserl established the school of phenomenology, an area of philosophy that, very briefly stated, studies and evaluates structures of our human consciousness and human experience, that is, it is the study of “phenomena” as those phenomena appear to us. With such a foundation as “phenomena as they appear to us,” is it any surprise a number of leading phenomenologists such as Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty turned to the visual arts as a way to clarify and deepen our understanding of the world? From my own reading of this collection of essays, I can appreciate how phenomenology offers much insight, especially when coupled with an investigation of art.

Each of the nine essays explore and expand the following two overarching themes outlined by Joseph D. Parry and Mark Wrathall in their introductory essay:

1) for phenomenology, experience is rooted in the body;

2) the visual arts open us in ways that help us understand the phenomena of the world on their own terms.

To provide a sampling of what a reader will encounter, below are quotes along with my comments on two essay:

The Phenomenological Relevance of Art by Mark Wrathall
The author notes how such philosophers as Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre and Nietzsche believe "that works of art at their best are capable of showing us the phenomena under consideration more directly, powerfully, and perspicuously than any philosophical prose could." ---------- To my eye, this is a key insight: if we really want a strong dose of the ‘thing-ness’ of things, we should make a commitment to engage with the visual arts; specifically, we should choose a work that speaks to us and take our time with it, contemplating it repeatedly, which will be much more effective, as per Heidegger and the other philosophers above, than reading page after page of abstract theory.


The Gray Tree -- Piet Mondrian

"The power of art in this regard, and its superiority over philosophy, is a product of the way it works on us affectively, thus not just altering our beliefs about the world, but more importantly, our dispositions through which we encounter and evaluate the world." -------- This is the magic of art: that not only do we as humans shape and fashion objects but objects, in turn, shapes and fashion our human experience and human character, a truism proven again and again by, among others, archaeologists, historians and art theorists.


Spoked Wheel of Chariot -- Darasran Temple

"Merleau-Ponty's central preoccupation is the lessons that art can teach us about the nature of our embodied perceptual engagement with the world. Art and only art is able to show us in full innocence the sensible and opened world such as it is in our life and for our body." ---------- From my own experience, I will never forget watching the up and down movement of Claude Oldenburg’s Giant Ice Bag. My engagement with the things of this world has never been the same ever since.


Giant Ice Bag by Claude Oldenburg

Wrathall concludes with a study of Paul Klee. Here are two quotes: "On Paul Klee's account, then, to be an artist, one needs to become sensitized to one's own body in a special way” and “Klee believed that artists are more keenly attuned to what we pick up in perception than most. If this is right, then we stand to learn something by studying artists and their work - not because seeing the world is like seeing a picture, but because creating a depiction demands that you be able to see the world." ---------- So there it is: if you are interested in phenomenology and developing and honing your faculties to study the ways in which phenomena appear, take lessons from artists, those sensitive men and women profoundly in sync with their bodies and their perceptions.

Representing the Real, A Meleau-Pontyan Account by Sean Dorrance Kelly
"Realist painting on this view is not so much about how real the images are but rather about how perceptually forceful they are." ---------- I’m reminded of when an American GI told Picasso how he couldn’t understand his art since his figures of men and women don’t look anything like real life. Picasso asked to see a photo of his girlfriend. When the GI pulled out his wallet and proudly handed over his photo, Picasso said, “Is she so small?”


detail of Birth of Venus by Botticelli

"The works of the analytical Cubists are an attempt to present to the viewer what there is all at once, rather than to create in the viewer the everyday experience of the real." ---------- Kelly continues this line of thinking with a captivating discussion of how artists used mirrors in their work to capture their subject in 360 degree. Thus, in this way, painters trump sculptures since the viewer need not walk around the artwork to have a rear view; rather, the viewer has a rear view via the mirror within the painting!


Still Life with Fruit and Onions in a Mirror by Edmond van Dooren

Kelly picks up on other aspects of art to highlight the phenomenological approach, including how Impressionists focus on the lighting of objects; how Cezanne painted apples to be experienced as real thing; how New Media artist Bill Viola plays with various speeds of film to provide us a completely new range of tools for exploring the nature of experience itself. All told, this essay is a true gem, providing a rich picture of what is involved in phenomenology and art. Final note: the book includes 27 color plates of paintings and sculptures – many famous, some less well known.

