Art and the Spiritual Situation I. Art and the Spiritual situation {meaning any} generally 1. It is the intention of the groups, united for exhibition and lectures to speak above all of our Spiritual Situation. But (not for academic reasons) it is necessary to deal with pro- blem generally (development of the categories = organs of grasping). 2. Every spiritual function of man has three elements, the material or subject matter it forms and transforms, the form which makes it a scientific or artistic or social or [...] political creation, and the style which is the indicator of what is expressed in a spiritual form. The style is re- lated to both the subject matter and the spiritual form. It

2 gives the form an overall character which is conditioned by non-formal forces. And it choses the subject-matters of preference which are adequate to the style. 3. The art of the barock gave to all artists of that pe- riod the style which can be described as dynamic, {rising} rising up {to a top} and falling down in the sense of the absolutistic style in politics, transforming everything into movement showing the {un bloody} immanence of the divine in illusionism and of the demonic, in the  selfdestructive consequences of life, {th} combi- ning a wipped up religious ecstacy with erotic and sadistic symbols. (Example Santa Theresa by Bernini^o {in St. Ignatio} in Rome the martyrs of Ribera^p) Here we have great new formal discoveries (realism), a definite choice of subject matter and the style of the Counter-Reforma- tion. 4 The politics of absolutism, represented by Richelie^su. The material: The French society of the 17 century. The form: the whole system of

3 governemental actions in the name of the king, the centralisation over against the feodal division as the style, including all methods of Macchiavellism in destroying the opposition. (The devils of Lou- dumm by Huxley^t). This barock-politics [The decisive step to democracy] 5. The philosophical systems {of} from Newton^w and Descartes^x to Spinoza^y. Material: The natural universe as a unity in itself (without transcendence). The scientific form of mathematics and mechanics. The absolutistic style of a universe which smashes the individual and faces his re- signation. God like the king as the unity. L'état, c'est moi, l'uni- verse, c'est moi! 6. In all these cases the validity is not removed by the significance: Great art, great politics, great philosophy. At the same time expressing the real state of mind, individual and social, in relation to the meaning of life.

[4] II. The expression of the spiritual situation of our time in its visual art 1. The visual arts a part of the movement of the 20.th cen- tury from the beginning to the middle and in mass effect beyond it – inspite of all reactions – collective names for it difficult, perhaps future periods will find it. Now existentialist {generally, expressionist} {in the arts.} (Caution about {both} this name!) 2. This movement is reactive to some {...} characte- ristics of the industrial society, the most important of which is objectivation. Reference to the Newton^agian world view. The corresponding creation of the world of analysis, management, {ad} advertisment, adjustment, competion and democratic collec- tivism. The main thing: the destinction of the self, its rela- tion to {the ground of selfhood} God, and its standing upon this ground.

3. Reaction against this: The breaking up of the surface of the objectified and idealised world: The emphasis on the deciding, passionate, finite, estranged, empty etc. subject. The divine demonic aspects of the human soul (depth = psychology). The being cut off from the sources of meaning ("Castle"), grace (trial). 4. The same in the visual arts: Existentialist characteristics of the visual arts: a] The independence of the picture (as a picture) of the sub- ject matter. The {ve} taking back of the three dimensionality (The picture as symbol) (Cé- zanne, Brack, Picasso, Klee). In sculpture the reduction of the body to holes and curves (Moore) or combinations of lines. b] The division of the natural bodies in {so} parts which are not determined by their natural relations, but predominant in their pictural weight or their symbolic meaning or both (Franz Marc, (Chagall, Legér)

c] The expression of the inner state of the painter in encounter with reality, not the subjectivity only, but also the inner qualities of the encountered reality. (The meaning of expressionism: not subjectivism but beyond subject and object) German expressionists:. Heckel, Nolde, Rotluff) d] The encounter of the uncunning of reality: The pieces of reality {in} broken and composed for the impression of the demony (comparison with Bosch and Breughel. Italian sur- realists) e] Creeping behind the surface to the elements of the physical experience, not in the subjectivity of the optic vision (Monet) but in the objectivity of the geometrical elements (cu- bism, Picasso) f] The non-representative tendency, based on these elements

of the anatonomy of the picture and the going down to the simplest elements. Either a decorative meaning as Mondrian, or an expression of a creatively formed chaos (Pollack, Kandinski) or mere empti- ness or in some 2-colour combination without any even chaotic content. 5. In all these examples the emphasis {of} on an expression of the conflicts of existence – As such a third over against na- nuralism and idealism. The three functions of all art: The mediating function (including a cognitive element) {the} {anticipat} most emphasized by naturalism. The antici- pating function, overcoming of the conflicts of existence (including a transformation), most emphasized by idealism (This its justification). – The expressive function which is like the two others never completely lacking and tries to go to the

{imman} encounter of the meaning receiving subject with the mea- ning carrying object. The expression of this encounter is the nature of {our cont} the expressive {t} function. III. The relation of the contemporanious style to the symbols of the religious tradition 1. The religious affinity of the expressi{onistic}ve element. The lack of religious painting in the periods of ruling natura- lism. The lack of religious power in the periods of ruling idea- lism. The many forms of expressive styles in the religious periods of mankind. 2. The general character of existentialism as raising the question and not giving the answer (the answers coming from older

traditions, {But the arts cannot} but changed. This also attempted by the visual arts. But equally difficult, because of the {definite} known forms of these traditions; can they be expressed in modern forms? Are they living at all? 3. Observations: a] The greater religious power of some non-religious pain- tings in the Union Seminary exhibition. b] The greater power of pictures of tragedy generally. The harlequin {the} (Rouault, Picasso) the destruction of the war (Goya as predecessor, the ugly as expression), (com- parison with the demonic world of Bosch, Bruegel, Grünewald) c] In the religious sphere the emphasis on the cross (great crucifixions – not resurrections), the negative elements emphasized even in {sta} positive subject matters. The complete

lack of idealization or of naturalism. d] The danger of the religious revival and S. Dali. 4. Architecture and the rebirth of religious art. The prin- ciple of honesty. The possibility of emptiness which might become a holy one.