85. Subjective and
objective interplay
In item 23
of this blog, on knowledge, I discussed the interaction between the inside, or
the subjective, and the outside, or the objective. I proposed
that forms of thought (the inside) affect how we perceive and interpret
phenomena (the outside) but also develop in the process, so that in that sense
the outside has a causal effect on the inside.
This
entails that the subject and object are not separable, with a Cartesian subject
objectively contemplating the object, as a bystander, but interact. How, if at
all, does this fundamental issue connect with art?
The Chinese
philosopher of art Wang Guowei (1877-1927) proposed to see art as interplay of
the subjective and the objective (jingjie). First of all he indicates
that play is part of art.
If both
knowledge and art arise in interaction between the subjective and the objective,
what does that say about the relation between knowledge and art? What is the
difference between them, in this interaction? First of all, perhaps art is more
playful, in interplay.
In the
interplay of subjective and objective in art, observed phenomena, in nature or
society, are infused with feelings, or, the other way around, feelings are
expressed as phenomena in nature or society. In other words the one is used as
a metaphor for the other.
Thus a
lover may compare the loved one to ‘a summer’s day’. Anger or passion may be
portrayed as a storm. Feelings may be portrayed as a fountain or as leaden
weights on the soul, or as an uncontrollable horde rushing the mind.
In item 31,
on invention, I discussed a cycle of invention, according to which new
knowledge arises, along several stages, from applying the known in novel
contexts where it meets its limitations, and next exploratory combinations are
made, in reciprocation, of elements from existing knowledge and novel
elements encountered in the novel context. That is also a matter of interplay
between the subjective (existing knowledge) and the objective (the novel
context). Here, metaphor is helpful, in seeing the one in terms of the other.
Perhaps invention is where art and knowledge meet.
This also
arises when people want to cross cognitive distance, to achieve mutual
understanding and develop novelty, which is also a matter of making novel
combinations, in this case between different subjects that meet as objects to
each other, and seeing the one in terms of the other, as discussed in item 57.
This view
of art is in tune with the view, proposed in the preceding item in this blog,
of art as shifting meaning. That is what metaphors do.
So perhaps
we can say that in playful interaction between the subjective and the objective
art with its metaphors and shifts of meaning contributes to novelty, or yields
an exercise for it, also in knowledge and in understanding. Perhaps art also
plays a role in empathy between people, where there also is interaction between
the subject and the other person encountered as an object. I will elaborate on
that in later items in this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment