The founders of the Abstract Expressionist movement, recognised that the action/experience of the process of manifesting art works was as an art form and as thus placed importance on this. Given that this was a new recognition in the art world at the time, it was obvious why the instigators of this movement did not take their new found expression any further. What they did do, how ever, was to lay a foundation. The foundation consisted in taking the philosophy of the final art work(the final art work being the concept that represented what the artist was expressing) and unifying it with the momentary direct experience, the event, of production. So that the action of painting became recognised as an art so that not only was the final piece known as art. This unification, in turn, could be seen in societies approach to its collective psychology. There came a possibility to investigate and test the abilities of philosophies to live up to their concepts. In other words, the opportunity rose for people to recognise what social, political and religious ways of thinking could be practically applied to life instead of just being lofty idealisms. The philosophies had to meet up with the practical application of them in daily life. And as this, the search for the meaning of art and life took on a new approach.

If one takes an example of how the mind learns new ways one looks at how young babies and children learn. Being unable to understand spoken words, they learn through the actions of the parents. And when these actions do not meet up with the later on learnt words, then a confusion may arise as to the appropriate meaning of an action. The mind learns first and foremost through an interpretation of feeling, to which then a conditioned conceptual response is attached. The action painters demonstrated the value of action rather than only valuing the conceptual out come of an action..

Given the social environment and the conditioning of the abstract expressionists at the time of the conception of their movement, one can see that the interest in deeper understandings of life was not as prevalent as the desire to paint. Every artist knows the feeling when in action and the feeling when not in action. For some, this feeling is addictive, in that this be the only time when one feels in the flow. Adrenalin junkies and surfers alike to name some example, have the same experience. This feeling is almost unexplainable, yet its known and only you know this for yourself and can recognise it when it is spoken about.

The first declared abstract expressionists were laying a foundation for enquiry into the process of art and from this the process of life and its meaning. Yet this enquiry did not go beyond the established boundaries of what art was thought to be at the time. And this was reflected in the personal lives of the artists themselves. Questions like why do I feel so good when painting and so bad when I’m not?. Why, although I’m recognised as an artist and have some fame, why am I still not fulfilled by this? These questions arose But their art could not give answers. And even if this enquiry had taken place, most of these artists felt alienated and misunderstood and could only deal with this through the use of anti depressants  and self destructive behaviours that in some cases led to suicide. The meaning their work gave them while in action, could not be reconciled with the time when they were not working.

Somehow, although the action of Art had been brought to light as also being art, it had still failed to show the way forward, had still somehow failed to reflect on the liberation from personal suffering through psychological obsessions, the very matter that every human being seeks whether there’s awareness of this or not. The mainstream Art establishment had still failed to reveal contempt prior to investigation of reality. And this contempt was reflected in conceptual infatuation. And so abstract expressionism fell back as just another art movement with no relevancy other than being a process recognised to be an art and a philosophy that only applied to the production of a piece of art. It became even more evident, that no one knew the way forward, and although the way forward was also another unliveable philosophy, the art establishment still could not recognise it as this and conceptualisation as a means to an end, continued to flourish like a dog chasing its own tail.

Can something be done about this? The answer is yes and no. Yes, because through an investigation into what makes art appear, an investigation into the appearance of objects and thoughts in space, one gets to see directly for oneself the futility of seeking yourself as a concept. That although your appearance is objective, the subject that you are is always already the case and the validity of existence is not dependant on the conceptualisation of it, to make it real.

And no, because the investigation into reality, comes about entirely on its own and is not something that can be applied like a technique. Thus it cannot be taught. It is like a wisdom that flourishes once the illusion of beliefs is seen through. Concepts can only be used as pointers for this and cannot actually bring this about. And these pointers only come spontaneously of their own accord when this is seen directly for one self. And this is the true value of art. Because from this, real art/ true art makes its appearance. Know thy self.

The art establishment continues to ignore the use of concepts as pointers to that which is already the case prior to conceptualisation, i.e. Art itself. Art being a sharing of what we already are and the seeing of the indefinable and not only a philosophy worshipped by art critics, collectors and appreciators cloistered in their exhibition spaces away from the outside world. And the general public, as a result, see art to be something only reserved for a select elite and become educated in the false value of conceptualisation as a means to an end. And great importance gets placed on new ideas and ways of expressing the abstract while the essence of life gets overlooked and man continues to exploit himself in his unrecognised desire for fulfillment.

Comments: (2)

Barbara: 2009-11-08 - www.absolutearts.com/barbara
I agree that art itself lies in discovering truth through the process of creating a work of art. However, I don't believe that is the end of it. If truth truly is expressed/conceptualized/captured in a work, the potential for further development is realized when a viewer engages with the artwork and finds his or her own understanding of truth enriched, revised or expanded.

Adrian: 2009-11-10 -
thats what I meant by concepts being pointers and not a means to an end.

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