Making Abstract Philosophy Concrete Through Collaborative Art
Disciplines
Comparative Philosophy | Continental Philosophy | Interactive Arts | Interdisciplinary Arts and Media | Other Philosophy
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Philosophy and art overlap and entwine throughout history. Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus suggests artistic creation as an answer to existing in an absurd world. Chicana feminist philosopher Gloria Anzaldúa used hand drawn illustrations called "glifos" during her lectures to aid attendees in better understanding her philosophy. The late thirteenth century ink painting "The Pleasures of Fishes" by Zhou Dongqing depicts a passage from the book "Zhuangzi," an important Daoist text. In each of these examples, art is a means to better understand philosophy. I am a visual artist, and I intend to use one of my own chosen artforms, collaborative art, to accomplish the same end. As a collaborative artist, I gather many people together to realize one artistic vision. I have staged over twenty collaborative art events over the past three years, and have used research methods from Rita Irwin’s essay “Communities of A/r/tographic Practice” and concepts from Allan Kaprow’s essay “Manifesto” to better understand how participants are impacted by collaborative art. My research has led me to believe that collaborative art will excel at making abstract philosophical concepts accessible to a larger audience. To explore this belief, I intend to stage three collaborative art events, each one designed to introduce a philosophical movement in a concrete and accessible way. The first event will be inspired by Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus," and will demonstrate existentialist philosophy. The second event will be inspired by Gloria E. Anzaldúa's "Light in the Dark/Luz en Lo Oscuro: Rewriting Identity, Spirituality, Reality," and will demonstrate Chicana feminist philosophy. The third event will be inspired by Laozi's "Daodejing" and Zhuangzi's "Zhuangzi," and will demonstrate Daoist philosophy. My presentation of these three events will demonstrate the value of using collaborative art as a means of teaching difficult philosophical concepts.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
COTA - Art and Design
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Jonathan Fisher
Making Abstract Philosophy Concrete Through Collaborative Art
Philosophy and art overlap and entwine throughout history. Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus suggests artistic creation as an answer to existing in an absurd world. Chicana feminist philosopher Gloria Anzaldúa used hand drawn illustrations called "glifos" during her lectures to aid attendees in better understanding her philosophy. The late thirteenth century ink painting "The Pleasures of Fishes" by Zhou Dongqing depicts a passage from the book "Zhuangzi," an important Daoist text. In each of these examples, art is a means to better understand philosophy. I am a visual artist, and I intend to use one of my own chosen artforms, collaborative art, to accomplish the same end. As a collaborative artist, I gather many people together to realize one artistic vision. I have staged over twenty collaborative art events over the past three years, and have used research methods from Rita Irwin’s essay “Communities of A/r/tographic Practice” and concepts from Allan Kaprow’s essay “Manifesto” to better understand how participants are impacted by collaborative art. My research has led me to believe that collaborative art will excel at making abstract philosophical concepts accessible to a larger audience. To explore this belief, I intend to stage three collaborative art events, each one designed to introduce a philosophical movement in a concrete and accessible way. The first event will be inspired by Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus," and will demonstrate existentialist philosophy. The second event will be inspired by Gloria E. Anzaldúa's "Light in the Dark/Luz en Lo Oscuro: Rewriting Identity, Spirituality, Reality," and will demonstrate Chicana feminist philosophy. The third event will be inspired by Laozi's "Daodejing" and Zhuangzi's "Zhuangzi," and will demonstrate Daoist philosophy. My presentation of these three events will demonstrate the value of using collaborative art as a means of teaching difficult philosophical concepts.