1 8 6 A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

forur, of periods of harmonious coiiperation of man and the worldin experiences that are complete. The resultant emotion is "im-personal" because it is attached not to personal fortune but to theobject to the construction of which tle self has surrendered itselfin devotion. Appreciation is equally impersonal in its emotionalquality because it also involves construction aod organization ofobjective energies.

C H A P T E R I X

THE COMMONTHE ARTS

SUBSTANCE OF

\A/HAT subject-matter is appropriate for art? Are ttrere ma"V V terials inberently fit and others unfit? Or are there none

which are common and unclean with respect to artistic treatment?Tbe answer of the arts themselves has been steadily and pro-gressively in the direction of an affirmative answer to tbe lastquestion. Yet there is an enduring tradition tbat insists art sbouldmake invidious distinctions. A brief survey of the theme mayaccordingly serve as an introductiou to the special topic of thischapter, namely, the aspects of the matter of art that are commonto aU the arts.

I had occasion in another connection to refer to the difrer-ence between the popular arts of a period and the official arts.Even when favored arts carne out from under patronage andcontrol of priest and ruler, the distinction of kinds remained even1tre,rgh the name "official" is no longer a fitting designation.Philosophic theory concerned itself only with tlose arts that badthe starnp and seal of recognition by tbe class having social stand-ing and authority. Popular arts must have flourished, but tbeyobtained no literary attention. They were not worthy of mentionin theoretical discussion. Probably they were not even thoughtof as arts.

Instead, bowever, of dealing with the early formulationof an invidious distinction among the arts, I shall select a modernrepresentative, and then indicate briefly some aspects of therevolt that has broken down the barriers once s€t up. Sir JoshuaReynolds presents us with the statement that since the only sub-jects fit for treatment in painting are those " generally interesting,"they should be 'rsome eminent instance of heroic action or heroicsufiering," suctr as "the great events of Greek aud Roman fableand history. Such, too, a^re the capital events of Scripture." AII

I 8 8 A R T A 5 E X P E R I E N C E

the g rea t pe in t i nqs o f t he p r s t . acco rd i nq t o h i r : r . b r l ong t o t h : -

"h istor ical school , " and he goes on to sr) ' that "u|un th is pr in-

c ip le, the Ronran, the I ' lorent ine, thc I lo lognese schools har ' .

formed their pract icc ancl bf i t thel 'heve r le:ervedl l 'obtained th, .

h ighest praise"- the omission of the Venct ian and Flemish

schools, s ide bv s idc rv i th the commendat ion of thc cclect ic school .

being a suf ic icnt cornnrcnt f rorn the str ic t ly ar t i ,s t ic s ide. \ \ 'hat

would he have said i f hc had becn able to ant ic ipate the bal letg i r ls of Degas, the ra i l rvay-coaches of l )aumicr-actual ly th i rd

class---or thc apples, napkins, and plates of Cdzanne?

In l i terature the c lonr inant t radi t ion in thcor l ' \1 'as -s imi lar .I t u 'as constant ly assertecl that Ar istot le had crncc for a l l del int i tcdthe scope of t ragedl- . the highest l i terar l ' nrocic. bv declar ing thatthe misfor tunes of thc noble aud those in h i lh p lace were i tsproper mater ia l , rvhi le those oi the conrnton people rvere intr ins i -

cal l l ' f i t for the lcsser mocle of comedl ' . Dir lcrct v i r tual lv an-nounced a histor ic revolut ion in theory rvhen he said there lvas

need for bourgar is t ragedies, and that , instead of put t ing on thtr

stage only k ings ancl pr inces. ; r r ivate persons are srrb ject to terr ib le

reverses rvhich inspirc p i t ) 'and terror . ^- \nr l aguin he asserts thatdomest ic t ragedics, a l though having anothcr tonc and act ion thanclassic dran.ra. can havc their orvn subl imi t r ' -a i r rcr l ic t ion as-suredly fu l f r l led b1' Ib- .cn.

