Concerning the Spiritual in Art - The Way of Kandinsky

 As a visual - arts student who is interested in abstract painting, I spend most of my time trying to reason my decisions and understand the roots of my creative actions. The only thing I am certain about is that I have the urge to create. Create anything of my interest but mostly art. There is a deep feeling inside of me that through my art I become able to communicate with others in a realm of feelings and emotions. This type of communication is different, different in terms of content that I cannot identify. I feel very lucky coming across this book, and seeing Kandinsky himself facing the exact same dilemmas. Reading from a painter who spent a lifetime thinking about art and seeing how he constituted a philosophical foundation to his abstract paintings felt like an enlightenment.  

In his book "Concerning the Spiritual in Art," Kandinsky explores the idea that art has the power to express and evoke spiritual experiences and emotions. He argues that this is achieved through the use of three mystical aspects: "the person", "the era", and "the eternal". The person refers to the individual artist and their unique perspective and vision. The era refers to the cultural and historical context in which the art is created. And the eternal refers to the timeless, universal truths and emotions that art can tap into.

These three mystical aspects are intertwined. First two have a subjective structure:While the "artist" is trying to express itself, "the era" also speaks through the artist. Those two aspects are bound to time. Third aspect is objective, and the first two aspects are needed to lay a ground for the third one to be understood. The power of expression increases with the third aspect, after all, this is about what Kandinsky identifies as the inner necessity (ickin ihtiyac). He claims this is a spiritual power pertain to nothing but art, and by using "forms" of the present as a steppingstone to reach to the future. This dialectic between the "eternally objective" and the "permenantly subjective", ends up empowering the eternal expression and conquering the "permenantly subjective". 

One of the key ways that Kandinsky believes art can achieve this spiritual power is through the use of contrasting dualities.(Inspired from Rembrandt’s excellent use of the duality of light and dark) In his view, the collision of opposites such as light and dark, color and form, or movement and stillness creates a tension and contestation that can evoke profound emotional responses in the viewer. This is similar to the tension and contestation at the very essence of the creation of the cosmos, as Kandinsky believed that the universe was born out of the collision of opposing forces, which in my opinion explains how artworks can resonate through many indivials.

As an abstract painter, Kandinsky's use of contrasting dualities is particularly relevant to my own artistic practice. His emphasis on the spiritual power of art and the importance of the individual artist's perspective resonates with my own beliefs about the role of art in our lives. I am also inspired by his idea that art can transcend time and speak to universal truths and emotions and definitely by how he did it.

Overall, Kandinsky's ideas about the spiritual in art and the use of contrasting dualities have deepened my appreciation and understanding of abstract painting. They have also influenced my own artistic practice and the way I approach the creation of my own art. In the second half of his book, he writes about his own methods of using color, form, and composition to resonate with the inner necessity of the human soul. He learns from other artistic mediums a lot, Especially from music, he almost feels jealousy towards musicians knowing one of the easiest and most powerful tools to resonate with the inner necessities of human kind or"soul" is undeniably music. His musical allegories made it much easier for me to understand the context since I am very familiar with the direct emotional effects of music like many other individuals.

Although these subjects are very technical, I believe it will be my topic for next week.