Title: Metaphor and Contemporary Art Author: Mgr. et MgA. Markéta Magidová Department: Department of Aesthetics Supervisor: Mgr. Ondřej Dadejík, Ph.D Abstract In my dissertation I present arguments for the validity of the aesthetic conception of art (a conception based on the notion of aesthetic experience) also in relation to the development of art movements in the last half century. I do so on the basis of an interpretation of the aesthetic dimension of art through art theory as an extended concept of metaphor. I argue that it is the living metaphor that functions in works of (not only) contemporary art as their aesthetic model. I elaborate this idea through the interconnection of three convergent and currently influential concepts: Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic theory of living metaphor, Martin Seel's aesthetics of appearing, and Alva Noë's theory of art as a strange tool. I lay out the key conditions and characteristics of the process of the emergence of metaphorical meaning and then relate these to the characteristics of artistic appearance. In the perspective of art as living metaphor, the myths and misunderstandings between aesthetics and artistic practice caused by the transformation of artistic production, especially with the advent of the neo-avant-gardes, persisting to the present day, can be...

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Undersökningens syfte är att ur ett receptionsestetiskt perspektiv öka kunskapen om upplevelse av konst i vid mening. I detta arbete genom en empirisk studie av hur fenomenet upplevelse av konst uppfattas av bildkonstutställare i svenska icke-kommersiella utställningsmiljöer och hur det påverkar utställningarnas praxis.  Metoden grundas på semistrukturerade kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer samt litteraturstudier. I metoden använder undersökningen dels en egen framtagen definition av utställningsbesökare – vardagsbetraktare – och ett framtaget intervjuformulär.   Teorin lutar sig mot semiotiskt tankegods enligt inspiration från Mieke Bal och Norman Bryson samt Maurice Merlot-Ponty kombinerat med en pragmatisk tolkningsmetod enligt Stanley Fish. Resultatet visar att det svårfångade och svårbeskrivna fenomenet upplevelse av konst ur besökarperspektivet finns dolt inbyggt i konstutställarnas vardag och att fenomenet har en betydande påverkan på utställningarnas utförande. Mekanismen, som vilar på en kulturell kodning i den icke-kommersiella konstvärlden, verkar genom konstutställarnas inlevelse som ställföreträdande besökare och som uttolkare av besökarnas beteenden och språkliga kommentarer.

The following work investigates the nature of the aesthetic experience of the abstract expressionist paintings of Mark Rothko. I suggest that the aesthetic experience in relation to his paintings best is understood in terms of the sublime. To support my position, I discuss the impact of abstraction in comparison to figuration in art on our aesthetic experience. Abstraction in art, I suggest, provides the basis for an aesthetic experience where the viewer can enjoy the visual features and composition free from connecting any depicted imagery to our physical world. This, I hold, provides the basis for a unique type of aesthetic experience. Further, I suggest that the visual complexity in the abstract paintings of Mark Rothko, as well as the aesthetic appeal of his artworks, provides a sense of great magnitude and depth whilst captivating our aesthetic attention. The notion of abstraction allows our minds to never reach a final conclusion as to what type of object we are perceiving. The artistically refined manner in which the artworks are presented captivates our aesthetic attention, allowing us to fully perceptually engage in the limitless sense of depth and visual complexity of his paintings. This, I suggest, provides an encounter in which we through means of perception encounter the idea of a complete form of which magnitude we can never fully comprehend. I argue that this suggests that the aesthetic experience of the abstract expressionist paintings of Mark Rothko best is understood as that of the sublime.

