“But Such a Mind, Mak’st God Thy Guest”

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-589
Author(s):  
Steven Hrdlicka

Abstract Ben Jonson’s Eupheme poems and Anthony van Dyck’s portrait of Venetia Digby as Prudence have often been seen as art works fiercely at odds, and that particularly Jonson’s overall brash dismissal of the visual arts is epitomized in his poems in praise of Venetia’s life. Yet ample evidence within Eupheme supports the idea that not only are Jonson’s poems in peculiar ekphrastic conversations with Van Dyck’s painting but that Jonson conceives of the ekphrasis as a device for guiding viewers and readers into rare contemplative poetic spaces. The nature of the interplay between Van Dyck’s painting and Jonson’s poems shares similarities to how Jonson conceived of the courtly masque as a cooperative, unitive experience of visual and verbal elements. In addition, the influence of emblems of Alciato on Jonson’s poetry is instructive in this regard, as these emblems exhibit a cooperative interplay between discrete visual and verbal (body and soul) elements. Issues arising from the artistic cooperative interplay between the body and the soul are linked to the Catholic theology of prudence through the subject of both Jonson and Van Dyck’s works. Specific Catholic contexts hitherto not considered are suggested for both the painting and poems, and especially Jonson’s poem “To My Muse” (the last poem in Eupheme), but these theological contexts are also established in relation to the two titles of Jonson’s poems, which take for their subject Venetia’s body and mind. Furthermore, various loose ends such as the dating of Van Dyck’s painting and the idea that Sir Kenlem had commissioned it to reconstruct Venetia Digby’s reputation are brought up and considered throughout the essay with an eye to these contexts.

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-92
Author(s):  
Susan Jones

This article explores the diversity of British literary responses to Diaghilev's project, emphasising the way in which the subject matter and methodologies of Diaghilev's modernism were sometimes unexpectedly echoed in expressions of contemporary British writing. These discussions emerge both in writing about Diaghilev's work, and, more discretely, when references to the Russian Ballet find their way into the creative writing of the period, serving to anchor the texts in a particular cultural milieu or to suggest contemporary aesthetic problems in the domain of literary aesthetics developing in the period. Figures from disparate fields, including literature, music and the visual arts, brought to their criticism of the Ballets Russes their individual perspectives on its aesthetics, helping to consolidate the sense of its importance in contributing to the inter-disciplinary flavour of modernism across the arts. In the field of literature, not only did British writers evaluate the Ballets Russes in terms of their own poetics, their relationship to experimentation in the novel and in drama, they developed an increasing sense of the company's place in dance history, its choreographic innovations offering material for wider discussions, opening up the potential for literary modernism's interest in impersonality and in the ‘unsayable’, discussions of the body, primitivism and gender.


2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (129) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
Xavier Lacroix

O artigo denuncia a perda do verdadeiro sentido do corpo no dualismo e na falsa valoração do corpo, opondo-lhe a articulação de natureza, espírito e liberdade. O pensamento ocidental que faz vinte séculos se obstina em distinguir e em opor corpo e alma conduz ao intelectualismo de Descartes, reforçado pela relação tecnicista com o mundo, e a cisão sujeito-objeto que domina a modernidade. Mostra quatro exemplos, respectivamente no transumanismo, na gender theory, nas atuais representações da família e em certas formas de religiosidade. Em seguida apresenta uma abordagem filosófica, falando da contribuição da fenomenologia, da pertença a um corpo maior e, depois de resumir a argumentação filosófica, da tarefa de articular natureza e cultura. Apresenta também os argumentos de tipo teológico (criação, encarnação, antropologia ternária de corpo, alma e espírito...), culminando no mistério pascal e no critério ético significativamente corporal da parábola do juízo. ABSTRACT: The article denounces the loss of the true meaning of the body in the dualism and false valuation of the body, opposing his articulation of nature, spirit and freedom. The Western thought that is twenty centuries old is obstinate in distinguishing and in opposing body and soul leading to the intellectualism of Descartes, reinforced by the technical relationship with the world, and the subject-object Division that dominates modernity. The article shows four examples, respectively in the “transhumanism”, on gender theory, in the current representations of the family and in certain forms of religiosity. The article then presentes a philosophical approach, talking about the contribution of Phenomenology, of belonging to a larger body and, after summarizing the philosophical argumentation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Gurtler, S.J.

