In this review I use data from my previous research for the Fine Art 3 Research course, as well as data from Chat GPT on the data I have accumulated over the past two years.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the “flesh of the world” is a central idea in his later philosophy, particularly in his unfinished work, The Visible and the Invisible. It builds on his earlier existential phenomenology and explores the deep, reciprocal connection between humans and the world. Below is an explanation of the theory and its potential relevance to my practice:
1. What Is the “Flesh of the World”?
• Definition: The "flesh" refers to an elemental, primordial substance that connects all beings and things in the world. It is neither purely material nor purely spiritual; it is a shared medium of existence. It transcends the traditional subject-object distinction, emphasizing that we and the world are intertwined through a common “flesh.”
• Key Idea: The flesh is a metaphysical fabric that constitutes both the perceiver and the perceived. This means that we are not separate from the world we experience; instead, we are part of it, and it is part of us.
2. Embodiment and Perception
• Merleau-Ponty highlights the reciprocal relationship between seeing and being seen, touching and being touched. For example: When you touch an object, you are simultaneously aware of your hand as an object in the world. This creates a chiasm (a crossing or intertwining) where subject and object, self and world, overlap.
• Embodiment: Our body is not just something we “have”; it is the medium through which we perceive and engage with the world. This embodied perception is inherently relational and dynamic.
3. The Interconnectedness of All Things
• Merleau-Ponty’s notion of the flesh emphasizes that everything in the world is interrelated. The world is not just a collection of objects; it is a living field of interrelations. Example: When you observe a landscape, your body and senses are part of that landscape’s reality, just as the landscape becomes part of your subjective experience.
4. Implications for Art
Art, for Merleau-Ponty, is deeply connected to the flesh of the world because it reveals the intertwined nature of perception and creation. Artists can bring out the invisible connections between self, material, and the world.
Art as Revelation:
• Art makes the invisible visible by revealing the underlying interrelations of the world.
• The artist’s interaction with the material (paint, canvas, etc.) is an example of the flesh in action. The material influences the artist as much as the artist influences the material.
Sensory and Embodied Experience:
• Art engages the viewer’s body and senses, making them aware of their own embodied being in relation to the artwork.
5. Relevance to My Practice
Materiality:
• My use of plywood, newspapers, and other materials reflects the interconnectedness of human activity (news, information) and the natural world (wood, raw material).
• Highlighting the textures, layers, and imperfections of these materials could evoke a sense of shared “flesh.”
Embodied Engagement:
• Design installations that require physical interaction or immersion, encouraging viewers to become aware of their own bodies in relation to the materials.
The Visible and the Invisible:
• Use contrasts (e.g., between raw and refined, destruction and creation) to reveal hidden dynamics, much like the “invisible” interconnections Merleau-Ponty describes.
Antonio Damasio
Antonio Damasio’s concept of Somatic Markers is part of his broader theory about emotion, decision-making, and the role of the body in cognition, particularly discussed in his book Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain (1994). Below is an explanation of the theory and its relevance to my practice:
1. What Are Somatic Markers?
• Definition: Somatic markers are physical, bodily sensations or emotional responses that arise in connection with decision-making processes. They act as shortcuts or signals that help the brain evaluate options based on past experiences.
• Origin: These markers are created through emotional experiences. When a similar situation occurs, the brain retrieves the somatic marker to guide decision-making. Example: Feeling a gut reaction of anxiety when faced with a risky decision, which signals caution.
2. The Role of Emotion in Decision-Making
• Damasio challenges the traditional view that decision-making is purely rational. He argues that emotions, encoded as somatic markers, are essential for making effective decisions.
• Somatic markers influence how we weigh the pros and cons of choices, often acting faster than conscious reasoning.
3. How Somatic Markers Work
• Process:
1. A situation triggers a memory of a past experience.
2. That memory activates a somatic marker, producing a bodily sensation (e.g., tightness in the chest, excitement).
3. This sensation acts as a guide for evaluating the situation and making a decision. Positive markers encourage action (e.g., joy or excitement when recalling success). Negative markers deter action (e.g., fear or discomfort recalling failure).