At the beginning of the nineteenth cenrrrr \ ' , fo l lorv ing theper iod that I for-rsnr ln cal ls one of shanr or coLrnter fc i t poetry,

verse masqucrading as poctry, r 'The Lvr ical IJal lar ls" of \ \ 'ords-rvorth and Coler ic lge ushercd in a revoiut ion. Ont of the pr incip les

that animated i ts authr i rs rvas stated by C<,r le i idge as fo lo;s:

"One of the t rvo cardinal points in poctrv consists of fa i th iu ladherence to such churrcters and incidcnts a-s s ' i l l be found inevery v i i lage and i ts v ic in i t ,v rvhen there is a mcci i tat ive and feel-i ng m ind t o seck a f t c r t hcm. o r t o no t i ce t hcn t uh ru t l l o ) ' p re i r n t

thcmselves." I hardl l nctd point out thet long br . iorc Revnolds 'da1 'a s im i l a r r evo lu t i on uas * ' c l l a l ong i n pa in t i n r . I t t ook a l ongs t r i de r vhen t hc Vcnc t i ans i n add i t i on t o ce l cb r r r t i ng t he sump tu -ousness of the l ivcs about thent gavc norninel)v rc l ig ious thentesa dist inct lv secular t rcatrncnt . I r lemish painters, in addi t ion toDutch genre painters, Breughel the e ' lder, f or cranrple, anclF rench pa in te r s l i ke Cha rd in , t u rned f r ank l v t o c r r d i na rv t hen res .

T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S I 8 9

, : , in l ing of prrr t ra i ts rvas cxtender l f rom nobi l i ty to tveai t i ry mer-

: : : rnts rv i th thc grouth of comrnercc, an( i thcn to nten le-rs con-- icuous. f 'o l rur t l the end of the nineteenth ccnturv a l l l ines rvere-, rapt a\ \ 'a) ' r rs f l r r r ts p last ic ar ts arc cr . r t tccrncd.

The novt l h ls been the grc l l t i r r : t ru lncnt of ef tect ing, . l r nge i n p rose l i t c ra tL r r c . I t sh i f t ed t he cen te r o f : r t t en t i on f r on r

: i r e cou r t t o t hc Lou rsco i s i e , t hen t o t hc ' poo r " end t he l abo re r ,

. ,nr l then to the conrnron pcrson i r rcspect i r .e of stxt i ( )n. Rol tsseau' , \ 'es nrosl of I ) i5 p( f inanent enornrous in l ' lucnce in the t re ld of

. i t t : rature to h is inreginut ivc exci tcnrcnt about " l r : pt 'uplc" ; cer-

r i in ly more to thut c: rusc than to h is fornral thcor ies. The part

: , i a )ed b ) f o l k -n rus i c , c s l r cc i a l l r ' i n PL , l an i l , I l o l t em ia . and Ce r -

i : ran1' . in the 'ex1nn. ior . r and renc,*al o i music is too rvel l knosn

I ) r equ i r c r ) l o r f t h i u l no t i c c . E r cn a r ch i t c c tu re , t he mos t con -

: i ' rvat ive r i i r l l tht ar ts. has fe i t thc inr ' lucnc:c of a t ransfornl f , t ion

. i ;n i l i i r to th:r t tht ' other ar ts heve unr lcrgone. Rai l rval ' s tat ions,

b l nk b r r i k i i nqs : u r r l 1x : s t - o f l r ces , cven chu rchcs ) a re no l onge r ex -

c lusivel l ' bui l t as r rn i tet ions of Grct ' l i . tcnrplcs and nret l ieval

cathedrals. ' - lhLr

er t of cstabl ishet l "orr lcrs" has bccn int luenced

rs nruch bv rer , r , l i r igrr inst f i rat ion in soci ; r l c lasses l ts by techno-

logical dci r : i r ,pnl tnt : i in r ' rnrent an( l s t ( ' r l .' Ih i :

br i t f sketch hrrs onl l ' one prrrpose: to indicate that .

in spi te c i f forrn l l tht ' t r r f and canon,. o i cr i t ic isnr , therc has t lkenp lace onc o f t hosc re ' , o l , . r t i ons t ha t t l o no t go backsa rd . Impu l s i on

bcy ' ond a l l l i n r i t , s t i r e t a re e r t e rn l l l v s t ' 1 . i nhe re , s i n t he vcn ' na tu re

of the ar t is t 's rvork. Jt belongs to the vcrv churrctcr of the crea-

t ive mind to rerch out and -sr , ize an) ' nr : r tcr iu l th l t s t i rs i t so that

ths value of that matcr iu l nray be pr t rscr l out lnd l roconre the mat-

ter of a ncrv erprr icnce. Refusal to acknorvl r r lge the boundar ies

sct by convcnt ion i . r thc source of f rcr l r rcnt drnunciat ions of ob-jects of , r r t iL-s inrrnorr l . IJut one of thc funct ions of ar t is pre-