AbstractIn examining Ennead VI 4[22], we find Plotinus in conflict with modern, i.e., Cartesian or Kantian, assumptions about the relation of soul and body and the identification of the self with the subject. Curiously, his images and exposition are more in tune with Twentieth Century notions such as wave and field. With these as keys, we are in a position to unlock the subtlety of Plotinus' analysis of the way soul and body are present together, with sensation structured through the body and judgment coming from the soul. The problem of the self concerns not only the unity of the self in terms of body and soul, but also how the self is constituted in relation to other selves, both keeping its individuality and sharing its experiences at the same time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (58) ◽  

In this article, the reflections of the problem "homelessness" in the field of art will be examined through three different art works created by Andres Serrano within the framework of the subject. The artist focuses on the problem of homelessness in the state of New York, United States, in his art series titled "Nomads” (1990), "Sign of the Times (2013) and “Residents of New York” (2014). Human body is the smallest unit that forms the social structure. It’s effects of its situation between the dilemma of existence and absence in social and psychological areas, will be covered through the dialogues held with the participants that took place in the artist's project. The coding and positioning of the body within the framework of the definition and classification of homeless / homelessness will be mentioned. Besides, the process of transforming the problem into an art work in a creative way will be evaluated. Keywords: Andres Serrano, homeless, homelesness, body, “Nomads”, “Sign of the Times”, “Residents of New York”


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (72) ◽  
pp. 1055-1076
Author(s):  
Pierre Guenancia

Descartes e a ideia de homem. Imperfeição e perfeição do homem Resumo: O autor nota, por um lado, que Descartes se refere a uma compreensão muito larga, mas também comum e corrente, do homem e, por outro, que o homem não pode ser identificado nem ao corpo, nem à alma, nem mesmo à união do corpo e da alma. Quando falamos da natureza humana, ela evoca o caráter de uma perfeição limitada, cuja particularidade é sua capacidade de ter o livre-arbítrio. A noção do homem enquanto sujeito de (não) perfeição é baseada sobre uma ideia que se define por uma relação à ideia do infinito sob a forma da aspiração a ser mais perfeito. O exercício do livre-arbítrio se articula concretamente a um esforço de atenção e de vigilância que permite evitar um juízo errôneo. A tese exposta se desenvolve, em seguida, em três tópicos. Primeiramente, a razão se apresenta como um instrumento universal do homem, que, por sua vez, aparece como ser polivalente que o utiliza, sendo capaz de se adaptar às situações as mais diversas. Em segundo lugar, a perfeição especificamente humana significará a capacidade de exercer a dúvida e de recorrer às suposições e probabilidades no plano cognitivo. Isso significa, entre outros, que, para a aquisição da perfeição, é preciso reconhecer a sua própria imperfeição. Enfim, em terceiro lugar, a capacidade de usar propriamente o livre-arbítrio conduz à definição de homem como generoso, em que o homem é compreendido no sentido moral mais que no metafísico. Palavras-chave: Homem; Perfeição; Finitude; Atenção ; Livre arbítrio; Generosidade. Descartes et l’idée de l’homme. Imperfection et perfection de l’homme. Résumé: L'auteur note que, d'une part, Descartes se réfère à une compréhension très large, mais aussi commune et courante de l'homme, et de l'autre que l'homme ne peut pas être identifié ni au corps, ni à l'âme, ni même à l'union du corps et de l'âme. Lorsqu’on parle de la nature humaine, elle porte le caractère d'une perfection limitée, dont la particularité est sa capacité d'avoir le libre arbitre. La notion de l'homme en tant que sujet de (non) perfection est basée sur une idée qui se définit par rapport à l'idée de l'infini sous la forme de l'aspiration à être plus parfait. L’exercice du libre arbitre se joint concrètement à un effort d'attention et de vigilance qui permet d’éviter un jugement erroné. La thèse ci-dessus se développe ensuite en trois points. Premièrement, la raison se présente comme un instrument universel de l'homme qui à son tour apparait comme être polyvalent l'utilisant et étant capable de s'adapter aux situations les plus diverses. Deuxièmement, la perfection spécifiquement humaine signifiera la capacité d’exercer le doute et de recourir aux suppositions et probabilités sur le plan cognitif. Cela signifie entre autres que pour l'acquisition de la perfection, il faut reconnaître sa propre imperfection. Enfin, troisièmement, la capacité d'user proprement le libre arbitre conduit à la définition de l'homme comme généreux, où l'homme est compris au sens moral plus que métaphysique. Mots clé: Homme; La Perfection; Finitude; Attention ; Libre arbitre ; La Générosité. Descartes and the idea of man. Imperfection and perfection of man Abstract: The author notes that, on the one hand, Descartes refers to a very broad, but also common and current understanding of man, and on the other that man cannot be identified nor with the body , neither to the soul, nor even to the union of body and soul. When we speak of human nature, it carries the character of a limited perfection, the particularity of which is the ability to have free will. The notion of man as the subject of (non) perfection is based on an idea which is defined in relation to the idea of ​​infinity in the form of the aspiration to be more perfect. The exercise of free will is joined concretely to an effort of attention and vigilance which makes it possible to avoid erroneous judgment. The thesis above then develops in three points. First, reason presents itself as a universal instrument of man who in turn appears to be versatile, using it and being able to adapt to the most diverse situations. Second, specifically human perfection will mean the ability to exercise doubt and use cognitive assumptions and probabilities. Among other things, this means that in order to acquire perfection, you have to recognize your own imperfection. Finally, thirdly, the ability to use free will properly leads to the definition of man as generous, where man is understood more in the moral sense than in the metaphysical sense. Keywords: Man; Perfection; Finitude; Attention ; Free will ; Generosity. Data de registro: 17/11/2020 Data de aceite: 30/12/2020  


