The Reins of the Inconceivable. Contemporary Echoes of Hegel’s Theory on Symbolic Art: Interpreting Kapoor’s Art between Danto, Mitchell and Gadamer
-
Riccardo Malaspina
Abstract
The main aim of this essay is to investigate the possibility of a spiritual form of art in contemporary art. It is my interest to analyze in the following text the work and poetics of the contemporary artist Anish Kapoor in the attempt to bring together and highlight the issues raised by contemporary aesthetics.What I intend to research is the subtle relationship between interiority and cultural factors, and between action and representation, in an attempt to highlight not only the presence but also the need for symbolic forms in contemporary art. A symbol in the Hegelian tradition is not only a semiotic vehicle but also has the characteristic of never running out in its immediate and present form. My concern is first to understand if the symbol has the possibility to re-establish a spiritual form, and then to understand whether and how a new symbolic art can, despite an apparent end of the figurative representations, return to create spiritual elements. In the work of Anish Kapoor this is possible thanks to the relationship between the immediate and immersive elements of the works; but at the same time the process is completed in the cultural and meditative interiorities of the user. This is why my interpretation of Kapoor’s work has a strongly Gadamerian and hermeneutical matrix and is based fundamentally on the dual reciprocal activity between the user and the work of art. It is my interest to highlight the strongly Hegelian echo of the implications that Gadamer, Danto and Mitchell carry in their aesthetic intuitions.
Abstract
The main aim of this essay is to investigate the possibility of a spiritual form of art in contemporary art. It is my interest to analyze in the following text the work and poetics of the contemporary artist Anish Kapoor in the attempt to bring together and highlight the issues raised by contemporary aesthetics.What I intend to research is the subtle relationship between interiority and cultural factors, and between action and representation, in an attempt to highlight not only the presence but also the need for symbolic forms in contemporary art. A symbol in the Hegelian tradition is not only a semiotic vehicle but also has the characteristic of never running out in its immediate and present form. My concern is first to understand if the symbol has the possibility to re-establish a spiritual form, and then to understand whether and how a new symbolic art can, despite an apparent end of the figurative representations, return to create spiritual elements. In the work of Anish Kapoor this is possible thanks to the relationship between the immediate and immersive elements of the works; but at the same time the process is completed in the cultural and meditative interiorities of the user. This is why my interpretation of Kapoor’s work has a strongly Gadamerian and hermeneutical matrix and is based fundamentally on the dual reciprocal activity between the user and the work of art. It is my interest to highlight the strongly Hegelian echo of the implications that Gadamer, Danto and Mitchell carry in their aesthetic intuitions.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of Contents VII
- List of Abbreviations/Siglenverzeichnis XIII
- Editors’ Introduction. The Owl’s Flight. Hegel’s Legacy in a Different Voice 1
-
Introduction
- Hegel’s Theory of Absolute Spirit as Aesthetic Theory 7
-
Section 1 The Night of Reason
- The Dark Side of Thought. The Body, the Unconscious and Madness in Hegel’s Philosophy 23
- The Feminine in Hegel. Between Tragedy and Magic 37
- A Plastic Anthropology? Dialectics and Neuroscience in Catherine Malabou’s Thought 51
- Maternal Consciousness and Recognition in the Anthropology of Hegel 61
- The Rise of Human Freedom in Hegel’s Anthropology 71
- Seele, Verrücktheit, Intersubjektivität. Einige Überlegungen zu Hegels Anthropologie 79
- Die Behandlung der psychischen Störung. Hegel und Pinel gegen die De-Humanisierung der Geisteskranken 91
- Verrücktheit und Idealisierung. Wachen, Schlaf, Traum in Hegels Philosophie des Geistes 103
- Im wachen Zustand träumen. Der Einfluss der Gefühle auf die Entstehung psychischer Krankheiten 115
- Dialectics of Madness: Foucault, Hegel, and the Opening of the Speculative 127
-
Section 2 Women for and against Hegel
- Hegel’s Master and Servant Dialectics in the Feminist Debate 141
- Giving an Account of Precarious Life and Vulnerability. Antigone’s Wisdom after Hegel 149
- “Men and women are wonderfully alike after all”. The Practical Adaption of Hegel by Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911) 161
- Simone de Beauvoir Reading Hegel. The Master-Slave Dialectic 173
- Irigaray as a Reader of Hegel. The Feminine as a Marginal Presence 183
- Domination and Exploitation. Feminist Views on the Relational Subject 195
- Subversion without Subject? Criticism of the Dissolution of Nature and I-Identity in Performativity 205
- Considerations on the Female Body between Political Theory and Feminism. The Rehabilitation of Hegel? 213
- Reading Hegel on Women and Laughing. Hegel against or with Women/Other? 223
-
Section 3 Female Characters in Hegel’s Philosophy
- Hegel’s Constellation of the Feminine between Philosophy and Life. A Tribute to Dieter Henrich’s Konstellationsforschung 239
- Von Antigone zur anständigen Frau. Hegels Frauenbild im Spannungsfeld zwischen der Phänomenologie des Geistes und der Rechtsphilosophie von 1820 255
- „Der Stand der Frau − Hausfrau“. Hegels Affirmation der bürgerlichen Geschlechterverhältnisse 273
- Antigone and the Phenomenology of Spirit. Between Literary Source (vv. 925–928) and Philosophical Reading 287
- The Feminist Potential of Hegel’s Tragic Heroines 301
- Welches Recht ist gerecht? ‚Sittlichkeit‘ und ‚Gerechtigkeit‘ in Hegels Deutung der Antigone 313
- Antigone’s Guilt. Reading Antigone with Hegel and Butler 327
- Die Tochter der Nacht: „Nemesis“ im Maß. Das Maßlose und die absolute Indifferenz in Hegels Wissenschaft der Logik 337
- Die mütterliche Seite der Dreieinigkeit an einer Stelle der Phänomenologie des Geistes 349
- The Sphinx and Hegel’s Philosophy of History. On the Philosophical Riddle 357
-
Section 4 The Twentieth Century and Hegel: Subversion or Conciliation?
