3.6.B-The Impact of Science and Technology on Aesthetics(Sum

8/6/2019 3.6.B-The Impact of Science and Technology on Aesthetics(Sum

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THE IMPACT OF SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY ON AESTHETICS

By Jean Ladriere

REPRINTED FROM: The Challenge Presentedto Cultures by Science and by Science and

Technology (UNESCO: Paris, 1977), pp. 117-

133

AESTHETICS – a subsystem of the culturalsystem, namely, that of forms of expression.

Art and Symbols are the close bondslinking this subsystems.

ART – covers all the modalities of know-howwhich involve a specialized skill and the useof material activities that utilized

technological systems, and aestheticactivities, to the extent that they comprise,as much as and perhaps more than thecapacity for the invention and manipulationof forms, a genuine science of materials,experience of the procedures to be appliedand that elusive ingredient which forms partof the personality of the artist himself andwhich we might call his touch.

SYMBOLS – belongs to the realm of expressive.

• there is what is called symbols of

gesticulatory or ritual nature, whichmight be classified with forms of expression involving bodily gesturesand movements, such as dancing.

The dance, moreover, has oftenbeen used as an element of ritual.

• Any symbol may be regarded as an‘expression’: there is nearly always acorrespondence, in a given culture,between the representativeelements (particularly beliefs) andsymbolic elements.

• SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS – it isfunctioned to make tangible, so tospeak, that which therepresentations suggest in a type of discourage which remains alwaysabstract – even when, as in the caseof myth, it takes on symbolic forms.

**Aesthetic objects have symbolicsignificance, and it would involve probablybe no exaggeration to claim that, in thepast, the principal role of expressive formswas precisely to serve as a medium for thesymbolic function.

** The characteristic of aestheticobject is precisely the singular andindissoluble way in which it unites aparticular configuration, incorporatedin a material with an individual‘essence,’ i. e. a distinctive mode of appearance which gives the object itsunity and obliges it to take the visibleform it does – as opposed to whathappens when an object is producedby chance or serves a purely functionalpurpose.

** To examine the impact of science andtechnology on expressive forms, we mustinquire how it affects the dynamics of theirdevelopment, for this is where it an be mostclearly seen.

** In the development of a given field of expression, we are able to distinguish twocategories of evaluative factors: purelyinternal and the external.

INTERNAL FACTORS correspond to the

development of an attitude to forms whichonce it has been accepted, imposes its ownlogic on the creative artists and somehowcompels them to continue their efforts in aspecific direction.

A given form is never a finalformulation; it represents only a sort of precarious balance in regard to tensionsthat characterize a field of problems,which is itself the outcome of thedevelopment of previous forms.

In architecture, the problem

of using stone to create spaces of thelargest possible area, while rejecting allexternal support, created the Gothicforms as the quasi-natural prolongationof what had been begun withRomanesque forms.

In painting, the effort tomaster effects of light was in a senseinevitable bound to bring about the



dislocation of classical space and giverise to the impressionist mode of construction, and the latter, in turn, wasbound to suggest a still more radicalsystem of restructuring and syntheticdecomposition, namely that of cubism.

EXTERNAL FACTORS correspond todisturbances from other systems which mayaffect field of expression, for example fromthe system o representations, from theeconomic system, or from the politicalsystem

In architecture, research at thebeginning of the Gothic era, whichaimed to pare away the walls of thecathedrals as much as possible so as toleave room for stained glass windows,was inspired by philosophical and

mystical conceptions related to thesymbolism of light. Patterns of production through the class structurewhich they bring into being in the socialsystem, and through the ideologicalrepresentations which go together withthe class situations thus generated, alsoexert an influence – even, in the view of some, a decisive influence – on thedevelopment of expressive forms, andespecially, of course, on their content.As for the political system, it can exertan influence not only indirectly, through

the way in which it dictates thedistribution of the material resourcesindispensable to artistic activity, butalso, in some cases, directly, byencouraging or even imposing, onbehalf of the community and the type of social dynamics which it seeks topromote, one particular aestheticconception in preference to others.

** The way in which aesthetic formsactually evolve is the outcome of theinteractions which develop between the two

types of factors: arts were cut off fromsocial evolution as a whole in purely internal explanation while it would seemthat art would no more than a reflection of what happens in the sphere of productiverelations, ideologies and political decisionsin external explanation.

INTERVENTION OF SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY

1. S & T certainly contribute to a greatextent of determining the mode of approach to the problems to whichthe invention of forms is a response– by providing methods of analysisand suggesting formal conceptions

or even themes.2. S & T affect the development of

expressive forms indirectly, throughS & T impact on the economicsystem and the political system, oron the non-expressive componentsof the cultural system, which, inturn, exert an external influence onthe expressive component of thatsystem.

3. We have the contribution of S & T tothe internal logic of the developmentof forms, as these may be grasped in

and through the works themselves.4. S & T contribute to the way the

expressive activity fits into the fieldof culture and, on a wider scale, intosociety as a whole.

** As far as the works are concerned,materials are distinguished from processesfrom the forms proper, as well as formsfrom the themes.** A work may be analyzed from a formalpoint of view: considering the way in whichit succeeds in bringing into being an

autonomous, equilibrated configuration, or,more accurately, the way in which achieveswithin itself a reconciliation between aprinciple of differentiation, whichemphasizes diversities and separations, anda principle of uniform, which allows thedifferences to persist but holds themtogether a single, interrelated whole.

the compounding of unity anddifference yields a structure andcomes, therefore, within the category of form, in the strict sense of the term, i.e.in the sense of rational construct by

virtue of which a configuration isperceptible.

The specific characteristicof a work of art is to give formconcrete existence, to provide it with amedium, vests it with an outwardly visible body, but at the same time

passes on to its own potentialities and thus contributes actively to maintaining



the constitutive tensions without whichit would fade away.