Text in English / The present paper analyses the neuroanatomical and neuropsychological backgrounds of art reception and art creation in modern visual art and creative processes. It critically presents two models of aesthetic experience to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for the discussion. The research purpose is to show that with increasing experience and expertise the referential frame of the aesthetic judgment is changing and that neural processes involved in object recognition provide a starting point for visual aesthetics. Thus, the investigation focuses on constructing and testing neuropsychological theories that fall in the domain called 'neuroaesthetics'. These theories, in turn, serve as a starting point to formulate neural laws of art and aesthetics and aesthetic experience. Some artistic styles, such as expressionism, reflect specific neural processes. Various studies indicate correlations between hemispheric specialisation and art or creativity and show the right hemisphere plays a particular role in it. However, studies exploring the neural correlates of aesthetic preference have yielded mixed results. Furthermore, neuroimaging studies have proved that different categories of modern artworks are processed in different areas of the brain. These diverging results will be discussed in a critical assessment of the two models of aesthetic experience. Besides, the question of identifying exclusive neural correlates of aesthetic preference will be raised. Comparing amateurs and experts has revealed the more reduced the cortical activation, the more efficiently it works. Biological and neuropsychological factors of creativity point out the meaning of the activation level, cognitive inhibition and prefrontal cortex. Divergent thinking differs from convergent thinking in terms of the neural level. Neurodegenerative processes and brain injuries sometimes influence the artistic output surprisingly or even launch it. Lesion studies contributing to understanding art experience will be explained. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Depuis 2001, le Programme de formation de l’école québécoise impose l’enseignement de la compétence « apprécier » dans les quatre disciplines artistiques. Ce mémoire s’intéresse à l’influence que peuvent avoir des activités intégrant les arts plastiques à la musique sur l’expérience d’appréciation musicale d’élèves de sixième année du primaire. Plus spécifiquement, elle vise à rendre compte des différentes dimensions présentes dans la description que font les élèves de leur expérience d’appréciation ainsi qu’à comprendre de quelle façon les activités d’appréciation intégrant les arts plastiques à la musique affectent la verbalisation que font les élèves de cette expérience. La recherche prend la forme d’études de cas réalisées auprès de cinq élèves de sixième année du primaire. Ces élèves, ainsi que tous les élèves de leur classe, ont participé à une activité d’appréciation musicale intradisciplinaire ainsi qu’à deux activités d’appréciation interdisciplinaires. Après chacune des activités, ces cinq élèves ont été rencontrés individuellement. Au cours d’entrevues semi-dirigées, il leur était demandé de rendre compte de leur expérience d’appréciation. Quatre grandes tendances ont émergé de l’analyse des propos des élèves, soit le sentiment de mieux s’approprier l’œuvre entendue, une verbalisation plus précise des éléments perçus, une verbalisation plus précise des sentiments ressentis et enfin, une forme de distraction par rapport à l’œuvre entendue. Au terme de cette étude, il semble que l’utilisation d’activité d’appréciation intégrant les arts plastiques à la musique, sans faire l’objet d’un usage systématique, pourrait constituer une forme de différenciation pédagogique qui serait utile à certains types d’apprenants. / Since 2001, the Quebec school program states that an « appreciation » competency has to be taught within all four artistic school disciplines. This study describes the influence of activities integrating visual arts and music on the appreciation experience of 6th grade students. More specifically, this study aims to relate the different dimensions that can be found in the students’ verbal account of their appreciation experience and to show how the interdisciplinary activities affect their verbalization of these dimensions. Five case studies conducted with 6th grade elementary school students are presented. These five students, along with the other students in their class, have participated in one intradisciplinary activity and two interdisciplinary activities integrating visual arts and music. Following each activity, the students were met for semi-structured interviews in which they were asked to share their appreciation experience. Four tendencies have emerged from qualitative data analysis: a more insightful listening, a more accurate description of perceptual elements, a more accurate description of the student’s feelings and finally a form of distraction from the music. It appears that appreciation activities which integrate visual arts and music could be, if not a systematic approach, a way to differentiate teaching in a way that could be helpful to some types of learners.

