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We have in medieval art and architecture a certain influence from theology on the way a project unfolds. For example, one of the visionaries of Gothic architecture, the Abbot Suger of St. Denis, envisioned God as light. This, coupled with the advent of buttressed architecture, allowed for large windows and the used of stained glass. The nave of a Gothic cathedral thus becomes a focal point for light/God to emerge.

Granted, I don't know whether theology and theory share an etymology (the Merriam Webster states the former comes from theo and logia - no translation needed, while theory comes from the Greek theoros, witness), but this does not matter. The point being, as we retrace our artistic/craftsman roots to Pre-Romantic times, we find a prototype of "art/craft driven by theory" (like the Language poets).

So what was the point of contention about art driven by theory again?


Note: This rose window is from the cathedral of Strasbourg.
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Sasha said…
"We have taken it into our heads that to write a poem simply for the poem's sake [...] and to acknowledge such to have been our design, would be to confess ourselves radically wanting in the true poetic dignity and force: — but the simple fact is that would we but permit ourselves to look into our own souls we should immediately there discover that under the sun there neither exists nor can exist any work more thoroughly dignified, more supremely noble, than this very poem, this poem per se, this poem which is a poem and nothing more, this poem written solely for the poem's sake."
- Edgar Allen Poe

this approaches the neutral, so far as I can tell. On the other hand, it may have the conceit of a superego injunction. That is to say, it may be complicating the creative method by paradoxically trying in vain to simplify it.
3:15 PM
François Luong said…
Hum, no Alex, I am not investigating the tired idea of "art for art's sake," but the equally tired idea of theory-driven art.
5:21 PM
Sasha said…
that depends on whether you consider 'art for art's sake' a theory of art or not. Plekhanov once wrote that, while the State imbued art with aesthetic ideology, revolutionaries deconstructed the symbolic real with art for art's sake (“Art and Social Life”). In this light, the theory of 'art for art's sake' lies 'at the edge of the (Badiouian) void': it indicates "that something escapes the structure and state of a situation" (Being and Event). In other words, it manifests the un-theorized. That is, unless of course it is the over-theorized. ;-)
10:42 PM
Anonymous said…
please can you tell me the title of this art, its medium that was used, the date it was made and the artists name but it is okay if you cannot get the name. thank you
10:38 AM
François Luong said…
It's the rose window of the cathedral of Strasbourg. It's made of colored glass. I can't really give you the name of the artist. The cathedral was built in successive stages between 1176 and 1439, with further additions and restorations in the 19th century. The rose window was completed under the supervision of the architect Erwin von Steinbach. You can read more here.
7:21 PM
Anonymous said…
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5:20 AM
François Luong said…
I'm not sure I understand your question.
10:07 AM
Anonymous said…
like if there is a story behind the pictures or if it has a meaning or something like that
2:47 AM
François Luong said…
The rose window is a feature of all gothic cathedrals (even neo-Gothic cathedral). As for the significance of it, just read the Wikipedia entry on Gothic architecture or anything on Gothic architecture.
7:24 PM
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