Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty
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Sunday 1 May 2011

Week 6-Landscape and the Sublime



'Wanderer in the mists' (1818) Caspar David Friedrich




'Untitled #2" (2002) Richard Misrach




 'Untitled # 394-03' (2003) Richard Misrach 




Richard Misrach's photography reflects the concept of the Sublime, from the Enlightenment.
Research Misrach's work by reading about his intentions, and also by looking at the work. Then answer the following questions;
  1. What and when was the Enlightenment?
Enlightenment is the era in Western philosophy, intellectual, scientific and cultural life, created upon the 18th century. Enlightenment was the establishment of people being able to challenge concepts that were traditional and and set in stone about the world, about man, society and nature which was dominated by Christianity. New ideas were accompanied by writing, printing, painting, music, sculpture, architecture and gardening.  For an example of Enlightenment thought in the seventeenth century are 
-Human history is largely a history of progress
  • Religious doctrines have no place in the understanding of the physical and human worlds
  • truth can be arrived at through empirical observation, the use of reason, and systematic doubt 
Enlightenment is summed up by some ideas that have been put together which are reason, empiricism, science, universalism, progress, individualism, toleration, freedom, uniformity of human nature, secularism. According to Immanuel Kant (writer of the essay Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?), “The Enlightenment was "Mankind's final coming of age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error." 
  1. Define the concept of the Sublime.
Sublime is a form of expression if someone refers to your work or something you have or see as sublime it’s like calling your work divine. Other words like sublime are awe-inspiring, majestic, elevated, noble, lofty, exalted etc.. all these words are powerful, strong, extreme words. Sublime was translated into French in 1674, and put a considerable influence in the 18th century aesthetics, where beauty and sublimity are often paired. In this context the sublime often has a rather different meaning from what it has in Longinus, and this different meaning has also entered into our way of thinking. For example, in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757) Edmund Burke generates a conception of the sublime in connection with our encounter with nature as well as art. The sublime now becomes that which causes astonishment, `that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror' (p. 95). http://www.selectedworks.co.uk/sublime.htmlThe sublime is a form of expression in literature in which the author refers to things in nature or art that affect the mind with a sense of overwhelming grandeur or irresistible power. It is calculated to inspire awe, deep reverence, or lofty emotion, by reason of its beauty, vastness, or grandeur.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(literary)
  1. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?
The concept of the sublime came out of the enlightenment thought by people using literary sublime in search of enlightenment. Also people decided to go against the church in the beginning out enlightenment because they wanted to explore the natural laws which governed the earth rather than listening to the bible. People began to love and appreciate the beauty of the world and nature for themselves rather than listening to what the church said was beauty. Out of this the concept of the sublime came out the enlightenment. 
  1. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images of his work. 
The subject matter he uses in his work is idealistic in nice enriched colours like the beach, water and sky images, it makes the world look so vast with tiny people shown in it. That may not be his intention but that is how I see it. To me this makes his work show excellence and sublimity because for an example out of latest project “Desert Cantos” he captures the perfect lighting and the perfect scenery that everyone dreams of, such as the reflections of the clouds onto water in one of the images ‘Moonlake 2, California.’ In the image ‘Pyramid #5’ Misrach has captured a heavenly like lighting of the sun coming out of the dark clouds and beaming onto the water which to me is sublime and a perfect image it takes your breath away. 
  1. Identify some other artists or designers that work with ideas around the Sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.
Painters such as Caspar David Friedrich, Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, and James Turrell create sublime experiences for the viewer through seemingly simple combinations of abstracted color, light, and space. 