Faute de droits d'auteurs pour les captures d'écrans, mon document ne contient pas d'images. Si vous voudriez consulter ma thèse avec les images, veuillez me contacter. / Cette thèse de doctorat propose une analyse des temporalités narratives dans les séries télévisées récentes Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-2007), Flashforward (ABC, 2009-2010) et Damages (FX/Audience Network, 2007-2012). L’argument général part de la supposition que les nouvelles technologies télévisuelles ont rendu possible de nouveaux standards esthétiques ainsi que des expériences temporelles originales. Il sera montré par la suite que ces nouvelles qualités esthétiques et expérientielles de la fiction télévisuelle relèvent d’une nouvelle pertinence politique et éthique du temps. Cet argument sera déployé en quatre étapes. La thèse se penche d’abord sur ce que j’appelle les technics de la télévision, c’est-à-dire le complexe de technologies et de techniques, afin d’élaborer comment cet ensemble a pu activer de nouveaux modes d’expérimenter la télévision. Suivant la philosophie de Gilles Deleuze et de Félix Guattari ainsi que les théories des médias de Matthew Fuller, Thomas Lamarre et Jussi Parikka, ce complexe sera conçu comme une machine abstraite que j’appelle la machine sérielle. Ensuite, l’argument puise dans des théories de la perception et des approches non figuratives de l’art afin de mieux cerner les nouvelles qualités d’expérience esthétique dans la fiction sérielle télévisée. Pour ce faire, je développe le concept de figure de temps définie comme la forme abstraite, immédiatement ressentie, du mouvement temporel effectué par un récit. Il sera montré, en troisième lieu, que ces mouvements figuraux mettent en jeu l’orientation vers l’avenir et la préemption. Tous les récits du corpus anticipent leur propre fin et prennent forme en fonction de cette fin prédite, ce pourquoi ils seront appelés récits préemptifs où l’avenir pose un problème affectif plutôt qu’épistémologique. Je montre que, dans ces séries, la boucle passant par l’avenir est immédiatement ontogénétique dans la mesure où elle crée la réalité dans le présent en suscitant l’incertitude et la peur. Enfin, la thèse soutien qu’une telle politique affective fait partie de ce que Gilles Deleuze appelle les « sociétés de contrôle » qui opèrent une modulation continue des conditions de vie de l’individu. En suivant les écrits de Deleuze sur les sociétés de contrôle et sur l’Éthique de Spinoza, je suggère que les exigences d’un tel environnement modulant sont éthiques (plutôt que morales). Seront ensuite décortiquées les complexes de techniques, appelés procédures suivant les artistes-philosophes Madeline Gins et Arakawa, qui soutiennent une éthique pour survivre la société de contrôle dans la série Damages. / This thesis examines complex narrative temporalities in the recent television series Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-2007), Flashforward (ABC, 2009-2010), and Damages (FX/Audience Network, 2007-2012). The general argument proposes that the renewed technics of television have enabled innovative aesthetic standards and temporal experiences in serial TV fiction. It is subsequently shown that these new aesthetic and experiential qualities of TV fiction are correlative to an increased political and ethical relevance of time. This overall argument is laid out in four major steps. The project first addresses the technics of recent television to show how new technologies have enabled new techniques of experiencing television. Drawing on the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari as well as the media theories of Matthew Fuller, Thomas Lamarre, and Jussi Parikka, the complex and productive linkages between technology and techniques will be theorized as an abstract machine which I call the serial machine. The argument then draws on theories of perception and nonrepresentational approaches to art in order to analyze the new qualities of aesthetic experience in serial TV fiction. For this purpose, I develop the central concept of the figure of time understood as the directly felt abstract shape effectuated by a narrative’s movement through time. It will be seen, in a third step, that the figural movements discussed in this thesis concern questions of future-orientation and preemption. All of the narratives in this project anticipate their own ending and take form with respect to this foretold future. They are therefore conceptualized as “preemptive narratives,” in which the future poses an affective rather than epistemological problem. I will show that, in the serial narratives under discussion, the preemptive loop through the future is immediately ontogenetic in that it creates a reality in the present by inducing uncertainty and fear of the future. Finally, the thesis proposes that such affective politics are an element of what Gilles Deleuze calls control societies, in which conditions of life are constantly modulated. Following his writings on control societies and Spinoza’s Ethics, it is argued that the requirements of such a modulatory environment are ethical in nature (rather than moral). Drawing on the work by artists-philosophers Madeline Gins and Arakawa, I elaborate the techniques of attention which sustain an ethics for surviving the control society in the TV series Damages.

Si les principes d’utilisabilité guident la conception de solutions de design interactif pour s’assurer que celles-ci soient « utilisables », quels principes guident la conception d’objets interactifs pour s’assurer que l’expérience subjective de l’usager (UX) soit adéquate et mémorable? Que manque-t-il au cadre de l‘UX pour expliquer, comprendre, et anticiper en tant que designer une expérience mémorable (‘an experience’; Dewey, 1934)? La question centrale est issue d’une double problématique : (1) le cadre théorique de l’UX est incomplet, et (2) les processus et capacités des designers ne sont pas considérés et utilisés à leur pleine capacité en conception UX. Pour répondre à cette question, nous proposons de compléter les modèles de l’UX avec la notion d’expérience autotélique qui appartient principalement à deux cadres théoriques ayant bien cerné l’expérience subjective, soit l’expérience optimale (ou Flow) de Csikszentmihalyi (1988) et l’expérience esthétique selon Schaeffer (2001). L’autotélie est une dimension interne du Flow alors qu’elle couvre toute l’expérience esthétique. L’autotélie est une expérience d’éveil au moment même de l’interaction. Cette prise de conscience est accompagnée d’une imperceptible tension de vouloir faire durer ce moment pour faire durer le plaisir qu’il génère. Trois études exploratoires ont été faites, s’appuyant sur une analyse faite à partir d’un