The Relevance of the Beautiful
The Relevance of the Beautiful / Turning Point
*SOL20251007
Mixed media / Polyester resin
29 X 31 X 28 centimeters (11X12X11 inches)
2025.
This year, 2025, has been a very productive and immensely creative one for me. I am in my early 50s, and I must say I find myself with an extreme urgency to create, while simultaneously feeling the need to catalog the things I have made and reflect on them.
This work is named: "The Relevance of the Beautiful"
Within this work, the silhouette of a chrysalis signifies a profound process of transformation and rebirth: the dissolution of the former self in order to allow the emergence of the new. Though this metamorphosis is frequently arduous, it is indispensable for attaining fulfillment and entering a more mature phase of life, embodying the potential for growth and resilience at a critical juncture.
Embedded in the surface of the chrysalis, a constellation of ping-pong balls introduces a metaphor of play as a fundamental dimension of life—whether as challenge, experimentation, or strategy. They evoke life as a playing field in which we must invent, learn, and continually negotiate the rules as we move forward.
Embedded in the surface of the chrysalis, a constellation of ping-pong balls introduces a metaphor of play as a fundamental dimension of life—whether as challenge, experimentation, or strategy. They evoke life as a playing field in which we must invent, learn, and continually negotiate the rules as we move forward.
"The Relevance of the Beautiful" primarily refers to Hans-Georg Gadamer's seminal essay and book collection, exploring how aesthetic experience (art, beauty) isn't just personal pleasure but crucial for understanding ourselves and the world, bridging tradition and modernity, and revealing truth through "play," symbol, and participation, even challenging modern art's disconnect from community. It argues beauty isn't obsolete but vital for meaning, integrating society, culture, and individual perception, and can even address crises like environmental ones.
Hermeneutics & Interpretation: Beauty offers a way to interpret and find meaning in a world often fractured by modernity, connecting us to history and tradition.
Play (Spiel): Aesthetic experience involves "play," a state where the individual is drawn into something larger, blurring the lines between observer and art, self and world.
Truth & Imitation: Beauty reveals truth, not through mere copying (imitation), but by making the universal visible in the particular, revitalizing concepts often dismissed today.
Integration: Art, when relevant, integrates individuals, community, and culture, countering the alienation of modern life.
Broader Relevance of Beauty:
Ecological Crisis: Beauty helps us perceive the interconnectedness of nature and human action, vital for addressing environmental destruction.
Human Need: It fulfills a fundamental human need for meaning, helping us express the ineffable and drive innovation.
In essence, The Relevance of the Beautiful asserts that beauty—often marginalized by modern emphases on utility—remains essential to a complete human experience, fostering connection, understanding, and a deeper sense of meaning.
Play (Spiel): Aesthetic experience involves "play," a state where the individual is drawn into something larger, blurring the lines between observer and art, self and world.
Truth & Imitation: Beauty reveals truth, not through mere copying (imitation), but by making the universal visible in the particular, revitalizing concepts often dismissed today.
Integration: Art, when relevant, integrates individuals, community, and culture, countering the alienation of modern life.
Broader Relevance of Beauty:
Well-being: Aesthetically pleasing environments reduce stress and improve mood, while art in hospitals lessens patient discomfort.
Ecological Crisis: Beauty helps us perceive the interconnectedness of nature and human action, vital for addressing environmental destruction.
Human Need: It fulfills a fundamental human need for meaning, helping us express the ineffable and drive innovation.
In essence, The Relevance of the Beautiful asserts that beauty—often marginalized by modern emphases on utility—remains essential to a complete human experience, fostering connection, understanding, and a deeper sense of meaning.
VIDEO Process :
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