HANNAH ARENT

 

 

The work of art evokes a personal encounter whereby the individual is forced to confine himself

It is not the work of art that must descend from its lofty heights. Rather, it is the individual who must ascend to the work of art. It is a vertical encounter

The work of art attracts the attention of the subject and mobilizes the subject.

It is a question of the self, not of the we

These concepts, attributed to HA, and similarly, her concepts of work of art, artist and culture resonate with my own philosophy.  And greatly her conceptions of Artwork / Artist / Culture

The work of art is the product which the artists, poets, musicians, philosophers and others produce. That which is least useful. But not all objects produced by artists, but those which transcend time, making them immortal and thus distinguishing them from the material world.

Artist is the “authentic maker of those objects which all civilization leaves behind as the quintessence and ultimate testimony of the spirit which animates them” (1)

Artists produce objects which transcend the measure of time, speaking to men of our future perspective, of our achievements, of our works. They create a bond of communication which crosses time, making us all live in and share the same world because the works of art have been created to perpetuity.

Culture expresses the relation, the attitude, of each civilization with and before the work of art. Therefore, that which defines a culture is rooted in the perspective, in the manner of perceiving the object. Culture is not defined by the object itself.

Throughout the centuries, this relation between artist-object has transitioned, in some cases becoming antagonistic. Consequently, according to Arendt, that which, for example, distinguishes the Greeks from the Barbarians is a cultural difference. The possibility of culturally appreciating an object, “a different attitude towards beauty and knowledge” (2)


(1) (ARENDT, Hannah, “The Crisis in Culture,” in Between Past and Future (1993 [1961]). (2) (IDEM.)

HANNAH ARENDT CENTER

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