Playing by/with the rules: Creativity in language, games, and art

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert Cappelle
Keyword(s):  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rule Breaking ◽  
The Times ◽  
The One

AbstractBergs and Kompa (Creativity within and outside the linguistic system. Cognitive Semiotics 13. 1, 2020) discuss creativity in language, which they see as largely rule-bound, as opposed to ‘true,’ rule-breaking creativity in the arts. However, the distinction between intra- and extra-system creativity is not always easy to make. Languages have evolved into efficient systems for communication and occasionally allow for divergences of their own norms, within limits of comprehensibility, just like games are developed to enable maximum player creativity or even rule bending (as in the case of Monopoly Cheaters Edition). The paradox of systems licencing violations of their own norms and rules is similar to the one underlying avant-garde as one or more movements in the history of art, when breaking with expectations was the vogue of the time — hence, somehow to be expected. Judging art as innovative or not also depends on what we adopt as our artistic frame of reference. Furthermore, single works of art or single artists can be ahead of the times in some respects but not in others. Turning again to language, I agree with Bergs and Kompa that competent speakers abide by the rules, which implies such language users also know (perhaps not always fully consciously) how to exploit in-built mechanisms that make them sound creative.

Misreading Egypt

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Schotter
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Narrative Form ◽  
Experimental Film ◽  
Tower Of Babel ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Sergei Eisenstein ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Modern Technologies

The first chapter of Hieroglyphic Modernisms exposes the complex history of Western misconceptions of Egyptian writing from antiquity to the present. Hieroglyphs bridge the gap between modern technologies and the ancient past, looking forward to the rise of new media and backward to the dispersal of languages in the mythical moment of the Tower of Babel. The contradictory ways in which hieroglyphs were interpreted in the West come to shape the differing ways that modernist writers and filmmakers understood the relationship between writing, film, and other new media. On the one hand, poets like Ezra Pound and film theorists like Vachel Lindsay and Sergei Eisenstein use the visual languages of China and of Egypt as a more primal or direct alternative to written words. But Freud, Proust, and the later Eisenstein conversely emphasize the phonetic qualities of Egyptian writing, its similarity to alphabetical scripts. The chapter concludes by arguing that even avant-garde invocations of hieroglyphics depend on narrative form through an examination of Hollis Frampton’s experimental film Zorns Lemma.

Sea Urchins and Circuses: The Modernist Natural Histories of Jean Painlevé and Alexander Calder

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-211
Author(s):  
Patricia E. Chu
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Machine Age ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The One ◽  
Natural Historian

The Paris avant-garde milieu from which both Cirque Calder/Calder's Circus and Painlevé’s early films emerged was a cultural intersection of art and the twentieth-century life sciences. In turning to the style of current scientific journals, the Paris surrealists can be understood as engaging the (life) sciences not simply as a provider of normative categories of materiality to be dismissed, but as a companion in apprehending the “reality” of a world beneath the surface just as real as the one visible to the naked eye. I will focus in this essay on two modernist practices in new media in the context of the history of the life sciences: Jean Painlevé’s (1902–1989) science films and Alexander Calder's (1898–1976) work in three-dimensional moving art and performance—the Circus. In analyzing Painlevé’s work, I discuss it as exemplary of a moment when life sciences and avant-garde technical methods and philosophies created each other rather than being classified as separate categories of epistemological work. In moving from Painlevé’s films to Alexander Calder's Circus, Painlevé’s cinematography remains at the forefront; I use his film of one of Calder's performances of the Circus, a collaboration the men had taken two decades to complete. Painlevé’s depiction allows us to see the elements of Calder's work that mark it as akin to Painlevé’s own interest in a modern experimental organicism as central to the so-called machine-age. Calder's work can be understood as similarly developing an avant-garde practice along the line between the bestiary of the natural historian and the bestiary of the modern life scientist.

