This was the first of a planned series of online seminars for the whole MA group whilst we are in lockdown 3. We were invited to read and discuss a paper by Robert Zimmer which had been submitted to the Royal Society in response to a call for a themed issue 'Abstraction paths from experience to concept'. This paper by Robert Zimmer ranges over a number of ideas, though the abstract of the paper as presented by the author says that you need to " abstract away from exactitude if we are to arrive at meaningful representations".. That makes perfect sense, and is beautifuly illustrated by Picasso's reply to a soldier presenting a wallet picture of his fiance as the 'perfect representation'; Picasso commented (recounted by Solso,1996) that the soldier's girlfriend was rather small. Zimmer argues that abstraction itself leads to increased perception, though I would contend (even having read the whole text) that the converse is equaly true, and that perception allows abstraction. Perhaps I am more sensitive to this as as a result of my prefessional training and as my own eyesight deteriorates with age. I am aware that it all too easy to misinterpret what you see if you dont see it clearly, or are unable to process it due to distraction or illness. This is often the basis for the hallucinations experienced by some in in delirium. There have been many visual artists who have perceived things differently - and have had their own significant visual disorders, from stereo blindnes( Rembrandt) to retinopathy (Degas) or cataracts (Monet). . In the group discussion of the paper we spent some time on Zimmer's pictorial example by Theo Van Doesburg published in 1925. This was a series of 4 images prgressively 'abstracted' from that of a photograph of a cow through to oblong coloured blocks. I and several others did not feel that he had arrived at a meaningful representation. I felt the example was in total conflict with with Hegels (1975) idea that abstraction allows (the painter) to capture the fleeting appearance of nature as something generated afresh by man. Hegel suggests that the process of abstraction to capture the 'essence' is itself manmade. I feel that the final image in the example demonstrates that by the process of reduction it is possible, though not inevitable , to completely loose that 'essence'; of cow or anything else. Maybe in that sense it is manmade. Indeed Zimmer goes on to point out that Van Doesburg himself felt that 'concrete'was a better description of his painting than 'abstract'. Having considered abstraction Zimmer goes on to discuss the psychology of art. He looks at three areas
The peak shift principle is based on the phenomenon observed in experimental animals, that they respond more strongly to exagerated versions of a training stimulus. Ramachandran and Hirstein suggest this principle works throughout all art creation and reception so that we are drawn to exageration. I will repeat the example quoted in Zimmers paper: This figure of an Indian Goddess is about 1000 years old. Not only have various 'female' bodily characteristics been exagerated but also others that were thought attractive including the length of her arms and fingers and the small feet. Looking at this image led me to consider how the peak shift principle might apply to how a culture sees itself and even how fashion in clothes might operate. Why is it that different cultures develop very different ways of portraying human beauty? We are told that even a millenium ago there was considerable cross fertilisation of ideas and cultures along trade routes and through conquest both within Europe and in Asia. India and Japan are not so very far apart by sea but Japan has had long periods of political isolation and its art has developed very differently. This picture of a Japanese Geisha aso exagerates aspects associated with femininity - the submissive angle of the head, abundant hair and the very small hands -but they are diferent from those of the goddess. In addition the very long oval face is not 'lifelike' but suggesting an ideal . Why did these two cultures develop different ideal forms? Was it simply chance or is it these features (flexible and expressive long fingers in India, an oval face in Japan) also help to mark out the geographical difference in bodily appearance, so the 'ideal' in a culture becomes the one least like the foreign one? Xenophobia is not new. Once accepted this ideal would be self perpetuating, as those individuals fortunate enough to resemble it would be more successful both geneticaly and financialy. They would conform to the long term cultural fashion in beauty. Closer to this day and age, fashions in dress tend to change quickly. What we considered very attractive and flattering ten years ago easily becomes dowdy and to be avoided. Yet when we see catwalk models displaying the latest creation from a fashion house, often we react with disbelief at the exagerated ideas. We mutter to ourselves that the clothes look horrible and we would never wear anything like it, even if we could afford to. Yet.....within a few years those exagerated lapels or outrageuos combinations of underwear ond outer clothing have crept into our wardrobes in a modified form. The 'norms' have shifted towards a different peak and now everyone follows them. This paper on abstraction was stimulating and provoking, in a good way, though many of the arguments about abstraction seemsed very unconvincing. The idea of the peak shift principle was very helpful, provoking reflections on fashion and cultural norms and also resonating with my new knowledge about Chevreul's observations on the perception of colour (see blog of 29/12/20). Zimmer, R. Abstraction in Art with Implications For Perception. . Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B (2003) 358, 1285–1291 Published on line on 8th May 2003.
other references Hegel, G. W. F. (1975) Aesthetics, vol. 6 and 7. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Translated by T. M. Knox.] Ramachandran, V. S. & Hirstein, W. (1999) The science of art. J. Consc. Stud. 6, 15-51 Solso, R. L. (1996) Cognition and the visual arts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
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AuthorI am indulging my passion for ceramics by undertaking studies for an MA at UCLAN Archives
August 2021
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