Meanings of Abstract Art: Between Nature and Theory (Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies)

Traditional art is based on conventions of resemblance between the work and that which it is a representation "of". Abstract art, in contrast, either adopts alternative modes of visual representation or reconfigures mimetic convention. This book explores the relation of abstract art to nature (taking nature in the broadest sense―the world of recognisable objects, creatures, organisms, processes, and states of affairs). Abstract art takes many different forms, but there are shared key structural features centered on two basic relations to nature. The first abstracts from nature, to give selected aspects of it a new and extremely unfamiliar appearance. The second affirms a natural creativity that issues in new, autonomous forms that are not constrained by mimetic conventions. (Such creativity is often attributed to the power of the unconscious.) The book covers three categories: classical modernism (Mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky, Arp, early American abstraction); post-war abstraction (Pollock, Still, Newman, Smithson, Noguchi, Arte Povera, Michaux, postmodern developments); and the broader historical and philosophical scope. This Book Explores The Relation Of Abstract Art To Nature. Traditional Picturing And Sculpture Are Based On Conventions Of Resemblance Between The Work And That Which It Is A Representation Of. Abstract Works, In Contrast, Adopt Alternative Modes Of Visual Representation, Or Break Down And Reconfigure The Mimetic Conventions Of Pictorial Art And Sculpture. Obviously This Means That Abstract Art Takes Many Different Forms. However, This Diversity Should Not Mask Some Key Structural Features; These Center On Two Basic Relations To Nature (understanding Nature In The Broadest Sense To Comprise The World Of Recognisable Objects, Creatures, Organisms, Processes, And States Of Affairs). The First Involves Abstracting From Nature, To Give Selected Aspects Of It A New And Extremely Unfamiliar Appearance. The Second Involves Abstract Art As The Affirmation Of A Relatively Unconstrained Natural Creativity That Issues In New, Autonomous Forms That Are Not Constrained By Mimetic Conventions. (such Creativity Is Often Attributed To The Power Of The Unconscious.)the Book Contains Three Categories Of Essays: 1) Those On Classical Modernism (mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky, Arp, Early American Abstraction), 2) Those On Post-war Abstraction (pollock, Still, Newman, Smithson, Noguchi, Arte Povera, Michaux, Postmodern Developments), And 3) Those Of A Broader Art Historical And Philosophical Scope-- Edited By Paul Crowther And Isabel Wünsche. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 283-284) And Index. Meanings of Abstract Art: Between Nature and Theory 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Figures 8 Introduction 12 1. Life into Art Nature Philosophy, The Life Sciences and Abstract Art 20 2. Mondrian’s First Diamond Composition Spatial Totality and the Plane of the Starry Sky 41 3. Man, Space and the Zero of Form Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematism and the Natural World 58 4. The Role of Mathematical Structure, Natural Form, and Pattern in the Art Theory of Wassily Kandinsky the Quest for Order and Unity 75 5. “We Want to Produce Like a Plant That Produces a Fruit ”Hans Arp and the “Nature Principle” 92 6. Natural Forces and Phenomena as Inspiration and Meaning in Early American Abstraction 108 7. Jackson Pollock the Sin of Images 129 8. Clyff Ord Still’s Regionalist Shamanism 146 9. “Man Is Present” Barnett Newman’s Search for the Experience of the Self 152 10. Nature, Entropy and Robert Smithson’s Utopian Vision of a Culture of Decay 169 11. Embodied Nature Isamu Noguchi’s Intetra Fountain 180 12. The Arte Povera Experience Nature Re-presented 195 13. Nature’s Hand Writing Abstraction in the Work of Henri Michaux 209 14. Abstract Art and Techno-nature the Postmodern Dimension 228 15. Art, Beauty and the Sacred Four Ways to Abstraction 252 16. The Complexities of “Abstracting” from Nature 266 17. Meaning in Abstract Art from Ur-nature to the Transperceptual 281 Bibliography 294 Contributors 296 Index 300 "This book explores the relation of abstract art to nature. Traditional picturing and sculpture are based on conventions of resemblance between the work and that which it is a representation "of". Abstract works, in contrast, adopt alternative modes of visual representation, or break down and reconfigure the mimetic conventions of pictorial art and sculpture. Obviously this means that abstract art takes many different forms. However, this diversity should not mask some key structural features ; these center on two basic relations to nature (understanding nature in the broadest sense to comprise the world of recognisable objects, creatures, organisms, processes, and states of affairs). The first involves abstracting from nature, to give selected aspects of it a new and extremely unfamiliar appearance. The second involves abstract art as the affirmation of a relatively unconstrained natural creativity that issues in new, autonomous forms that are not constrained by mimetic conventions. (Such creativity is often attributed to the power of the unconscious.)The book contains three categories of essays: 1) those on classical modernism (Mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky, Arp, early American abstraction), 2) those on post-war abstraction (Pollock, Still, Newman, Smithson, Noguchi, Arte Povera, Michaux, postmodern developments), and 3) those of a broader art historical and philosophical scope"-- Provided by publisher