Page 14 - Attila Konnyu

KATARINA ZAVODSZKA
THOUGHTS ON THE GENESIS OF ARTISTIC AUTONOMY AND THE LIBERATING EFFECT OF ABSTRACTION
AND ATTILA KONNYU
In order to set down my ideas on this subject we need to establish a de nition of art and some categories. Let us say that art is a manipulation of materials by a human being for aesthetic purposes. Aesthetic purpose is to create an aesthetic experience by which we understand the astonishment created by a phenomenon rst felt through the senses. Through aesthetic experience the idea presented in the work of art is more deeply comprehended. In this lies the importance of art. Through art that causes the viewer to feel the aesthetic experience it is possible to send a message of a greater morality and knowledge. Precognitive comprehension is possible through emotional grasp. Because of personal subjective involvement the idea is appropriated by the individual, it is internalized and has a power to change the individual/ has an effect on the will. In the metaphor the unconscious and the conscious, the intellectual and the emotional is enveloped. This subject is well described by Aristotle in his ‘Poetics’ (On Metaphor). The stronger the message and the deeper the emotions presented, the greater the appeal to emotion and intellect. To be able to realize our human potential, to become all that we can, we strive for improvement. If the idea is to improve, profound ideas provide us with greater morality. In return for that, in the artwork we look at the profundity of the idea presented, the depth of the emotional content and the complexity of this art work. If the artwork is not complex, it will be boring and it will not have a chance to engage us in the intellectual debate with itself. For a similar reason it also has to be original. If the artwork is not original, it is boring and unexciting.
It is a redundant enterprise.
But what does the complexity of the artwork mean? Complexity of art work means it has a single entity where all parts are related, work is organic which means each part grows out of each other in such a way that it forms one organic totality. The totality is the meaning and expression of the art work. All the constituent elements, which are, of course the line, form, shape, color, scale, etc., shall lead us to the same meaning. Emotional content is expressed by these constituent elements and it shall also bring us further to the meaning of the art work. We must not forget that the emotional element or content can be the meaning itself as it was true in Expressionism.
The viewer feels unconsciously what the constituent elements suggest. Straight line, to make an example, suggests calmness, broken line tension, diagonal or recapitulated line movement. Color, similarly, is suggestive of feelings and meanings. Every one of these constituent elements expresses something by itself and principal consideration of Modern art will be the emancipation of these.
The artist, it seems to me, being extraordinary sensitive to his environment, has the ability to nd the appropriate elements to communicate the idea he is presenting. He is also extra sensitive or receptive to choose the most appropriate idea/issue. His objective is to make us stop and wonder, experience the phenomenon he
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