Alfred H. Barr, Cubism and Abstract Art, 1936 [Cover of the book] New York The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Charles Minard, 1869 [chart] At: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:Minard.png (Accessed on 21.11.19)
Charles Minard's 1869 chart showing the number of men in Napoleon’s 1812 Russian campaign army, their movements, as well as the temperature they encountered on the return path. Lithograph, 62 × 30 cm
How can we view the two graphs presented as information in the system?
In order to answer this question, I want to refer to Nora Bateson with her film about Gregory Bateson.
Anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist - Gregory Bateson argued that everything matters only in relation to everything else. Such a continuous connection of all elements with each other and their influence on each other. To illustrate this, for example, take a dance. If you decide to come to a dance school you will first begin to study short movements, gestures and steps. And only after a long practice, the teacher will show you how to connect these elements. The end result is a dance in the sense in which you probably imagined it. But you must have understood before starting that all of these elements are part of something more. Dynamic and passionate tango or warlike capoeira. This is exactly what Gregory Betson tried to explain in his theories. It is better if we see a general picture and study something depending on other facts and objects.
We can try to illustrate this idea with the graph of Alfred H. Barr. He indicates the time period, positions and directions in art in this timeline. It takes into account the context of the time, place of origin, the influence of individual artists on the general change in the history of the painting directions and mixing of it.
But is it not strange to simplify such masses to a simple name for the direction. How much context is there? So, for example, Roden is indicated on the diagram, but there is no Malevich, Kandinsky or Duchamp. And their influence, in my opinion, had a much greater impact on the development of art. Thus, the structure of this diagram is quite superficial, although in the book Barr gives a deeper analysis and studies the context of factors influencing the formation of a particular direction in art. If we study only the diagram, then it may seem that, for instance, world wars did not have any influence on the changes in art. But only the diagram does not show this. In fact, Barr illuminates this part of the history (page 153 of this book Cubism and Abstract Art 1936) in the interaction and influence of the consequences of war that are severe for man.
Now let's see the Minard diagram on the movement of the Napoleonic troops of 1812 to Moscow. Even if we assume that you have not heard about this war - looking at this relatively small piece of paper (62 x 30 cm), you will understand the outcome of the army’s campaign and at least one of the significant reasons for Napoleon’s defeat will become clear. It would seem a simple schedule, but how informative the plot is.
Charles Minard presented the information in the simplest way, combined with weighty factors based on one factor only - the number of people in the Napoleonic army. After all, the result of this war is the victory of the Russians, but at what cost? After all, we (Russians) had to leave Moscow, the greatest centre of the country. Incredible culture and history actually had to be set on fire. But! It was an extraordinary, morally expensive decision, which made it possible to stop the army approaching throughout Russia and radically turn the tide of the war. Mirand knew about the price of victory. He masterfully showed the essence, discarding all unnecessary. The context of this work remains - geography, temperature and people.
Ultimately, in my opinion, Barr's diagram is too extensive. To fully understand how cubism and abstract art developed, as information in the system, there are not enough names and directions. This topic is incredibly extensive and requires detail. Perhaps for a full contextual analysis it is necessary to consider the life of a particular artist as an object, rather than general trends and moods.
Bibliography and references
1. Alfred H. Barr, Cubism and Abstract Art, 1936, New York The Museum of Modern Art, New York
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