c isely to sap the rrorel i . t ic t imi t l i t l ' that causei t1G' f f id to shy

au'a1' { ronr sonre nratcr ia ls and refuse to adnr i t them into the

c lea r and pu r i f v i r r * l i ( h t u f l r e r ccp t i ve cunsc io l r j n ( ' s s .' Ihe

int l rc : , t of an ar t is t is the onl l ' l inr i tat ion placed upon

use of nratcr i i r l . r rnd th is l imi tat ion is not rcstr ic t ive. I t but states

a t ra i t inhcrcnt in thc rvor l i of the ar is t , thc neccssi t l 'o f s incer i ty ;

the necessi t l ' th l t he shal l not fake and cornpronr ise. The universal- - - r:1" ^ t ^-+ i^ " ' { " - ^" ^ . ' t -^n1 denial of the pr incip le of select ion by II t _ r u t d l L l . : u l ! t t J \ \ . 1 _ v l l u l n u ( l l l J t r r l t i l : l , r l l r ( t l r r t _ u t

. . i

1 ' 4 ' ' -! t -

I 9 O A R T A 5 E X P E R I E N C E

me.a.ns of v i ta l intere, : i that i t depcnds ul )on ;nterest . ( i iher ar t i ; ts

i r ave o th r i i i r l r r c s t s , : l n r l b t ' t h r i r co l ! r : . t i ve i r ' i , i - L . unen tba r rass r c lby ' l ixed ln ' l l ; r tecedrnt ru l r , r r l l as l tccts anr l p l t : i : .cs of r r i rer i r 'ncei t re e() \ : r r . tL l . I i l t r rer t becrtnt ls r rn i ' -s i r i t t l anr i r r torbi r l t n ly rvhen

i t ceascs t o b , f r an l t , and b t ' co i l es s l r l n c l f u r t i ' e -as i t d r i i i i t t i , - . s sdo . ' s i n r nuc l i i ' on i cn rp i ) r . r r ] . t x i r l o i i a t i o r r o l se r . ' f o l s t c , i ' s i r l r n t i h -cal ion of s incry i t ) ' a,c the es, iencc uf or ig inal i tv r 'arnrnensates for

n ruah t h f l i s c i : c cn t r i c i n h i . t r ac t : r t e on a r t . I n h i . a t t r r c k upon

t h i ' t n e r s l \ ' . o n l e n t i o n t l i n p o t t r v . i : t ' l l r ' c l r t r c s l 1 r l t t u i r i l i , r f i t s

maler i r l is b, t r r , . . r , ,ver l , t r t i<ts f recl ing l i l r cunnibals i lpon one

anr) ther. Stock nrater ia l consi- : ' . - i , he sal s, r i f "a l l sor l r of l i .qencls.

sal las and encicnt t rer l i t ions: n ix ideni . r \ . l r r iors, .h i -pherr ls . hcr-

n l i t s . r l g c l s . d t , r ' i l s o f a l i so r t s : moon j i gh t , t h ru r r l e r . r ) 1 ( run t i l i r ' i j .the sta, 1 ' recip i i .e: , f lo lv l r - r , l , ;ng hrr i r I l ic ,n ' r . l : i r rbs, c l r rvc-q, n ight-

ingales- becr l i i : .e thr l ' have of t .n i )efn u)er l l r i ' furntr . r r l t i . ts intheir prcrr luct ions."

In h is r l t , - i r r to rct t r ic t the nret i : ia i o l : l r t to thcn,r ,s c l t : rwirf r om the l i i c o f t i , ' c , l L : n ton n t : r n . f . l L i , r r v r ' , , r i ke r and c . | ec i a i l ' , .prasant.

' fo l . ' i , r i . rn i r ' ts e p ict l i re of thc con\ . rn ' t ionl l rcstr : ic t ion: ,

that i ( out , r f i ;e, . r : r1-rer . i . i i r . i : lu t thcr :c i r t r t r t i i { n, r l t r i t i r - . i t to ser, , 'e

, '

