The Internal Stirrings of Art

The Internal Stirrings of Art

The ideological undercurrents ruling the world of artistic endeavor have long been a topic of contention throughout history, and even more so in our contemporary era. As such, many stratifications may be established to contextualize such an abstract subject, but this paper concerns itself with only one dichotomy: that of reason as being diametrically opposed to viscera. This essay will discuss the proposition of the inherent opposition of civilization and primitive instinct, superimposed as developmental stages, in regards to art during the Paleolithic era, throughout the Renaissance, and up to the emergence of contemporary art movements.
	The emergence of art as we know it, a visual manifestation of human expression, can be traced back to the Paleolithic era, where simplistic figures began appearing at least 43 900 years ago (Brumm et al). It’s been proposed that art, for the sake of itself and not as a means to an end, is a uniquely human phenomenon, arising from the dissonance of animalistic viscera and compulsive rational self-possession (Bataille 49). This rational pole will continuously gain magnitude within the human consciousness, as will be explored within classical movements, but even in this primitive form of expression persists a compulsive separation from the violence of instinct: “[Work] demands rational behaviour where the wild impulses worked out on feast days and usually in games are frowned upon” (Bataille 41). Bataille is proposing that, in order to complete certain complex tasks, which would require extended effort to come to an eventual fruition, it was necessary for man to deny the taboo impulses which naturally hinder his capacity for lucidity and objective awareness. A similar ideal of dichotomy, adjacent to that of viscera and reason, arises in Spengler’s works, which defines all activities of man as either natural or non-natural, with the latter encompassing the activity of creating art (Dahlström 1188). Having established the presence of rational thought within the most primitive man engaging in art, it can be inferred that reason is a natural extension to viscera under condition of necessity for self-inflicted separation of man and nature, and not an innate and impenetrable dichotomy. With this in mind, the conversation regarding this polarity through history can continue with deeper nuance.
	The resurgence of classical ideals during the Renaissance (thanks to the recovery of Ancient Greco-Roman texts during the Crusades) has led to a hypertrophy of sorts, an excessive movement into reason and its ensuing violence in the form of denial of viscera; as briefly remarked in modern works: “Nature herself is violent, and however reasonable we may grow we may be mastered anew by a violence no longer that of nature but that of a rational being who tries to obey but who succumbs to stirrings within himself which he cannot bring to heel” (Bataille 40). This adherence to an ideal of reason can be observed, for instance, in Brunelleschi’s construction, Ospedale degli Innocenti (see Image 1), considered to be the “first pure Early Renaissance structure” (Hans 6), wherein symmetry and proportion reign supreme. Human reason, which prides itself in objectivity and mental clarity, regards these representations as the greatest stride of man away from his primitive nature, and towards higher, more refined ideals, as they themselves proclaimed in adjacent terms: “The humanists themselves speak continually of the revival or rebirth of the arts and of learning that was accomplished in their own time after a long period of decay” (Kristeller 347). This stride could be labeled, in general terms, as an ideal of “traditional values”, conceptualized by its later opposers, since it is solidly founded on platonist ideals which continue to permeate the Western culture. However, every action has its equal opposite reaction, and if the stage of convention representing cultural adulthood is constructed in such a rapid shift as a rebirth (you’ll note the incoherence of these developmental stages), it is only natural that a given society seeks to return to the womb thereafter, denying all defined ideals of sanctity.

	Image 1. Brunelleschi. Ospedale degli innocenti. 1419–1427.

	At the turn of the 19th century, such a return began, with the insurgence of the Modernist movement: it was a negation of all preceding decorum, and an affirmation of life in its most essential form (Singler 8). This aforementioned mechanism is most explicitly described in NIetszche’s allegory of the three metamorphoses of the spirit, wherein the first corresponds to the negation of established values, and the second to the affirmation of the essence of life in its visceral form: “‘Thou-shalt,’ is the great dragon called. But the spirit of the lion saith,’I will'” (Nietzsche 24); “Aye, for the game of creating, my brethren, there is needed a holy Yea unto life: its own will, willeth now the spirit; his own world winneth the world’s outcast” (Nietzsche 25). This overarching zeitgeist, albeit composed of more specific characteristics in the field of visual arts, sees itself reflected in movements such as futurism, expressionism, informalism, and so on. The attempt to separate oneself from reason and its adjacent rigidity, out of fear of paralysis and in hopes of reaching new horizons through progress, paradoxically, creates a new set of norms, alienating the very essence that it sought to create (Dahlström 1191). Thus begins the Decline; a decay of idealist value with naught but a childish cry to replace it: “Indeed, we of the West have an amurcous drink to quaff, for Spengler insists that greatness of expression is of necessity denied us” (Dahlström 1196).
	In conclusion, the tense polarity of reason as a notion opposed to viscera causes the fluctuating currents which define artistic eras, as well as the respective cultures from which they sprout, as this paper has demonstrated in discussing art from the Paleolithic era, the Renaissance, and the Modernist movement.
Works Cited

Bataille, Georges. “Erotism: death and sensuality”. First City Lights edition, 1986.

Brumm, Adam et al. ”Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi.” Science advances, vol.7, 2021.

Dahlström, Carl. “Spengler's Views of Art”. PMLA, Vol. 49, No. 4, 1934, pp. 1182-1198.

Kristeller, Paul. “Humanism and Scholasticism in the Italian Renaissance”. Byzantion, Vol. 17
(1944-1945), pp. 346-374.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. The Modern Library, 2006.

Singal, Daniel Joseph. “Towards a Definition of American Modernism.” American Quarterly, vol.
39, no. 1, 1987, pp. 7–26.

Weigert, Hans. Busch, Harald; Lohse, Bernd (eds.). “Buildings of Europe: Renaissance
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