Page 61 - Studio International - December 1973

ART THEORY& PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION slogan of the avant garde (`anything goes') is that of G. W. Domhoff, A. J. Deikman, or
isolated as the primary factor condemning art to
Charles T. Tart."
The metaphorical use of the word avant garde inconsequence through lack of unified It would be an oversimplification to say that
to denote radical or progressive leaders of both meaning . . 6 Much of the recent work the new 'art-theory by artists' is speculative
art and society can be traced to Henri de proposes new categorial parts to elucidate a whereas philosophical art theory is
Saint-Simon, the French utopian socialist, who domainal activity, the activity to be both descriptive, because the distinction between the
used avant garde in this figurative sense only in prescriptive and self-consistent. While this prescriptive (or regulative) capacity of one and
some of his last writings, in his 'Opinions may be interpreted as the laying-down of the descriptive (or explanatory) capacity of the
littéraires, philosophiques et industrielles', for primary metaphysical directives,7 unfortunately, other is not precise : there are, of course,
example, published in Paris in 1825, the year as in traditional art-theory, such theses are prescriptive and descriptive aspects to any
of his death.) The Saint-Simonian Nouveau notoriously prone to honorificness, and the theory of art. And in a sense art-works, like
Christianisme movement2 represents one of the temptation is to 'wait and see'. The point is that art-theories in general, have a prescriptive
first foreshadowings by a socialist of later such theses must develop from criteria of component: they 'compete for attention' as
Marxist theories of society and art, according to evaluation which are universal to all domainal paradigms of how art should be conducted.
which society would be centralized under the activity, even though shifts of this kind are so In preparing this special feature I have tried,
direction of an élite group, art's function to be evasive of consistency-demonstration. This is as it were, to 'encircle' the problems thus
social utility, achieved by making works of art unavoidable. A shift of metaphysical directives presented. Specialists from different subject-
both didactic and easily understood by the becomes a shift of first principles and it is disciplines were asked to comment on the new
common people, as already advocated by because of this that constructionistic tendencies work from their respective points of view.
Diderot and David. This conception of art's must be accompanied by an analytical or at least In this way, Ian Jeffrey, as an art-historian, sets
function as social propaganda was to be critical form of activity to sustain itself in the context, in his paper 'Art-Theory and the
distorted in two ways : by followers of Marx, avoiding an honorific thesis. Decline of the Art-Object', in which he gives
whose interests were basically political and A distinguishing feature of this work is its an account of the decline of painting in the early
economic, by their disregarding Saint-Simon's presupposition of the problem-solving nature of 6os from its status as a major mode of activity
idea of artists as leaders of society, and on the art, and this in itself sets it apart from the more and the consequent attempts to replace it by
other hand by those who were so bemused by deterministic aesthetic theories. Few if any `conceptualism'. Sue Steadman-Jones and
the kind of role offered to artists by Saint-Simon, theoreticians have attempted to develop David Wood examine from a philosophical
that they rejected altogether his belief that art theories which are in the strict sense standpoint the relationship of so-called
should have a social purpose, and subscribed teleological, 8 most contended that it is `analytical' and 'theoretical' art to art-theory and
instead to a doctrine of Tart pour l'art'.3 methodological traits or peculiarities of the aesthetics, and the implications of importing
Saint-Simonians disagreed with the exponents `process of art' which distinguish it as an techniques of analysis into the domain of art.
of this, to them, one-sided movement. The activity. Rosetta Brooks's article functions as criticism.
latter, if they had any social commitments at all, The existence of art-activity does not only The papers presented here by artists — Art &
were likely to be sympathetic to the ideas of presuppose the existence of art, but also its Language and John Stezaker — are included
Charles Fourier who, in contrast to Saint- necessity. A principal distinction between the primarily as examples. In this connection, I
Simon, argued for decentralization and for work of John Stezaker and philosophical9 would like to make quite clear that Art &
government by small federated communities art-theory seems to be in this presupposition of Language do not write 'articles' in the usual
or 'phalanxes', as being more conducive to the necessity of art. It is because of this sense. The fragments presented here are in fact
individual personal development.4 Thus out of difference (i.e. the practical rather than transcripts, and represent the first 'report to
Saint-Simon's conception of the role of the theoretical relationship between the existence history' (if you like) to be published on their
artist, a dilemma developed: should the artist of art and the necessity of art) that a founding of conversations of the last twelve months.
devote his art to forwarding radical social theory and practice of art 'in the same Obviously, the contexts of the fragments are
ideas as a member of an élite social avant garde, directives' in his work is feasible. Elsewhere, highly localized according to the time and place
or should he consider himself a member of a and it is indicative of the thoroughness of of conversation, and those involved. And, again
purely artistic avant garde, divorced from all this new approach, Stezaker has argued for a obviously, any comparison with, or implication
social interests and practising 'art for art's sake' ? `tri-modal' theory for art embracing practice, to, any other contributor should be 'well steered
The choice is between socialist realism and theory and criticism. In attempting to dissect clear of'. q
formalism, leading to the socialistic anarchism the activity of art into three modes, namely the COLSTON SANGER
of Oscar Wilde and ultimately to modernism constructionistic, the critical and the
1 Saint-Simon, H. Cte. de 'Opinions littéraires,
and the minimal art of the late 1960s.5 reductionistic, he has forwarded the opinion
philosophiques et industrielles' Paris, 1832; P. 341.
Some recent developments within art- that all art-activity is a compound of these 2 Rejected by Saint-Simon's former disciple, Comte,
practice, while introducing a more norms of action, and proposed the existence of in favour of what he called the New Catholicism helping
sophisticated approach, have questioned the `art-categorial systems', i.e. categorial to stimulate a Rightist movement in religion and
politics and, indirectly, a Gothic revivalism in the arts.
tradition of the avant garde in art, particularly frameworks within which art-works become 3 Apart from the work of Théophile Gautier, whose
in its 'art for art's sake' form, and the related meaningful.") In strong contrast to the preface to his novel 'Mademoiselle de Maupin' (2
concepts of individualism, novelty and rationality and high seriousness of Stezaker's vols., Paris, 1835) is usually held to be the manifesto
of Tart pour l'art' (Gautier did not, however, use the
historicism, and 'art-historical Darwinism'. work, Art & Language adopt a very different actual phrase Tart pour l'art' in his writings until
Rosetta Brooks writes : . . . in a sense, such approach, intuitively based, and they tend much later), the first use of the phrase in print is said
work represents a redefinition of artistic goals much more to 'follow their noses'. Their work is to have been in 1833 by Hippolyte Fortoul, an
opponent of art for art's sake, in the Saint-Simonian
by first sorting out the mass of problematic most easily understood, perhaps, when periodical of Pierre Leroux.
issues which have apparently condemned art classified within the history of ideas, or at least 4 q.v. Swart, K. W. "Individualism" in the
in the 6os to scepticism, resulting in a singular when viewed from a contextual relativistic point Mid-XIXth Century, 1826-1860' Journal of the
History of Ideas Vol. XXIII No. (Jan.-Mar. 1962);
lack of any clearly defined function . . . the of view. It relates perhaps, in some respects, to PP. 77-90.
255