Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1824) – Critique of Judgement
§ 45 Genius is the opposite of imitation.
§ 46 The genius fumbles to something no one has seen before.
§ 1 The work shall be judged by whim, not craft.
By this standard a genius can produce neither bad or good work. It is exactly this kind of system where objective criteria is non existent.
G.F. Hegel (1770 – 1831) – Introduction to Aesthetics
x A work which does not adhere to the ideas of its time has no value.
x The spirit in the work is more important than its craft.
x No matter how ugly art is – it has more value than nature (because it consists of spirit. A spirit from the current time).
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
x All works of art have a social function
x Good art celebrates good political tendencies
One could say that total abstraction in painting was the ultimate peak for the Kantean System. The signature was embedded in the brushstrokes.
“Now comes the reckoning! Now we will throw these mediocre kitschmongers into slavery, and teach them to venerate the German spirit and to worship the German God.” – Arnold Schoenberg
What we have won?
- Freedom from craft
- Freedom from responsibility
- Freedom from sincerity
What have we lost?
- The human face
- The story/myth
- The magic of recognition
Gradually buildings and sculptures began being constructed in a manner that pleased viewers eyes. The peak of classical revival in europe took place in the mid sixteenth century in Italy. When aristotle’s philosophical writings were about to become one of the main topics of discussion.
The essential message Aristotle played is the acknowledgement that painters, sculptures and writers all engage in mimesis. For this reason they should say as little as possible in their own voice and take use of the techniques that have been handed down through generations.
Aristotle (385 BC – 322 BC) – Aristotles Poetics –
Three ways of making a drama:
- From your own time (usually comedies).
- Historical dramas (usually tragedies).
- Story from the underworld of the dead (most difficult, always tragedy).
His poetics have – in recent history – been considered inartistic.
The essence of Kant
-The genius doesn’t need knowledge, and neither does the critic.
The essence of Aristotle
-Everyone can develop through the virtue, and the best critic has tried to craft himself.
Where Aristotle differs from Kant:
-Pure colours don’t exist, and life is cheated from mixed colours.
-To imitate nature is the poets most important ability and he should avoid originality
-Painting is a means to an end, and the end is to convey universal truths about humanity.
-The best work is cheated from interest not disinterest.
The greeks lived by this standard.
Everything painted before Kant, for example Rembrandt, is accepted by the modern Art Police. After Kant, this will cause big problems for painters because they have not followed Kant’s law. It’s a crime to imitate classical realism – museums don’t show it. They won’t show representational paintings.
The modern Art Police descended from the Bolsheviks and the Gestapo. They have power over:
- The art history in universities.
- The state
- The critics
- The history textbooks and films
- The newspaper and magazines
- The museum directors
- The art purchase advisory
- The university employment
- The children’s art education
- The auction house
In the hunt for the new, art is fading away. The Art Police are educated in the university, therefore, they are used as advisors to the wealthy investors in contemporary art.
Modernism is unacceptable. One suggestion would be in the university, after half a year there should be a divorce between the Aristotelian and Kantean philosophy – so that the student can choose which direction they want to go in.
The story about the Tower of Babel from the Genesis gives us a clue to what comes, and to what the critique of judgement is actually about. Men spoke the same tongue, and everyone lived together in harmony. Life was uncomplicated because good and evil were understandable concepts. When they were building the tower, they had the same language all over the world, and they all understood each other. Together they were building in an attempt to reach the sky. God did not approve. This was not how the promised land was to be built. He cast a curse on them so that no one could understand each other. Everyone spoke with their own private tongue. Thus it all fell apart, as communication was lost and the tower ended as a pile of rubble. Destroyed by the madness that occurred. And so it is with Kant, he has systematically broke down the common language, and introduced the feeling of emptiness into out minds, and orchestrated complete cultural Armageddon. We now live in Kant’s filth filled wasteland, but we are all longing for a civilised land and language.
Kant’s thinking was an attempt to eliminate western culture, and this was in great dependance of Aristotle’s thinking. We have to bring back Aristotelian philosophy to universities so there may be a dialogue – a change from monologue to dialogue, from war to peace – simply civilised education.