The Crossing by Bill Viola… (plus d'informations)

The Sun Voyager by Jón Gunnar Árnason

In the early years of the 20th century, German philosopher Edmund Husserl established the school of phenomenology, an area of philosophy that, very briefly stated, studies and evaluates structures of our human consciousness and human experience, that is, it is the study of “phenomena” as those phenomena appear to us. With such a foundation as “phenomena as they appear to us,” is it any surprise a number of leading phenomenologists such as Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty turned to the visual arts as a way to clarify and deepen our understanding of the world? From my own reading of this collection of essays, I can appreciate how phenomenology offers much insight, especially when coupled with an investigation of art.

Each of the nine essays explore and expand the following two overarching themes outlined by Joseph D. Parry and Mark Wrathall in their introductory essay:

1) for phenomenology, experience is rooted in the body;

2) the visual arts open us in ways that help us understand the phenomena of the world on their own terms.

To provide a sampling of what a reader will encounter, below are quotes along with my comments on two essay:

The Phenomenological Relevance of Art by Mark Wrathall
The author notes how such philosophers as Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre and Nietzsche believe "that works of art at their best are capable of showing us the phenomena under consideration more directly, powerfully, and perspicuously than any philosophical prose could." ---------- To my eye, this is a key insight: if we really want a strong dose of the ‘thing-ness’ of things, we should make a commitment to engage with the visual arts; specifically, we should choose a work that speaks to us and take our time with it, contemplating it repeatedly, which will be much more effective, as per Heidegger and the other philosophers above, than reading page after page of abstract theory.


The Gray Tree -- Piet Mondrian

"The power of art in this regard, and its superiority over philosophy, is a product of the way it works on us affectively, thus not just altering our beliefs about the world, but more importantly, our dispositions through which we encounter and evaluate the world." -------- This is the magic of art: that not only do we as humans shape and fashion objects but objects, in turn, shapes and fashion our human experience and human character, a truism proven again and again by, among others, archaeologists, historians and art theorists.


Spoked Wheel of Chariot -- Darasran Temple

"Merleau-Ponty's central preoccupation is the lessons that art can teach us about the nature of our embodied perceptual engagement with the world. Art and only art is able to show us in full innocence the sensible and opened world such as it is in our life and for our body." ---------- From my own experience, I will never forget watching the up and down movement of Claude Oldenburg’s Giant Ice Bag. My engagement with the things of this world has never been the same ever since.


Giant Ice Bag by Claude Oldenburg

Wrathall concludes with a study of Paul Klee. Here are two quotes: "On Paul Klee's account, then, to be an artist, one needs to become sensitized to one's own body in a special way” and “Klee believed that artists are more keenly attuned to what we pick up in perception than most. If this is right, then we stand to learn something by studying artists and their work - not because seeing the world is like seeing a picture, but because creating a depiction demands that you be able to see the world." ---------- So there it is: if you are interested in phenomenology and developing and honing your faculties to study the ways in which phenomena appear, take lessons from artists, those sensitive men and women profoundly in sync with their bodies and their perceptions.

Representing the Real, A Meleau-Pontyan Account by Sean Dorrance Kelly
"Realist painting on this view is not so much about how real the images are but rather about how perceptually forceful they are." ---------- I’m reminded of when an American GI told Picasso how he couldn’t understand his art since his figures of men and women don’t look anything like real life. Picasso asked to see a photo of his girlfriend. When the GI pulled out his wallet and proudly handed over his photo, Picasso said, “Is she so small?”


detail of Birth of Venus by Botticelli

"The works of the analytical Cubists are an attempt to present to the viewer what there is all at once, rather than to create in the viewer the everyday experience of the real." ---------- Kelly continues this line of thinking with a captivating discussion of how artists used mirrors in their work to capture their subject in 360 degree. Thus, in this way, painters trump sculptures since the viewer need not walk around the artwork to have a rear view; rather, the viewer has a rear view via the mirror within the painting!


Still Life with Fruit and Onions in a Mirror by Edmond van Dooren

Kelly picks up on other aspects of art to highlight the phenomenological approach, including how Impressionists focus on the lighting of objects; how Cezanne painted apples to be experienced as real thing; how New Media artist Bill Viola plays with various speeds of film to provide us a completely new range of tools for exploring the nature of experience itself. All told, this essay is a true gem, providing a rich picture of what is involved in phenomenology and art. Final note: the book includes 27 color plates of paintings and sculptures – many famous, some less well known.

The Crossing by Bill Viola… (plus d'informations)