4. The Somatic Marker Hypothesis
• Damasio’s hypothesis is that somatic markers bridge the gap between emotion and reasoning: They allow the body and mind to work together to prioritize certain decisions without overloading the rational mind. Without these markers, decision-making becomes inefficient and overly analytical. Example: Patients with brain damage in emotional-processing areas struggle with making even simple decisions because they lack somatic markers.
5. Relevance to My Artistic Practice
Incorporating the concept of somatic markers into my work could deepen my exploration of visceral responses and emotional engagement.
• Visceral Art: My art could deliberately evoke specific somatic markers to guide viewers’ emotional and physical reactions. For instance: Colours, textures, or materials might evoke calmness, fear, or nostalgia, triggering markers tied to personal or collective experiences.
• Audience Interaction: By focusing on how somatic markers influence behaviour, my installations could prompt viewers to confront their own emotional responses and decision-making processes. (vandalism)
• Transformation: I could explore how somatic markers tied to aggression or destruction (e.g., vandalism) might be shifted or reprogrammed through art, encouraging positive emotional associations instead.
6. Art and Somatic Markers in Action
Imagine an installation that:
• Combines evocative materials (like newspapers) with immersive, sensory elements (light, sound, smell).
• Triggers somatic markers through specific stimuli: Positive markers: Warm colors, harmonious sounds, and inviting textures evoke feelings of safety and joy. Negative markers: Jagged textures, harsh sounds, or discordant visuals evoke discomfort but encourage reflection.
• Challenges the viewer to reconcile these sensations, creating a transformative experience.
Karen Barad
Karen Barad's concept of material agency is a cornerstone of her agential realism, which is highly relevant to my artistic research, especially as I explore the interaction between external affect, internal intuition, and the materiality of my works. Barad’s ideas bridge physics, philosophy, and feminist theory, offering a contemporary framework for understanding how materials themselves are active participants in the creation and interpretation of meaning.
1. Agential Realism
Barad’s agential realism rethinks the relationship between humans, materials, and the world. She argues that agency does not belong exclusively to humans or subjects, but instead emerges from the intra-actions (mutual interactions) between all entities—human and nonhuman alike.
• Intra-action vs. Interaction:
Unlike interaction, where distinct entities affect each other, intra-action implies that entities do not preexist their relations. They come into being through their relational encounters.
For me: This suggests that my materials—plywood, newspaper, paint—are not passive objects. Instead, they are co-creators of meaning in my work.
2. Materiality as Active
Barad emphasizes that matter is not inert or static; it has agency. Materials actively participate in shaping reality. For example:
• Scratched plywood is not just a surface but an active participant in the meaning and emotional resonance of my work.
• Newspapers, imbued with propaganda and narratives, bring their own histories and affects into the intra-action with me as an artist and with the audience.
3. Temporality and Process
Barad’s theories challenge linear notions of time. Materials carry traces of the past while actively shaping the present and future.
For my work: The interplay of fragile newspapers and resilient wood could reflect this temporality, where past narratives (newspapers) meet ongoing, visceral actions (scratches, brushstrokes).
Key Ideas for My Research
1. Material Agency and Affect
Barad’s work aligns with Brian Massumi’s ideas on affect by emphasizing how materials influence and provoke responses. For example:
• The scratches in my plywood or the fragility of newspapers might not just reflect my emotions but actively elicit unconscious, gut-level reactions from the audience.
• The materials’ agency transforms them into more than mere carriers of affect—they become collaborators in creating it.
2. The Ethics of Material Engagement
Barad’s philosophy urges us to consider the ethical implications of how we engage with materials. Every mark I make, every material I choose, has ethical dimensions tied to its history and its future.
For my work: This could lead me to reflect on the sourcing and implications of my materials. How does using found or recycled materials connect with my themes of temporality, propaganda, and resilience?
3. Translation Between Media and Material
Barad’s concept of intra-action mirrors my interest in the translation between external affects (media environments, propaganda) and internal gut feelings. In my practice, this translation happens through the materiality of my works.
• The tension between soft, ephemeral newspapers and durable, tactile plywood could be read as a material metaphor for this process.
4. The Role of the Artist
Barad’s theories decentralise the human subject. As an artist, I am not solely a creator but part of the intra-actions among materials, ideas, and affects. This means that:
• My gestures - scratches, brushstrokes - are responses to the materials’ agency as much as they are expressions of my own intuition.
