The Falls of 20th Century Art and Metaphysics: On Selected Philosophical Theories and Artistic Activities Potentially Related to Them
Rafał SOLEWSKI
University of the National Education Commission, Krakow , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9631-9275
Abstract
The article presents metaphorically understood falls of the twentieth-century art described in such terms as the ‘speechless image,’ the ‘absorption of the ugly,’ the ‘abandonment of art,’ the ‘end of art,’ the ‘lost image,’ the ‘lost experience.’ Philosophical views of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Theodor W. Adorno, Arthur C. Danto, Jacques Ranciere, and Wolfgang Welsh have been juxtaposed with interpretations of works of such artists as Mark Rothko, Marcel Duchamp, Artur Żmijewski, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Janusz Orbitowski. The analyses reveal a longing for metaphysics accompanying the described ‘falls’ of art. The theories advanced in relation to such ‘falls’ show the qualities inherent in the art in question, e.g., silence and moderation, the ‘lust of existence,’ paradox, poetry and its beauty, words which interpret art, the sublimity of infinity. In conclusion, the author points to the impossibility of avoiding metaphysics in art.
Keywords:
art, a fall of art, speechless image, absorption of the ugly, abandonment of art, the end of art, lost imageUniversity of the National Education Commission, Krakow https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9631-9275
