On the Phenomenon of Visual Arts and the Meanders of Their Preservation - ebook

INTRODUCTION

THE PHENOMENON OF VISUAL ARTS, constantly present since the dawn of human civilisation, is one of the greatest mysteries of humanity. This legacy, still studied in many fields of heritage science, is aesthetically attractive and thus arouses social interest. Importantly, it embodies the constant creativity of man, exists despite the decline of cultures and civilisations, against many pitfalls and dramatic events in history. The mysterious phenomenon is renewed in each generation but, although it is eternal, its works erode over time. The motto of this volume, taken from the poetry of Wisława Szymborska, clearly denotes the phenomenon of passing.

The description of visual arts is hampered by the necessity to translate all the visible and felt experiences into text and language. Thus, visual arts (Latin videre ‘to see’) will be presented in an outline, from the oldest forms to the present day, according to the current terminology. Updating becomes necessary here, as well as the broader understanding of the heritage of culture presented in this book.

Visual arts have been and are an everyday inspiration and source of fascination, as well as a valuable element of the heritage of culture, both tangible and intangible as well as digital. The role of the heritage of culture, including visual arts, against the logic of survival characteristic of the human species, diminished in the Anthropocene, the epoch of man and the industrialisation of the Earth lasting for about 200 years, which has rapidly been changing and destroying our planet. The heritage of culture was not fully appreciated due to the dominance of industry and the natural sciences. As a result, also its values were not sufficiently protected, and there emerged the risk of ‘white spots’ and gaps in the endurance of human achievement. Numerous communities have taken steps to reverse these sinister trends. The arguments for the continuity of human civilisation, which generally needs to be appreciated, understood and protected, are now taken into account.

Thousands of human hands used as stencils, surrounded by coloured earthen clay paint are present in Palaeolithic rock painting on all continents; here, in the Cueva de Manos (Cave of the Hands) in the province of Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina

Visual arts have existed ‘since always’, from the very beginning of mankind, and they continuously accompany humanity. Decoration of the body fostered the birth of the consciousness of the Palaeolithic man and the images of hands in grottos around the world had a similar significance. This kind of prehistoric ‘self-portraits’ of unknown character emphasises the importance of hands as a human natural evolutionary tool to contemporary recipients, whereas among the prehistoric creators of paintings, engravings, and sculptures it enhanced the understanding of the nature of the world.

Visual arts have accompanied man for nearly one hundred thousand years, although in the Palaeolithic version of art, in the Altamira grotto, paintings were discovered only a little over a hundred years ago, in 1868 (!) and only many years later did they become recognised as one of the most valuable evidences of civilisation. It is believed that Palaeolithic art conveys messages that may be naturalistic or allegorical in nature, both of which are of concern to contemporary researchers. Prehistoric art turned out to not only mimetically depict the world but also to define it and discover its complexity, which had been forgotten for millennia. It also amazes with the thematic breadth and the search for a reflection of movement, which researchers interpret as a forerunner of cinematography, where animal movement can be considered the earliest attempts to pre-sent an animation that ended with the invention of the cinema camera.

Visual arts are ‘everywhere’. Only thanks to many new discoveries in the 21st century it is known that the prehistoric man created similar forms of art in grottos and on rocks on all continents. Till today, their location, origin and forms remain sometimes an unresolved mystery, as in the case of the monumental statues on Easter Island. Thanks to the Internet, television, and radio the knowledge about art forms reaches an audience wider than ever before. It may be argued that the access to visual arts, initiated in collections and museums in the 18th century, is now democratised thanks to the mass media. Art, once contemporary for the generations of its creators, after a long time becomes a valuable heritage of culture for its recipients. Such a message, experienced at different levels of reception, can keep the visual arts phenomena in a state of natural timeless connection. Hence the suggestion that the changes in access to visual arts that favour the popularisation of their perception in a quantitative sense are followed by the potential possibility of understanding and empathising with them, which consequently leads to qualitative changes, such as the pleasure of communing with art and participating in the protection of its heritage.

Moai Rano Raraku, a fragment of a group of mysterious statues on Easter Island

The design of this book is based on the assumption that the presented considerations are intended to shed new light on the understanding of the condition of and research into visual arts, as well as to discuss their preservation and conservation in the spirit of heritage science, a field of study involving humanities, science and natural sciences.

The subsequent chapters of this study address the issues concerning the phenomenon of visual arts and their preservation. The first chapter presents the concepts and definitions as well as an outline of visual arts. Reflections on philosophy in search of ‘the truth of art’ as well as on what constitutes preservation in the future sense play an important role. The sense of preserving the heritage of visual arts and its elements inextricably linked with history, humanities and natural sciences is being revised in accordance with the transdisciplinary modern theory of conservation-restoration-reconstruction. In the second chapter, in line with the axiom that art is one of the greatest ideas that have shaped the world, the theme of the imaginary of art interacts with the recognition of works that must precede the preservation of heritage and its multifaceted valuation analysis. The third chapter presents the complexity of preservation and the changes in the ethical approach to the preservation of visual arts until the present day. The need to popularise the idea of responsibility for the legacy of the past and its implementation is given special attention. The fourth chapter presents the contemporary preservation of visual arts, the differences in treating it in contrast to traditional art, and the growing role of communication in science and education. In the fifth chapter, the author proposes to introduce new elements in the theory and practice of preserving visual arts, presents examples of comprehensive preservation of the atypical legacy of Alina Szapocznikow, Tadeusz Kantor and others, as well as the re-orientation of preservation objectives, and the role of the actor-network theory (ANT) in heritage preservation. The summary presents an open-ended framework for issues concerning visual arts and their preservation, in contrast to the rigid conservator doctrines and dogmas. The conclusion concerns the phenomenon of visual arts always socially active, attractive to artists and audiences, playing a significant role in the economy and heritage science of a transdisciplinary nature, and satisfying the recipients.

The study summarises the results of the author’s long-standing research conducted in many international and national projects. It is based on deontological foundations and on the analysis of many hundreds of case studies during four decades of conservation practice, restoration, and sometimes reconstruction carried out by the author in the interest of preserving the integrity of the works. The publication has an open character, aimed to encourage the readers to continuously update the knowledge and literature on the subject.FOOTNOTES

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