- Subversion or Conciliation? The Challenges of Hegel’s Legacy 369
- Hegels Relevanz für den heutigen Diskurs zu „Gemeinschaft/Community“ 375
- The Work of Man and the End-of-History. Hegel Transfigured by Kojève’s Thought 397
- Subjects of Desire and Law Hypothesis on Kojève’s Hegel 407
- Der Andere in der Begierde. Kojèves Hegelianismus und dessen Einfluss auf die französische Philosophie 419
- Kreis und Ellipse Adornos Kritik an Hegel 431
- The Hegelian Influence in Adorno’s Construction of the Idea of Nature 439
- Difference and Affirmation. Deleuze against Hegel 449
- WO-MAN DIFFÉRANCE (I): Figuras indecidibles. Sexual Difference and Gender (Hegel read by Heidegger, read by Derrida, read by Cixous, read by Butler … et ainsi de suite) 461
- The Logic of Remains in Derrida 475
- With Portia in the Passage towards Philosophy. The Place of Translation in Hegel’s System 485
- Reading Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. A Feminist Issue 497
-
Section 5 Re-thinking the Absolute Spirit
- Suggestions on a Re-interpretation of Hegel’s Philosophy of Absolute Spirit 509
- Friendship and Religion. Some Missing Elements in Hegel’s Conception of “Lordship and Bondage” 521
- „Das Lob der Frauen“. Hegel und das ästhetische Ideal Schillers 535
- The Reins of the Inconceivable. Contemporary Echoes of Hegel’s Theory on Symbolic Art: Interpreting Kapoor’s Art between Danto, Mitchell and Gadamer 549
- Philosophy and the End of Art. Hegel in Danto’s View 565
- Judaism as the Other of Greek-Christian Civilization. Samuel Hirsch, Franz Rosenzweig, and Ernst Cassirer on Hegel’s Religionsphilosophie 573
- Von Homer bis Hegel. Die Konzeption der Geschichte in Homer und der ‚Traum des Hades‘ als vorstrukturierte Lesart der Hegelschen spekulativen Philosophie 585
- Hegel’s Thought in Egypt. The “East”, Islam, and the Course of History 599
- The “Feminine”. A Breach in the Absolute Levinasian Anti-idealism 611
-
Conclusion
- Critique, Refutation, Appropriation: Strategies of Hegel’s Dialectic 625
- List of Contributors 641
- Editors 641
- Invited Contributors 642
- Selected Papers 643
- Index 651
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Table of Contents VII
- List of Abbreviations/Siglenverzeichnis XIII
- Editors’ Introduction. The Owl’s Flight. Hegel’s Legacy in a Different Voice 1
-
Introduction
- Hegel’s Theory of Absolute Spirit as Aesthetic Theory 7
-
Section 1 The Night of Reason
- The Dark Side of Thought. The Body, the Unconscious and Madness in Hegel’s Philosophy 23
- The Feminine in Hegel. Between Tragedy and Magic 37
- A Plastic Anthropology? Dialectics and Neuroscience in Catherine Malabou’s Thought 51
- Maternal Consciousness and Recognition in the Anthropology of Hegel 61
- The Rise of Human Freedom in Hegel’s Anthropology 71
- Seele, Verrücktheit, Intersubjektivität. Einige Überlegungen zu Hegels Anthropologie 79
- Die Behandlung der psychischen Störung. Hegel und Pinel gegen die De-Humanisierung der Geisteskranken 91
- Verrücktheit und Idealisierung. Wachen, Schlaf, Traum in Hegels Philosophie des Geistes 103
- Im wachen Zustand träumen. Der Einfluss der Gefühle auf die Entstehung psychischer Krankheiten 115
- Dialectics of Madness: Foucault, Hegel, and the Opening of the Speculative 127
-
Section 2 Women for and against Hegel
- Hegel’s Master and Servant Dialectics in the Feminist Debate 141
- Giving an Account of Precarious Life and Vulnerability. Antigone’s Wisdom after Hegel 149
- “Men and women are wonderfully alike after all”. The Practical Adaption of Hegel by Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911) 161
- Simone de Beauvoir Reading Hegel. The Master-Slave Dialectic 173