cadre théorique en trois parties : le Flow, les signes d’activité non verbale (les gestes physiques) et verbale (le discours) ont été évalués pour voir comment ceux-ci s’associent. Nos résultats tendent à prouver que les processus spatiaux jouent un rôle de premier plan dans l’expérience autotélique et par conséquent dans une UX optimale. De plus, ils suggèrent que les expériences pragmatique et autotélique sont ancrées dans un seul et même contenu, et que leur différence tient au type d’attention que le participant porte sur l’interaction, l’attention ordinaire ou de type autotélique. Ces résultats nous ont menés à proposer un modèle pour la conception UX. L’élément nouveau, resté jusqu’alors inaperçu, consiste à s’assurer que l’interface (au sens large) appelle une attitude réceptive à l’inattendu, pour qu’une information puisse déclencher les processus spatiaux, offrant une opportunité de passer de l’attention ordinaire à l’attention autotélique. Le nouveau modèle ouvre la porte à une meilleure valorisation des habiletés et processus du designer au sein de l’équipe multidisciplinaire en conception UX. / If usability guides the formal organisation of interactive systems as it pertains to being usable, useful and efficient, what principle(s) guide(s) the formal organisation of interactive systems when it comes to give form to the subjective dimension of the user experience? This question came from two perceived gaps in our understanding of UX: (1) the UX theoretical framework appears incomplete to this day. Going beyond experiencing, what is at play during Dewey’s an experience? (2) The process and abilities of designers are underused in the current theoretical and practical UX framework; what would provide a more designerly approach? We propose that the autotelic experience could bridge these gaps and be the UX counterpart to usability. The autotelic experience is an internal dimension at the heart of the optimal experience—Flow—(Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) and covering the whole of the aesthetic experience (Schaeffer, 2000). The autotelic experience is a shift in awareness occurring during the interaction. This awareness is accompanied by an imperceptible tension of wanting to make this moment last in order to continue enjoying the pleasure it generates (a circular motivation to stay in the interaction for the sake of the interaction itself) (Schaeffer, 2000). Our results suggest the key to the autotelic experience sits with visuospatial reasoning or more specifically to right hemisphere (RH) activation. Three exploratory studies were conducted, using a three-part theoretical framework where Flow, signs of nonverbal / spatial activity (physical gestures) and of verbal activity (discourse) were assessed for their various associations. The main contribution of this research is a model of autotelic experience made of three interlocking elements (high positive pressure, low mental demand and an openness to unexpected events) contextualised by either an active or a receptive engagement on the part of the user. One of the findings is that the pragmatic experience and the autotelic experience (which we have associated to Dewey’s an experience, 1934), are based on one and the same content, the only difference is the shift in attention on the participant’s part. All the elements of the model are known, but one, to design the experience in a way to keep the user open to the unexpected. This one element supports the occurrence of the shift from ordinary to autotelic attention. The new model opens the door to a better appreciation of designers’ skills and processes within multidisciplinary team in UX design.

The present paper analyses the neuroanatomical and neuropsychological backgrounds of art reception and art creation in modern visual art and creative processes. It critically presents two models of aesthetic experience to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for the discussion. The research purpose is to show that with increasing experience and expertise the referential frame of the aesthetic judgment is changing and that neural processes involved in object recognition provide a starting point for visual aesthetics. Thus, the investigation focuses on constructing and testing neuropsychological theories that fall in the domain called 'neuroaesthetics'. These theories, in turn, serve as a starting point to formulate neural laws of art and aesthetics and aesthetic experience. Some artistic styles, such as expressionism, reflect specific neural processes. Various studies indicate correlations between hemispheric specialisation and art or creativity and show the right hemisphere plays a particular role in it. However, studies exploring the neural correlates of aesthetic preference have yielded mixed results. Furthermore, neuroimaging studies have proved that different categories of modern artworks are processed in different areas of the brain. These diverging results will be discussed in a critical assessment of the two models of aesthetic experience. Besides, the question of identifying exclusive neural correlates of aesthetic preference will be raised. Comparing amateurs and experts has revealed the more reduced the cortical activation, the more efficiently it works. Biological and neuropsychological factors of creativity point out the meaning of the activation level, cognitive inhibition and prefrontal cortex. Divergent thinking differs from convergent thinking in terms of the neural level. Neurodegenerative processes and brain injuries sometimes influence the artistic output surprisingly or even launch it. Lesion studies contributing to understanding art experience will be explained. