Review: Heidegger,
"The Origin of the Work of Art"
I. The investigation begins with a hermeneutic
circle. [17-20]
II. The Thingly
Character of the Work of Art.
[20-39]
Equipment
is intermediate between thing and work.
To see this, we must do a phenomenological analysis of a work of art.
[32ff]
Consider
a painting of a pair of peasant shoes by Van Gogh.
Complex
example: used to show both
·
essence
of equipment
·
nature
of the work of art
A
work of art is not a piece of
equipment (substance) with aesthetic quality (property).
To
understand a thing according to its "authentic" or real nature, we
must "think differently".
III. The Work and Truth. [39-57]
Work
functions like a symbol, i.e.
something (an essence) is made present in it. [Greek Temple, 41]
Two
essential features of the work of art:
1. The work "sets up a world and keeps it in force" [44ff]
2. "The work moves the earth itself into
the Open of a world and keeps it there." [46ff]
a. In equipment, the material is put to the
service of the tool. The material
"disappears into the tool"—it is used up.
b. In a work of art, the material does not
disappear but "shines forth [as if?] for the
first time". The material becomes
present in a dramatic way.
c. Thus, in setting up a world, "the work
moves the earth itself into the Open of a world and keeps it there".
d. The "setting forth of the earth"
happens in such a way so that the work "sets itself back into
it". In other words, there is a
kind of reciprocal and symbiotic relation between the work and the earth.
e. Why is there such a relation between the
earth and the work? This has to do with
the nature of stone, color, metal, etc.
Matter is transformed into its "undiscloseable
presence" as the "self-secluding" earth.
These
two essential features—the setting up of
a world and the setting forth of the
earth—appear together in the unity of
the "work-being" of the work of art. [48]
What
is the relation between the setting up of a world and the setting forth of
earth in the work of art? [48ff]
Truth
as "correctness in representation" already presupposes the notion of
truth as unconcealedness
(in Greek Aletheia). To recognize that two things agree (are
congruent, similar, equal, etc.) one must first "see" that they
agree. Their agreement must be apparent
or "in the open—unconcealed". [50f]
IV. Truth and Art ("What is truth
that it can happen as art?")
[57-78]
What
is the "work-being of the work"? Heidegger attempts to describe this in terms
of the relation between the work and
truth.
1. To create is to cause something to emerge.
[60]
2. A work's becoming a work is a form of truth
happening.
3. The occurrence or "happening" of truth
in a work is the creative bringing forth of a unique being—it occurs once and only once.
4. What is the nature of this "createdness"?
It is described dialectically
by Heidegger as part of the intimate relation (rift) of conflict and belonging between earth and world. [62ff]
5. It is in this relation that Truth establishes
itself. Thus, the createdness
of the work is truth being "fixed in place in the figure" (i.e. in
the work's structure or Gestalt). This is accomplished by the use of the earth,
which in being used is not used up but set forth or "set free to be
nothing but itself". [64]
6. The work of art is
not "finished" when its structure is complete. Consider a sculpture by Brancusi. Its existence is a process—a continual
creation—which requires a viewer and a perceptual experience (world) of some
kind to be what it is. The object is material (earth) but in such a
way so that the material is made present in an inherently interesting and
compelling way. That is its beauty as an
object. This is what Heidegger refers to
as making present or unconcealing the being of the
thing (truth).
7. Thus, "art...is the becoming and
happening of truth". [71]
1.
The work of art is the happening of truth.
2. Truth is disclosure.
3. Each disclosure precludes other possible
disclosures. Cf. the following simple
examples: necker cube,
young/old woman, etc.
4. World
is the horizon of all our horizons—a
totality of possible disclosures which constitute intelligibility for us.
5. But this also implies other horizons of
disclosure that lie outside our world—that are concealed. Perhaps this is what Heidegger means by
"earth". It is the other side of the clearing—the
"unfathomable". [See Julian Young, 40.]
6. This distinction between world and earth is
not unlike Nietzsche's distinction between the Apollonian and the Dionysian.
On
68, Heidegger says that in the work of art, "truth happens…with
extraordinary awesomeness". It has
been argued, by Julian Young, that Heidegger introduces the concept of earth to
account for both the awe and the reverence associated with great art.
Both
of these concepts are linked with "infinite mystery". To grasp something as "holy" or
awesome is to grasp it in its infinite unintelligibility,
i.e. as infinitely unconcealing.
That
which exceeds our power to fully apprehend it is the sublime.
The
rising up of that which is infinitely unintelligible is earth.
So,
while the world is "set
up" and comes into the open in the work, at the same time the earth "rises up through" the
work and is "set forth". [Cf. iceberg as perceived by the experienced
mariner, rather than as an ice floe experienced by the novice.]
This
is what gives the great work authority.
Cf.
genius and the role of the sacred in religious works of art.