“A composItIon wrItten wIthout creatIve lImItatIons” – Wanda Landowska and concerto for harpsichord and five instruments by ManueL de Falla (1923)

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 67-107
Author(s):  
Ines R. Artola
Keyword(s):  
Strict Sense ◽  
Sonata Form ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
20Th Century Music ◽  
The Third ◽  
Word Analysis ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

The aim of the present article is the analysis of Concerto for harpsichord and five instruments by Manuel de Falla – a piece which was dedicated by the composer to Wanda Landowska, an outstanding Polish harpsichord player. The piece was meant to commemorate the friendship these two artists shared as well as their collaboration. Written in the period of 1923-1926, the Concerto was the first composition in the history of 20th century music where harpsichord was the soloist instrument. The first element of the article is the context in which the piece was written. We shall look into the musical influences that shaped its form. On the one hand, it was the music of the past: from Cancionero Felipe Pedrell through mainly Bach’s polyphony to works by Scarlatti which preceded the Classicism (this influence is particularly noticeable in the third movement of the Concerto). On the other hand, it was music from the time of de Falla: first of all – Neo-Classicism and works by Stravinsky. The author refers to historical sources – critics’ reviews, testimonies of de Falla’s contemporaries and, obviously, his own remarks as to the interpretation of the piece. Next, Inés R. Artola analyses the score in the strict sense of the word “analysis”. In this part of the article, she quotes specific fragments of the composition, which reflect both traditional musical means (counterpoint, canon, Scarlatti-style sonata form, influence of old popular music) and the avant-garde ones (polytonality, orchestration, elements of neo-classical harmony).

Erin Espelie

2019 ◽  
pp. 275-294
Author(s):  
Scott MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Lanthanide Series ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Short Films ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

Artist/scientist Erin Espelie was trained at Cornell University as a biologist, but turned down opportunities to study biology at the graduate level at Harvard and MIT in order to explore the New York City theater scene, before finding her way into independent, “avant-garde” filmmaking, first exploring her interests in biology and the history of science in a series of short films, then producing the remarkable essay-film The Lanthanide Series (2014), which explores the importance of the “rare earths” (the elements with atomic numbers 57–71) for modern communication and informational technologies. The imagery for The Lanthanide Series was recorded, almost entirely, off the reflective surface of an iPad. In her work as a moving-image artist, Espelie combines poetry, science, environmental politics, and modern digital technologies within videos that defy traditional knowledge categories. She is currently editor in chief for Natural History magazine and a director of the NEST (Nature, Environment, Science & Technology) Studio for the Arts at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Globalization of Democratic Nationalism, 1830-1920

2008 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Literature And Religion ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religion Of Humanity ◽  
The 19Th Century

Giuseppe Mazzini – Italian patriot, humanist, and republican – was one of the most celebrated and revered political activists and thinkers of the 19th century. This volume compares and contrasts the perception of his thought and the transformation of his image across the world. Mazzini's contribution to the Italian Risorgimento was unparalleled; he stood for a ‘religion of humanity’; he argued against tyranny, and for universal education, a democratic franchise, and the liberation of women. The chapters in this book reflect the range of Mazzini's political thought, discussing his vision of international relations, his concept of the nation, and the role of the arts in politics. They detail how his writings and reputation influenced nations and leaders across Europe, the Americas, and India. The book links the study of political history to the history of art, literature and religion, modern nationalism, and the history of democracy.

Overseas History in the Netherlands after the Second World War. Historical Backgrounds, Modern Developments, Present-Day Situation

Itinerario ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-115
Author(s):  
H.L. Wesseling
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Art History ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Spiritual Climate ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Second World ◽  
Or History

Is history science or art? This is a problem which has been on people's minds for more than a century and certainly it is an interesting question. But within the framework of this contribution it is not really important, for, whether one practises art history or history of science, one faces the same problem. On the one hand such a history is first and foremost a history of the work and achievements of individuals. A history of science which does not deal with the work of Copernicus, Newton and Einstein is as useless as a history of art in which Rembrandt, Rubens and Michelangelo do not figure. Art and history are and will remain foremost the work of individuals of genius. On the other hand it is also true that a history of art or science which confines itself exclusively to a series of sketches of individuals and their work is not satisfactory either. Artists and scientists do not work within a vacuum. As one discerns tendencies and trends in art, likewise within the field of science one finds schools and paradigms. In order to understand works of art and science we have to look closely at influences and examples, at the time-spirit, the spiritual climate, et cetera.

Britannia on Roman coins of the second century A.D.