Applications in My Practice
1. Material Conversations
Explore how different materials interact with each other and with my gestures. For example:
• What happens when fragile, light newspapers are juxtaposed with heavy, durable plywood?
• How do brushstrokes or scratches highlight or disrupt the inherent properties of these materials?
This exploration could visually represent the interplay between external forces (media narratives) and internal, gut-level responses.
2. The Unseen Histories of Materials
Barad’s emphasis on the temporality of matter invites to think about the histories embedded in my materials. Newspapers carry the weight of media propaganda, while wood may evoke stability, destruction, or reconstruction.
3. Experimental Works with Agency
Create works that invite the materials themselves to act and respond. For example: Allow natural processes like weathering or decay to shape the outcome of a piece. Use the fragility of newspapers to highlight their active role in communicating both resilience and ephemerality.
4. Audience Intra-Action
Think of audience as participants in the intra-action with my materials. Consider creating interactive installations where viewers’ movements or touch influence the artwork, further blurring the line between external forces and internal reactions.
Jane Bennett
Jane Bennett’s concept of material agency is most prominently discussed in her book Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things (2010). Bennett challenges traditional views that see matter as passive and inert. Instead, she argues for a worldview in which matter has its own vitality, agency, and capacity to affect and be affected.
1. Vital Materialism
• Bennett advocates for vital materialism, a philosophical perspective that attributes vitality and agency to non-human entities and materials.
• Vitality means that matter is not just passive stuff controlled by humans but is active, dynamic, and capable of influencing the world around it. Example: A rusting pipe or a decaying fruit might seem inert, but they are actively changing, decomposing, and interacting with their environments.
2. Agency of Non-Human Things
• Agency, in Bennett’s view, is not limited to humans. Non-human things—whether objects, materials, or ecosystems—have their own forms of agency.
• This doesn’t mean that objects have intentions like humans do but that they have the power to affect outcomes and participate in the unfolding of events. Example: A power outage caused by a fallen tree shows the tree’s material agency, as its physical presence can disrupt human systems.
3. Assemblages
• Bennett introduces the concept of assemblages, which are collections of human and non-human entities that work together, influencing and shaping each other.
• In an assemblage, no single entity (human or non-human) has complete control; agency is distributed across all participants. Example: A city’s functioning is an assemblage of people, infrastructure, technology, natural forces (like weather), and materials (like concrete and steel).
4. Thing-Power
• Bennett uses the term thing-power to describe the active role that non-human things play in shaping events and experiences.
• She illustrates this with an anecdote about being struck by the vibrant agency of trash on the street—objects that seemed to “call out” and reveal their dynamic presence in the world. Example: In an art installation, the choice of materials (e.g., newspapers, plywood, or found objects) influences not only the aesthetic but also how audiences engage with and interpret the work.
5. Political and Ethical Implications
• Bennett’s work is deeply political. She argues that recognizing the agency of matter can challenge anthropocentric (human-centered) perspectives and lead to more ethical relationships with the environment.
• She calls for a shift in how we view and treat the material world, advocating for respect and care for non-human entities. Example: Understanding plastic’s agency might influence efforts to reduce pollution by acknowledging how it persists and affects ecosystems long after being discarded.
6. Relevance to Art and Aesthetics
Bennett’s ideas have significant implications for art, particularly for practices that engage with materials and their inherent qualities:
• Materiality: My work with newspapers and debris directly engages with the vitality and agency of materials. These materials are not just passive tools; they bring their own history, texture, and meaning to my work.
• Assemblages: My installations can be seen as assemblages where materials, viewers, and spaces interact to create dynamic experiences.
• Thing-Power: Highlighting the “thing-power” of my materials could make audiences more aware of their vitality, encouraging them to see the material world differently.
Application to My Artistic Practice
In my installations, I could explore how the agency of materials (like newspapers and wood) interacts with the viewers' visceral and emotional responses. For instance:
• How do the inherent qualities of my materials influence their perception as “beautiful” or “fragile”?
• Can emphasizing the vitality of my materials help address issues like vandalism or aggression by fostering a deeper respect for the material world?
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