Eh, it's not clear to me what 'abstraction' is. Arabesque may be abstract
in the sense that it is not representational, but that is probably not what
is meant. I wouldn't take it for granted that paintings of abstract
concepts exist, as opposed to paintings that provide concrete examples of
these concepts. For example, Munch's "Melancholy" is a painting of a
melancholic face, not really a painting of melancholy. At the very least,
it is something that can be assumed without discussion.
About a painting that will tell me by way of hints that Paris is the
capital of France, I strongly suspect that these 'hints' will be readable
only by one who knows it already, and quite a few other facts about Paris
and France besides.
Perhaps we can take Mombasa instead and see how you lead me toward it by
hints that must surely be understandable to us both.
O.K.
On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 5:38 PM, David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On Apr 8, 2015, at 3:40 AM, Omar Kusturica wrote:
One wonders also what kind of painting would represent the propositionthat a bachelor is an unmarried male. At most what could be represented is
a middle-aged man with no wife around, but we would be hard pressed to
conclude from this whether he is a bachelor, a divorcee, a widower, a
married man whose wife is at work or what not. Saying that he is a bachelor
does not so much affirm anything but rather excludes some other relevant
possibilities. Or, what kind of painting would represent the proposition
that unicorns don't exist, or that Paris is the capital of France. There is
a host of things that can be said in language but not represented
pictorially.
sequence of pictures.
Of course, this is more evidence that language is nothing like a
You exclude abstraction from the category "picture"? And say means, "with
some degree of certainty" rather than "suggest"? I'd argue that a painting
can tell you that Paris is the capital of France in the way that arriving
at the Gare de Lyon will tell you that you've arrived in the capital, by
hints that you read and process? "No second city would have this or
that." Perhaps your argument is that language is more direct? Less
allusive? (Except when I'm writing it).
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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