CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS

Relevance of Notions of the Abject or the Sublime to the work of Contemporary Artists

Relevance of Notions of the Abject or the Sublime to the work of Contemporary Artists

Introduction

Sublime is a term that came into use in eighteenth century, to indicate a new category of aesthetics, which was essentially considered to be indistinguishable from that which could be classified as beautiful and picturesque. It is the force that makes the soul soar and the wonder is that it is not only fear, but also awe and wonder that are incorporated in this concept. In order to understand this concept, it is first imperative to subtract the concept of sublime from traditional aesthetic categories, such as beautiful, ugly and lovely. The link that the author sees between sublime and sublimation (in the psychoanalytic sense) goes beyond the mere etymological affinity between the two terms, acquiring instead a central theoretical importance in characterizing the nature of the sublime as an experience that involves the subject in its entirety.

According to the German philosopher Kant Imannuel, in his book Critique of Judgment, considers that which is sublime to be absolutely great and beyond all comparison. It follows therefore that the sublime is not an object but rather the willingness of the spirit; a faculty of mind that far exceeds the standards of the senses. Kant divides the sublime into two categories: one in comparison with which everything else is small and the dynamic sublime in nature is a kind of contentment resulting from the termination of a dangerous situation, "caused by a physical helplessness before nature. Bold cliffs, rough seas and the fury of a volcano bring a mixture of admiration and fear. This discussion will highlight the relevance of notions of the abject or the sublime to the work of contemporary artists.

Discussion

The attempt to dominate nature through the art work appears in Europe, Romanticism, between the seventeenth and nineteenth century, with its landscapes that frighten and repel contact with men. But, raise the inner strength, insofar as common concerns are taken before the greatness of small storms, storms, and the desolation of the desert or the immensity of the sea. The sublime, according to Kant, makes us sensitive to these situations. In the work of the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich nature appears as something that takes possession of the human soul, taking the figures powerless and dominated with a mixture of fear and contemplation (Morley, 2010). The idea of the sublime is configured so by imposing landscapes and mystical. He relates a new pictorial language.

Both the beautiful and the sublime are provisions of the faculty of feeling, but the pleasure of the beautiful is the sensible expression of judgment. What counts is the effect of representation on the subject. Representation is a summary of what is presented and is analogous to the concept of shape, reflection singular object in the imagination. Design and composition are just manifestations of formal reflection, created by the artist, the designer or nature (Cheetham, ...