Mark Rothko, Untitled,1949, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc., 1986.43.138 

Blue Monochrome 1961. Dry pigment in synthetic polymer medium on cotton over plywood, 6' 4 7/8" x 55 1/8" (195.1 x 140 cm). The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection. © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
“Monochrome abstraction—the use of one color over an entire canvas—has been a strategy adopted by many painters wishing to challenge expectations of what an image can and should represent. Klein likened monochrome painting to an "open window to freedom." He worked with a chemist to develop his own particular brand of blue. Made from pure color pigment and a binding medium, it is called International Klein Blue. Klein adopted this hue as a means of evoking the immateriality and boundlessness of his own particular utopian vision of the world.” http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A3137&page_number=4&template_id=1&sort_order=1

James Turrell, Roden Crater, AZ(Photo: Jeff Kozera, 1996) 
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  1. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?
When I look at each individual image I feel kind of alone, yet at peace because in his images his colouring seems to have a gloomy tinge over them as well as having a vast space with small people in it. It makes you realise how big the world is and how beautiful, it also makes me feel that I should carry a camera everywhere with me to snap everyday beauty that is held as an even better memory that you can share as an image. he grasps nicely the suggestion of where people have been and left such as the track marks in the sand in 'Battleground #2' 

7. Add a Sublime image of your choice to your blog, which can be Art or just a Sublime photograph.
This is an image I took at a friends house on a chilly afternoon I like this image because it has not been adjusted in anyway to look better it is just how it was, which seems so surreal. I find it so exciting when the sky turns so fiery and you can still see the blue in the sky as well. 

http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=EujcNVAlcw4C&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=concept+of+sublime+coming+out+of+enlightenment&source=bl&ots=9aOgInwBLm&sig=LxOtodl2WeSKSOGsu-UZtTu05Co&hl=en&ei=a_u8Tf-BG4OisAOoyNXbBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

6 comments:

  1. Yeah I too get the same feeling as you when I look at Misrach’s photography. I really like his work just because of the ‘gloomy tinge’ which is so appealing to the eyes. This effect added to his photos of large open spaces at sea or empty landscapes, kind of makes me feel sad that so much beauty in this world is going unnoticed. Sometimes I wonder how many beautiful captures I walk past every single day because I don’t even simply stop to take a look around me at what nature has to offer.
    I always say that I should carry around a camera everywhere, but I wish it was that easy! Oh, and your photograph is beautiful (:

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  2. I totally agree with both of you. There is so much beauty in this world but we all take it for granted. We see beautiful things everyday but because we are so use to it doesn't mean anything to us anymore. It is the same with our daily life, we are always taking advantage of what we have but not realizing the power of everyday. We should be living in the moment and see everything around us rather than living under how plans we live by. His work shows us that there is a beautiful world out there worth seeing.

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  3. Alex, firstly, thanks for the feedback on the image I posted for my week 6 blog entry, yours is amazing. I like how you have been so thorough with your explanation of the enlightenment, although I understood it before, I feel that it is much more clear to me after reading your definition. I completely agree with your view on how the sublime came from the enlightenment, in that it was due to the secularization of society, which cause nature to be more greatly appreciated. I also agree with you about how we miss beautiful things in the world every day which is partly why I try to bring my camera everywhere I go.

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  4. A very in-depth and clear analysis! When you say 'The subject matter he uses in his work is idealistic in nice enriched colours like the beach, water and sky images, it makes the world look so vast with tiny people shown in it. That may not be his intention but that is how I see it.' I can see where you are coming from and i can agree and relate to that. I also agree with you about how there are so many beautiful things in the world that we see everyday but we just do not realize what they are and therefore don't really see and take full advantage of them. We live with water all around us, that is one thing that many people do not realize how lucky we are to have!

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  5. I find your desription the the enlightenment very clear and easy to understand, I strongly agree with all the points you made. I found the painting Blue Monochrome very intersting just being one colour that he made and the meaning behind it defently very interesting being a open window to freedom.

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  6. I really enjoyed reading your blog and the great analysis of the enlightenment, In this day and time we tend to live such busy lives that we miss out on the smaller more beautiful tings, especially in nature. as more and more of the world becomes modernized we lose our view on the natural world. i was very interested in the blue canvas, whilst its so simple it provokes so much thought of what the artist was trying to achieve, its funny how colors can make us feel certain emotions

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