i love that you mention how our unwillingness to understand or at least try to understand abstract art can translate into us being less understanding to people/cultures/concepts we don’t understand right away, this was such a good read and it made me think a lot about the way in which i engage with modern art, thank you for giving me lots to ponder about <3
I would be lying if I said that in the past I didn't take abstract art as meaningless and catastrophic for what art meant. Of course, it is obvious I had this ideology based on a space of ignorance and oblivion to what art actually is and its evolving nature. Said nature that you encapsulate here so beautifully that it makes me want to cry (but that's mostly because I prompt to surrender to my emotions). I had already started to appreciate abstract art this month by reading the collection of essays by Olivia Laing Funny Weather, but so far this is what bisects my understanding and perception both of art and the world. The point isn't about understanding though, I believe, but about engaging and letting not only art but all the throes and pleasures that come with being alive to nurture who we are, as in, to let all kinds of things be the seed of new creative endeavours. To see the entire world as an opportunity. To do what? I have no clue. I guess it depends on people. I guess it depends on what we love.
Wow! I was awestruck to read that you saw Kandinsky in the flesh. In college I studied art history and I read his manifesto on abstraction. Specifically, like your essay, I focused on early modernist art leading up to and in between the two world wars: blue rider, bauhaus, de Stijl, Constructivists, Suprematists, dada, futurists, expressionists and so forth. At Art Museums in the US I’ve seen few Kandinsky sketches in basement archives . At an exhibition on modernists I remember sitting on a bench, looking at Alber’s homage to the square, and crying at its beauty, the sublime perplexity of its meaning. An inexplicable feeling, one that’s impossible for me to try to describe. You’ve written about this sensation beautifully. Berger is so good! Whenever I see the quotes on “against interpretation” floating around substack, my 1st thought is what about ways of seeing? What about Kandinsky’s essays on Pythagorean theory and music of the spheres? Art essays give us more depth, more points of view, and add to the complexity of meaning in art, I think. Anyhow I feel frustrated when I hear people dismiss modern art as easy or ugly (you’re exactly right to point out the transfer of ownership happening here in viewing art as property.) I agree, and it’s so hard to see original paintings translated into digital pixels online. I loved this piece! Thank you for sharing your experience with modern art.
yes yes yes! you’re so right about against interpretation - the more I think about that essay the less I like it, which I think puts me in a realll minority here! the other thing I think is sad is the way we neglect or don’t talk about the spiritual element in these works, like with Kandinsky. I recently read Jennifer Higgie’s ‘The Other Side’ which talks about that - highly recommend it!
i love that you mention how our unwillingness to understand or at least try to understand abstract art can translate into us being less understanding to people/cultures/concepts we don’t understand right away, this was such a good read and it made me think a lot about the way in which i engage with modern art, thank you for giving me lots to ponder about <3
💓💓💓
I would be lying if I said that in the past I didn't take abstract art as meaningless and catastrophic for what art meant. Of course, it is obvious I had this ideology based on a space of ignorance and oblivion to what art actually is and its evolving nature. Said nature that you encapsulate here so beautifully that it makes me want to cry (but that's mostly because I prompt to surrender to my emotions). I had already started to appreciate abstract art this month by reading the collection of essays by Olivia Laing Funny Weather, but so far this is what bisects my understanding and perception both of art and the world. The point isn't about understanding though, I believe, but about engaging and letting not only art but all the throes and pleasures that come with being alive to nurture who we are, as in, to let all kinds of things be the seed of new creative endeavours. To see the entire world as an opportunity. To do what? I have no clue. I guess it depends on people. I guess it depends on what we love.
thank you for sharing! (I love Laing haha)
Wow! I was awestruck to read that you saw Kandinsky in the flesh. In college I studied art history and I read his manifesto on abstraction. Specifically, like your essay, I focused on early modernist art leading up to and in between the two world wars: blue rider, bauhaus, de Stijl, Constructivists, Suprematists, dada, futurists, expressionists and so forth. At Art Museums in the US I’ve seen few Kandinsky sketches in basement archives . At an exhibition on modernists I remember sitting on a bench, looking at Alber’s homage to the square, and crying at its beauty, the sublime perplexity of its meaning. An inexplicable feeling, one that’s impossible for me to try to describe. You’ve written about this sensation beautifully. Berger is so good! Whenever I see the quotes on “against interpretation” floating around substack, my 1st thought is what about ways of seeing? What about Kandinsky’s essays on Pythagorean theory and music of the spheres? Art essays give us more depth, more points of view, and add to the complexity of meaning in art, I think. Anyhow I feel frustrated when I hear people dismiss modern art as easy or ugly (you’re exactly right to point out the transfer of ownership happening here in viewing art as property.) I agree, and it’s so hard to see original paintings translated into digital pixels online. I loved this piece! Thank you for sharing your experience with modern art.
yes yes yes! you’re so right about against interpretation - the more I think about that essay the less I like it, which I think puts me in a realll minority here! the other thing I think is sad is the way we neglect or don’t talk about the spiritual element in these works, like with Kandinsky. I recently read Jennifer Higgie’s ‘The Other Side’ which talks about that - highly recommend it!
and thank you💘
Really such a wonderful piece, a true gift. You've made me want to find my nearest Kandinsky :)
thank you Michael!
absolutely LOVED this piece! it called to mind this essay i wrote a few months back about rothko and abstract expressionism: https://open.substack.com/pub/pranaysomayajula/p/you-sir-are-a-space-too?r=5qwlg&utm_medium=ios
thank you! I’ve just bookmarked your essay and will read it soon, looks amazing.