1924 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 142-157
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Toynbee
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Accurate Representation ◽  
Roman Coins ◽  
Greek Revival ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
Greek Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

The history of art in the Roman period is the history of the interplay of two opposite tendencies. On the one hand there is the Roman taste for realism and accurate representation, combining with the Italian love of naturalism; on the other, the fostering of the Greek tradition of idealism in art both by the Greek artists who worked at Rome and by the Greek enthusiasts among their Roman employers. After the culmination of Roman historical art under the Flavians and Trajan, the second century, as is well known, was marked by a great reaction in favour of things Hellenic, and it is with one small part of the Greek revival under Hadrian and the Antonines, when Greek art blossomed afresh for the last time during the history of the ancient world, that I propose to deal in this paper.

On the Dark Side of the Love of Art

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-211
Author(s):  
Philipp Fehl
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Classical Tradition ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
University Of Chicago ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

This is a slightly revised version of a contribution to a symposium on the spiritual aspect of creativity in the arts, held at the Reform Synagogue, Durham, North Carolina, in March, 1969. The author, formerly a refugee from Vienna, who received his doctorate from the University of Chicago, is now Professor of the History of Art at the University of Illinois. He is presently engaged in the preparation of a book on the art of Paolo Veronese. His special field of interest is the history of the classical tradition in the arts. He is himself a practicing artist.

scholarly journals Fine Arts: 1. Art During the Transition Period Between Paleolithic and Neolithicon the Territory of Romania

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-173
Author(s):  
Ioana-Iulia Olaru
Keyword(s):  
Transition Period ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Final Phase ◽  
Neolithic Culture ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Mesolithic Period ◽  
Great Complexity

Abstract This material refers to one of the many transition periods from the History of Art on the territory of Romania - that is the period which separates Paleolithic from Neolithic: Epi-Paleolithic, with its endcalled (and accepted, first of all!) by some researchers: Mesolithic. As we will see, we will refer to the art of this moment of great complexity and diversity. From an artistic pointof view, Epi-Paleolithic already has tools which can be placed in the category of technical beauty, as far as form is concerned, precision becomes more and more important,and also the skillfulness of their production and the delicate, refined finishing; also connected to the artistic side of the period, the interest for beauty for creating geometrical-abstract decorations increases, obviously becoming a coherent ornamental motif. In the final phase of Epi-Paleolithic, the Mesolithic period comes with an art which is different from the one of the culture Schela Cladovei, characterized by ornaments with simple geometrical motifs, liniar incisions, oblique or in a network, this geometry leading to the main compositional textures of decoration of the oldest phase of the future Neolithic culture Criș.

Aisthēsis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Vichnar ◽  
Louis Armand
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Technological Condition ◽  
Marshall Mcluhan ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Artistic Activity ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
Political Imaginary ◽  
And Function

Etymologically and conceptually linked with sense perception (as opposed to, in the Platonic tradition, noēsis or intellection) in ancient, medieval, and early-modern thought, aisthēsis formed part of theorizing not only questions surrounding beauty and art, but also perception, epistemology, and even ontology (in, for instance, the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas). During the Enlightenment and its project of subdivision and categorization of the “humanities,” aisthēsis became subsumed, in the work of Alexander Baumgarten, by “aesthetics,” the study of beauty in the narrower sense. However, by the beginning of the 20th century and the Marxist/Freudian/Saussurean revolution in humanist inquiry and the “avant-garde” revolution in the arts, aisthēsis resumed its place and function as a central node in a vast network of concerns: for the Marxists, the history of aisthēsis follows the pattern of social development of progressive mastery over nature by humankind, described as a process of rationalization (the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory); in psychoanalysis and phenomenology, artistic activity is regarded as the “sublimated” expression of socially objectionable energies, taking place in a world conceived of as indefinite and open multiplicity (John Dewey, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, et al.); in poststructuralist theory, the image not simply “acquires” a politico-aesthetic function by way of an act of judgement, but rather accedes in its very technological condition to a political imaginary, to an aesthetics as such (Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, et al.). In the second half of the 20th century, with the progressive technologization of society, aisthēsis formed the backbone of media studies, which examines how technological innovation overthrows a settled political and aesthetic order, with special attention paid to the effects of electronic media and the hypertext: non-linearity, repetitiveness, discontinuity, intuition (e.g., Marshall McLuhan and Jay David Bolter). At the dawn of the 21st century, in the aesthetico-mimetic doubling of the mediasphere, from teletext and satellite TV to the World Wide Web and GPS, a critical, ecological mode of thinking aisthēsis assumes the ideal function of an “avant-gardism” in affecting the structure of how things come to mean, how meaning is virtualized, and how the virtual is lived.

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