kavolis, vytautas. on the crisis of creativity in contemporary art
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8/20/2019 KAVOLIS, Vytautas. on the Crisis of Creativity in Contemporary Art
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To
a social scientist
who might at
tempt
to
ap
proach
the
current cr
is is in the
arts
by relat ing
it to the
n
ature
o
f
t
he
contempo
rary
soc ie ty,
th
e
i
nitial
c lue
is
that
no s in
gle style or group
of st
y les
has emerged
that
could be
regarded
as the
essent ia
l and relat iv
e ly
end
uring
e
xpression of the
var ious
fantasy
d
ispos itions
shaped by the
con tempo
rary
society. * )
A
possib le re
ason
for t
he
lack
of
a dominan
t
stylistic
sys
tem today i
s
that
, whi le
older
m
odes
of
v isu
a l percept io n
have b roken
d
own, no def
inite new m
anner of
percept ion,
however p lu
ral ist ic, has
yet
developed
in
the
advan
ced industr
ial
societies. Instead, a negative
cond it ion
which I
w
il l
call perceptu l disori
entation
-a
ppears
t
o
have be
come preva l
ent
amon
g ar
t -us ing peop
le.
The quick variability
of
sty les sugge
sts
that, in s te
ad
of
havin
g our own
modes
of
perce
pt ion, we
must
still d
o
with
labor
atory
exercises in
perception
even
when we c
an, however
i n f requently
,
agree on ul t
imate va
lues). Perceptual
d isorientatio
n gives
priority
to
e
xper imenta l
novel ty ov
e r
the
per fe
ct ion
of
an
a
rtistic
statement.
Since it
is imposs
ible, in
th
e
absence
of de
finite modes
of
percept
ion, even
to
fe e l
intuitively what
artistic
statements
shou ld
be like, it is
impossib le
a lso
to
judg
e
ho
w w
ell they are
expressed.
Hence,
tend
encies
to
re
ject
crite
ria of q
uality in
art
cr iticism,
possib ly a reduced
capacity
to
appre
ciate dif feren
ces in
q
uality.
Perc
eptual
d
isorientation
lea
ves
on
ly
phy
sical sensa t
ion unques tio
ned.
One
possib le ex
planat ion of
perceptual
d isorient
ation m
i
g
ht b
e
to
v
iew it is as
a
co
nsequence o
f
identity
dif f
usion
an
uncertainty about
t he nature of
one s o
wn
pers
onal ity . Ident
i
ty
d iffus io
n has tended
to
o
ccur in other
per iods of
psycho·
cultural d iscont in u ity that
is, in periods
of r
apid change
and societa
l cr is is, suc
h
as
the
la te Rom
an Emp i re, the
century
p
reced ing
t
he Reform
at ion
, and
th
e ag
e
of
Romantici
sm. B
ut, judgin
g
from the
evi
dence
o
f v is
ual
art
from those
per iod
s ,
de
finite perce
ptual
st
ru c tu
res appear to
have remain
ed avai lable
then, s they
are not tod
ay.
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8/20/2019 KAVOLIS, Vytautas. on the Crisis of Creativity in Contemporary Art
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8/20/2019 KAVOLIS, Vytautas. on the Crisis of Creativity in Contemporary Art
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8/20/2019 KAVOLIS, Vytautas. on the Crisis of Creativity in Contemporary Art
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