ABSTRACT – the merepossibility of an association.

A concrete relation is necessarily a relationbetween terms, and the nature of thoseterms helps to give the relation itsindividuality.

The distinction between form of material isvalid only for analytical purposes; it isacceptable one as long as it does not leadto a dualistic view of the work, but formspart of a conception which on the contrary,shows how the ewe elements are heldtogether in the unity betokening the work’strue auto-genesis.

In analyzing the development of worksof art, we are led to consider thenature of the materials before theirembodiment in the unity of the work,and correlatively, the nature of theformal principles of composition beforetheir utilization in the act of creationitself.

MUSIC

Musical works are produced by using

sounds of a certain kind, themselvesgenerated by material devices which emitsound waves.

The system of sounds selected by a givenmusical aesthetic constitute the material.

The problem of composition is, in somesort, the problem of using it to bring abouta unified succession of relationalconfiguration time. To do so, a principle of differentiation is needed provided in thiscase by the differences in pitch and timbre

of the notes and a principle of unification,provided by the rules governing thedistribution of the differences in time, bymeans of their strictly acoustic propertiesand the temporal factors – length, rhythmand periodicity – which bear on thedifferences actually produced.

The principles of composition constitute theformal element.

The strictly aesthetic quality of work is infact attributable to the sort of constrainingforce with which it vets the form byimmersing it in a body of sound and,correlatively, to the organizing force whichit imparts to the sound elements by

enveloping them in a strongly integrativetemporal structure.

The main problem of aesthetics is nodoubt to match the developmentof the material to thedevelopment of the forms in sucha way to ensure that they areable to fit together as effectivelyas possible in the actual works, inother words to imbue thematerial with form, so as to raiseit from the raw modality o its

existence in isolation, and makethe form concrete, so as to give itthe stability and opacityinseparable from materialphenomena and objects.

The work may also be analyzed from thepoint of view of its content. It is verynatural to ask what a poem or novel‘means;’ we can easily connect thetheme of a literary work orimagination with a certain consciousor unconscious view of society,

discover in it the working of ideological factors and, in certaincases, see in it the direct reflection of the tensions and contradictionspeculiar to an era and its type of social structure.

A traditional painting is associated with arepresentative function : showingpersons, events and situations,mythical, imaginary or real, but whichcould at least be recognized andidentified, even in the idealized and,

in some case, transfigured guisewhich the particular mode of representation imposed on them.Recent paintings developed a non-representational concept.

Even if the notion of ‘content’ is not alwaysapplicable, the notion of THEME continuesto be relevant, provided this term isinterpreted in a sufficiently wide sense.



THEME∗ The guiding thread of theconstruction, the inspiration, theunderlying intentionally.∗ In the case of non-figurative work: itis the organizing principle whichgoverns the construction, as distinct

from the structural formula itself.∗ In music: it will be the principlewhich gives the work its individuality, itsdistinctiveness, almost personalcharacter, and which gives that powerof attract whereby it impinges on thesensitivity or the feelings (we call thisthe ‘affective essence’)∗ There is a lose connection betweenformal configuration and effectiveessence, because affectivity itself is notpure quality, but also partakes of structure: it is the patterning of pure

subjectivity.∗ A detailed analysis would inevitablyshow how this distinctive patterning islinked to temporality: it is essentiallybecause the subject, by virtue of hisown structure, is necessarily, though notconsciously led to relate his experienceto time, that he is able to presenthimself in a variety of configurations.∗ In temporal arts, the themeconceived which becomes perceptible init and through it.

∗

In architecture, theme mean‘building program:’ it is not a matter of afew conceptions which have to be‘expressed’, but a set of limitingrequirements to be satisfied inaccordance with the purpose of thebuilding.

S & T EXERT AN INFLUENCE AT EACH OF THE THREE LEVELS:

1ST LEVEL: MATERIALS

Includes processes; its most visible

effects are hose of technologicaldevelopment.

In architecture, the introduction of cement and metal carcasses, syntheticmaterials utilizable for surfacecoverings, partitioning and ornamentaldesigns, new methods of heating,lighting and air conditioning, opened upundreamed-of prospects in building.

Use of these materials mayaffect he environment. However, itcan be regulated at will; unlike theexternal word, where mancontinues to be exposed to theelements, it is subject to constantcontrol, geared to balance which

are freely chosen and automaticallymaintained.

2nd LEVEL: PROCEDURES USED INPRDUCING THE WORKS OF ART.

Modern building methods inarchitecture through the use of prefabricated units and high capacitycranes, make it possible to build muchmore quickly and with relatively fewmen

In plastic arts, traditionaltools were replaced by tools provided by

technology. The medium is changing:instead of confining themselves tocreating effects of colors and form onsurfaces, or obtaining effects of volumefrom a few ‘natural’ materials such asbronze, artists have decided to makedirect use of objects or materialsproduced by technology or to takeadvantage of somewhat sophisticatedoptical phenomena, which can beproduced by means of appropriateelectronic montages or by very recenttechniques such as that of holography,

based on the use of the laser. In music, there was thecreation of sounds altogether by meansof electronic circuits.

The field of aesthetic is nolonger limited to the utilization of a pre-existing material, but includes thecreation of that material.

3rd LEVEL: RECOURSE TO COMPUTERS

Programme – the key to thework; whether it affects configuration,the law of composition or the ‘material

plus configuration’ complex, it is madeup of instructions which correspond toelementary operations linked togetherin certain order.

Aesthetic activity isdisplaced to a high level of abstraction:it now consists in devising the principlesof a programme.

3.6.B-The Impact of Science and Technology on Aesthetics(Sum

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