[Sigia-l] visual thinking, by rudolf arnheim

[Christopher Fahey [askrom]]

> >  Visual Thinking, by Rudolf Arnheim
> > it's a standard we all had to read in art 
> > history and design.

Yeah, I had to read it in art school. Part of me finds Arnheim
appealing: I've always liked the Edward O. Wilson "consilient" approach
to try to explain *everything* with a scientific approach rooted in
physics and mathematics. 

On the other hand (even when I read "Visual Thinking" 13 years ago) my
gut tells me that to try to describe art as merely a visual process is,
well, stupid. Duchamp derisively referred to certain artwork as "optical
art", that is, art that appealed exclusively to the eye. Such work is
always weaker than work for which the content, context, and concept are
brought into the mix. To discuss art optically, as Arnheim does, is a
pretty cold blooded way to look at art.

A thousand years from now, of course, all human experience will be
describeable as psychological and neural processes. But for the time
being I find theories like Arnheim's kind of sad.

-Cf

[christopher eli fahey]
art: http://www.graphpaper.com
sci: http://www.askrom.com
biz: http://www.behaviordesign.com