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gülru Neci̇poğlu

The subjectivity of the gaze and its engagement with human experience had the capacity to incorporate the body, affect, sensation, and memory, thereby raising the status of the visual arts and architecture into potential sites of knowledge. This essay engages with the subject of the gaze and aesthetic experience by exploring the wonderment of the eye, the embodiment of vision through emotional states and desire, the disembodiment of the eye in introspective vision, and the cognitive capacity of sight to produce insight. Addressing these diverse yet interrelated themes, it considers the modalities of the gaze in new genres of Safavid and Ottoman texts on the arts and architecture, starting with their origin in medieval paradigms of visual perception and artistic creation. These more specialized sixteenth–seventeenth-century Persian and Turkish sources include treatises on the visual arts, album prefaces, biographies of architects, and biographical anthologies of calligraphers and painter-decorators. 



ICONI ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 48-57
Author(s):  
Zulfiya U. Guseva ◽  
◽  
Galina V. Alekseeva ◽  

The article is devoted to the issue of the continuity of the Russian pictorial tradition and the representation of spiritual meanings in contemporary Russian art. The authors aims to consider the image of the Virgin Mary as part of the cultural code of Russia. The object of the research is the materials of the visual art works by contemporary Russian artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, studied from the perspective of their Byzantine origins. The subject of this research is the image of the Virgin Mary in contemporary Russian visual art. The result of the research is an understanding of the forms of transformation of the canon of spiritual tradition in contemporary art.


Servis plus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-93
Author(s):  
Василий Пивоев ◽  
Vasilii Pivoev

Who is the originator of sin, the body or the soul? Does the body present the subject or only the obedient object of the soul manipulation? Does the body have its own interests that do not coincide with the goals and meanings of human life? From what point of view and in what respect does the body consider being subject? The essence of the person is associated with two unequal actors, whose interests may differ and even be opposite. Time and the rhythms of existence can also be different, since the body spends more energy than the soul, and time is a waste of energy. The deeds of the body are deterministic ("the selfish gene"), whereas the behavior of the soul does not always have any connection with reason. The distinction between the two entities allows expressing the assumption that man has two souls. One soul (ego) belongs to the body and is associated with the genetic information of the parents, the other connects to the body of the baby in the womb, coming from another, spiritual world. The soul is mortal, and the soul of the spirit after the body death leaves it and continues to exist in another world, waiting for a new incarnation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21
Author(s):  
Amanda Dennis