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Essa dissertação de mestrado resulta de uma pesquisa teórica, na qual a pesquisadora valeu-se de suas experiências pessoais como educadora, aluna, contadora e ouvinte de estórias para pensar a narração de estórias como sendo uma prática relacionada com uma educação de sensibilidade. Trata-se de um estudo das dimensões estéticas e artísticas da literatura de tradição oral que remete à discussão da atual função da narração de estórias dentro do âmbito escolar. Parte-se do pressuposto de que as estórias de ensinamento da tradição oral são obras de arte, de tempos imemoriais, compostas por uma dinâmica de imagens arquetípicas articuladas, sob a forma de metáforas, em uma narrativa. Acredita-se que, ao entrar em contato com essa sintaxe de metáforas, o aluno-ouvinte terá a possibilidade de, por meio do despertar de uma ação imaginante e não de uma audição passiva, ter uma experiência imaginativa de natureza estética, organizadora e integralizadora, capaz de propiciar um momento de intenso aprendizado. Um aprendizado no qual aquilo que se aprende está diretamente relacionado à descoberta e à construção de nossa humanidade, que se dá por ressonância, a partir de diálogos significativos entre as imagens internas que habitam as estórias e as que habitam os ouvintes. Por imagens internas, entende-se que são as imagens arquetípicas que preservam e revelam nossa humanidade e que estão ancoradas em nossa corporeidade. Nesses diálogos, destaca-se a importância de professores e contadores de estórias como agentes de cultura, cuja presença humana intermedia e possibilita o contato de alunos e ouvintes com suas heranças culturais. Como base teórica, utilizou-se obras de filósofos, antropólogos, educadores, poetas e contadores de estórias, dentre os mais significativos: Bachelard, Merleau-Ponty, Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Dewey, Freinet e Cecília Meireles, sendo tomado como elementos norteadores dessa dissertação, o trabalho e os textos de Marcos Ferreira Santos e Regina Machado. A partir de dados recolhidos, ao atuar como contadora de estórias, e de observações feitas em aulas de Língua Portuguesa, em escolas de Ensino Fundamental da rede pública, foram tecidas algumas conclusões. Dentre elas está a constatação de que, nesses ambientes educativos, ainda ocorre um aproveitamento apenas superficial de obras de cunho literário. Quanto à narração de estórias, além do aproveitamento superficial dos contos, constatou-se também uma preocupação com a instrumentalização dessa prática, que, em geral, é tida como uma mera forma de aquietamento e entretenimento dos alunos, quando esta pode servir a um papel nobre na formação do ser humano. Ademais de restabelecer vínculos com nossa ancestralidade, a narração de estórias propicia um aprendizado imaginativo, no qual nossa humanidade ganha corpo, cores, sentidos e significados ao entrar em contato com as metáforas articuladas em uma narrativa. Narrativas cujo principal objetivo é ensinar o outro, colocando-o em sua própria sina, levando-o, em termos socráticos, a tornar-se o que é. / This master dissertation results from a theoretical research where the researcher has used her personal experiences as educator, student, listener and storyteller to think the storytelling as a practice related to an education of sensibility. It studies the aesthetic and artistic dimensions of literature of oral tradition that remits to a discussion about the function of storytelling within the school environment nowadays. It is presupposed that the teaching stories from the literature of oral tradition are works of art, from immemorial times, composed by a dynamic arrangement of archetypical images, under the form of metaphors, joined together in a narrative. It is believed that when the listeners or students get in touch with this syntax made of metaphors, they will have the possibility, by the awakening of an imagining action and not by a passive reception, to have their own imaginative experience of an aesthetic nature, therefore an organizing and integrating experience able to create an intense moment of learning. A kind of learning in which the learned thing is straightly related to the discovery and the building of their humanity, and that happens by resonance, from the significant dialogues that can be engaged between the inner images that live inside the stories and the ones that live inside of each listener. The inner images are the archetypical images that preserve and reveal our humanity and that lie in our corporality. In these dialogues it is emphasized the importance of teachers and storytellers as cultural agents whose human presence intermediates and makes possible the contact of students and listeners with their own cultural heritages. As theoretical bases, works from philosophers, anthropologists, educators, poets and storytellers were used, principally: Bachelard, Merleau-Ponty, Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Dewey, Freinet and Cecília Meireles, considering that the work and the texts of Marcos Ferreira Santos and Regina Machado were used as guiding elements for the elaboration of this dissertation. From the collected data, gathered by the researcher while acting as a storyteller, and from her observations made in Portuguese classes of public schools, some conclusions were drawn; we emphasize the verification that, in most of these educational places, there is still a superficial use of literary works. As for storytelling, besides the teaching stories have been underused, it was noticed that there is a tendency in transforming them into a pedagogical instrument. The storytelling is, in general, seen as a mere form of having students quiet and entertained, when, in fact, it can play a noble part in the human being educational process. This practice has the power of recreating the ties with our ancestral soul. It makes possible an imaginative learning, in which our humanity receives consistence, colors, directions and significance, as long as we get in touch with these metaphors joined together in a narrative. Narratives which their mainly objective is teaching the other, is putting the learners in their own way, and to conduct them, in socratical terms, to become what they really are.