- Irigaray as a Reader of Hegel. The Feminine as a Marginal Presence 183
- Domination and Exploitation. Feminist Views on the Relational Subject 195
- Subversion without Subject? Criticism of the Dissolution of Nature and I-Identity in Performativity 205
- Considerations on the Female Body between Political Theory and Feminism. The Rehabilitation of Hegel? 213
- Reading Hegel on Women and Laughing. Hegel against or with Women/Other? 223
-
Section 3 Female Characters in Hegel’s Philosophy
- Hegel’s Constellation of the Feminine between Philosophy and Life. A Tribute to Dieter Henrich’s Konstellationsforschung 239
- Von Antigone zur anständigen Frau. Hegels Frauenbild im Spannungsfeld zwischen der Phänomenologie des Geistes und der Rechtsphilosophie von 1820 255
- „Der Stand der Frau − Hausfrau“. Hegels Affirmation der bürgerlichen Geschlechterverhältnisse 273
- Antigone and the Phenomenology of Spirit. Between Literary Source (vv. 925–928) and Philosophical Reading 287
- The Feminist Potential of Hegel’s Tragic Heroines 301
- Welches Recht ist gerecht? ‚Sittlichkeit‘ und ‚Gerechtigkeit‘ in Hegels Deutung der Antigone 313
- Antigone’s Guilt. Reading Antigone with Hegel and Butler 327
- Die Tochter der Nacht: „Nemesis“ im Maß. Das Maßlose und die absolute Indifferenz in Hegels Wissenschaft der Logik 337
- Die mütterliche Seite der Dreieinigkeit an einer Stelle der Phänomenologie des Geistes 349
- The Sphinx and Hegel’s Philosophy of History. On the Philosophical Riddle 357
-
Section 4 The Twentieth Century and Hegel: Subversion or Conciliation?
- Subversion or Conciliation? The Challenges of Hegel’s Legacy 369
- Hegels Relevanz für den heutigen Diskurs zu „Gemeinschaft/Community“ 375
- The Work of Man and the End-of-History. Hegel Transfigured by Kojève’s Thought 397
- Subjects of Desire and Law Hypothesis on Kojève’s Hegel 407
- Der Andere in der Begierde. Kojèves Hegelianismus und dessen Einfluss auf die französische Philosophie 419
- Kreis und Ellipse Adornos Kritik an Hegel 431
- The Hegelian Influence in Adorno’s Construction of the Idea of Nature 439
- Difference and Affirmation. Deleuze against Hegel 449
- WO-MAN DIFFÉRANCE (I): Figuras indecidibles. Sexual Difference and Gender (Hegel read by Heidegger, read by Derrida, read by Cixous, read by Butler … et ainsi de suite) 461
- The Logic of Remains in Derrida 475
- With Portia in the Passage towards Philosophy. The Place of Translation in Hegel’s System 485
- Reading Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. A Feminist Issue 497
-
Section 5 Re-thinking the Absolute Spirit
- Suggestions on a Re-interpretation of Hegel’s Philosophy of Absolute Spirit 509
- Friendship and Religion. Some Missing Elements in Hegel’s Conception of “Lordship and Bondage” 521
- „Das Lob der Frauen“. Hegel und das ästhetische Ideal Schillers 535
- The Reins of the Inconceivable. Contemporary Echoes of Hegel’s Theory on Symbolic Art: Interpreting Kapoor’s Art between Danto, Mitchell and Gadamer 549
- Philosophy and the End of Art. Hegel in Danto’s View 565
- Judaism as the Other of Greek-Christian Civilization. Samuel Hirsch, Franz Rosenzweig, and Ernst Cassirer on Hegel’s Religionsphilosophie 573
- Von Homer bis Hegel. Die Konzeption der Geschichte in Homer und der ‚Traum des Hades‘ als vorstrukturierte Lesart der Hegelschen spekulativen Philosophie 585
- Hegel’s Thought in Egypt. The “East”, Islam, and the Course of History 599
- The “Feminine”. A Breach in the Absolute Levinasian Anti-idealism 611
-
Conclusion
- Critique, Refutation, Appropriation: Strategies of Hegel’s Dialectic 625
- List of Contributors 641
- Editors 641
- Invited Contributors 642
- Selected Papers 643
- Index 651