Lying in ditches, tromping through mud, wedged in urns, trash bins, buried in earth, bodies in Beckett appear anything but capable of acting meaningfully on their environments. Bodies in Beckett seem, rather, synonymous with abjection, brokenness, and passivity—as if the human were overcome by its materiality: odours, pain, foot sores, decreased mobility. To the extent that Beckett's personae act, they act vaguely (wandering) or engage in quasi-obsessive, repetitive tasks: maniacal rocking, rotating sucking stones and biscuits, uttering words evacuated of sense, ceaseless pacing. Perhaps the most vivid dramatization of bodies compelled to meaningless, repetitive movement is Quad (1981), Beckett's ‘ballet’ for television, in which four bodies in hooded robes repeat their series ad infinitum. By 1981, has all possibility for intentional action in Beckett been foreclosed? Are we doomed, as Hamm puts it, to an eternal repetition of the same? (‘Moments for nothing, now as always, time was never and time is over, reckoning closed and story ended.’)This article proposes an alternative reading of bodily abjection, passivity and compulsivity in Beckett, a reading that implies a version of agency more capacious than voluntarism. Focusing on Quad as an illustrative case, I show how, if we shift our focus from the body's diminished possibilities for movement to the imbrication of Beckett's personae in environments (a mound of earth), things, and objects, a different story emerges: rather than dramatizing the impossibility of action, Beckett's work may sketch plans for a more ecological, post-human version of agency, a more collaborative mode of ‘acting’ that eases the divide between the human, the world of inanimate objects, and the earth.Movements such as new materialism and object-oriented ontology challenge hierarchies among subjects, objects and environments, questioning the rigid distinction between animate and inanimate, and the notion of the Anthropocene emphasizes the influence of human activity on social and geological space. A major theoretical challenge that arises from such discourses (including 20th-century challenges to the idea of an autonomous, willing, subject) is to arrive at an account of agency robust enough to survive if not the ‘death of the subject’ then its imbrication in the material and social environment it acts upon. Beckett's treatment of the human body suggests a version of agency that draws strength from a body's interaction with its environment, such that meaning is formed in the nexus between body and world. Using the example of Quad, I show how representations of the body in Beckett disturb the opposition between compulsivity (when a body is driven to move or speak in the absence of intention) and creative invention. In Quad, serial repetition works to create an interface between body and world that is receptive to meanings outside the control of a human will. Paradoxically, compulsive repetition in Beckett, despite its uncomfortable closeness to addiction, harnesses a loss of individual control that proposes a more versatile and ecologically mindful understanding of human action.


Author(s):  
Ida Bagus Candra Yana*

Dance  photography  is  a  photo  shoot  on a  dance  movement  which  has  a  characteristic as  it  shows  on  a  particular  movement  with unique costumes. The arts of dance photography specifically describes through a specific thematic effect  with  an  aesthetic  and  creative  oncoming. Based on the photographer experience to capture the  light  together  with  his  aesthetic  expression on  movement  photography,  he  finally  presented the  visual  arts  on  Baris  Tunggal  Dance  in  art photography expressions using strobe light. Basically,  the  creative  works  focused on  the  dancer  movements  and  transformed  into photography  expression  which  blended  with aesthetic  and  creative  idea  (ideational)  also  the technical photo shoot capability (technical) of the photographer. The photo shoots technique chosen through a variety of consideration which oriented on practical implementations possibilities, resulting photographs  in  freeze,  blurred,  and  multiple-images  as  art  photography.  The  art  photograph includes  extrinsic  and  intrinsic  aesthetic  values through photo presentation. With the presence of this photography art works it was not only present Gerak Tari Baris Tunggal dalam Fotografi Ekspresi Menggunakan Teknik Strobo Light in the form of mere documentation but it was the art photography expression on creative and aesthetic level. Keywords:  movements,  Baris  Tunggal  Dance, photography expression, strobo-light * Dosen ISI Denpasar


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