, t i i l l ' . t . t r l r t l ' , n g f o r rg a i i , i r , ; r 1 t { J r t xn t c l ' i : u i l c t c l i : t i c o f . : r t : \ \ ' h : r t -

i evrrr nr l r ru\rs t l ic bounr i : r r i . :s o i the matei i : r l i : t to be uj . r , r i in i l f tI h r . ns i n a l - . o t h l r r t i - t i t ' s i ncc r i t v o f t h r , i nd i r . i dua l l r t : s t . I t r l r r r : s

nr . ' t g ivr : f e i r 1, l111 anr i or i t lc t l r - l h is r r r .e l i r r tere, i t . I t f orces hispe rcep t i on - ; i r r l r r ch l nnc l s i L re l i , t us1 , , ' r i . r l r n i n t r t n i t s Ln i l c l i p sth l s i ng : o i i t i . , i i t : r r i n , r t i r r r r . I t h i i r l i t h , - i r i r : r t ha t t l l c r i . i s an t r , n r l r , b l i g l t t i r , n ( - i n l l n i l r t i : t t o r l r . : i l u i t l t " l r r o l c l t t r i l r n ' n r i l t e r i a l ,

or u ' i th at ty n l ; r ter i lL l on thc besis of i t - : bcar i r , ; o l t i ) ro l ( , tar i lnf i ' r t une an t l de , , t i n r ' 1 - t Ln c f i , r l t o r r t t , i l t i u i t l ) ( ) s i t i l i n t ha f i l r t l ; : t s

| ' - : ,w h i . t , , r i c r i i - v , ! l r t . J r ) l r n . I l L l t as f a r 2 - s p r . , l t t a r i : u l t n t r r r , s t nu r r ks a

r ' ' - ne r v d i r ec t i o r l r I a t l r : n t i on and i r t r . . o l r c s r i t r s l r va t i on o f n ta te r i a l s

t" i . I t l , f tprer iously p i rssol urer , i t * ' i ) l cer ta in ly ' cr i l i i r r ro 3ct iv i l . ] pcrsons'

rvho \ :erc not n:ovet l t r , cxpre. 's , . ion l : r " fornter ntat t r i : r i -s , an, i rv i i ld isc lo:e: int l thus i t r lp l r reak dciq 'n l rorrnCar ic- . o i \ \ 'h ich the. l rverenot previousl l , a ' ,v l re. i am sol lc t th:r t s l , .pt ic i l l r Iout Si ' : ikc-speare's t i legccl l rersr ,nal r r r is tocra ' . ic l r ias. I iani : - \ t i :at l r i : l i rn i t : , -t i r in r r . rs convent ional . fant i l iar , an. l therefor t ' congrnia l r ; p i t : rsrr t l l as to ste l ls . l lu t wl iatever i rs source, i t I i rn i tcd l i is ' , r . rn i -

\ ,ersal i t ) ' . "

T F I E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S i 9 I

Evir ier tce that the histor ic movcment of the ar t has

,rbol isher i n) i i r i ( t ions 11i ;15 , r1 l jpr , t -matter th:r t on.e l1 'er8 j l :s t i f ' red

on ai ieged r i i l i { , r )u i grol lnds c locs not prove that thcre is -something

cor. i r i ron in thc ml l ter of a l l the er ts. I ' iu t i t suggests that rv i th i l - re

, . r r l . . r i t ens i on o f i t s scope t o t ake i n i po ten t i a l l r ' ) an r ' l h i r l g and

r \ ' . r . \ ' l .h ing, ur t r ' , ' t ru ld have Lrs*. i ts uni ty, t . i ispcr ,set l in to conn,{ ted

3rts. t i l l ' 've cor i ld nOt sct : thr l wc'ocl ,s for the t recs nor ] s ingle t re 'e

ior i rs branchcs, wcrr therc n( i t a core oi coi l lmon st lb: tance. ' fhe

obvious r{ 'Dl l to th is s;gge: ied infr - rerrcc is that , t i r l uni t ; " of the

: . i r ts I rs idcs in thc: i r c t ) r - - lntLr t l Ior t r r . . {ccel i t lnce of th i : rcplv cul ' i -

:n i ts us, hole, ,er , to th, ' i i l ' ; r t -het f t t r t t r rnd lnal t t r r l re st l - )araie,

lunr l leads t i , { thcrcfore to r t t t i rn to t l le asstr t i i r l l tha '" an ar t

i r lo i l r ,c t is f r . r rn. l td sr : l ) ) tance, and that rvhat l tpnears upon rr : i1ec-

t iOn a: f r : t rnt \ \ ' i rcn l i r rc intercst i i t t l r l r t rn,osi a]) i ) tars a: i m.r t tcr

uhen , . hangc o f i n i l r t : r t g i v cs ano t l c r t i l r i i t o i l i r c c t i , r n -

. ' \p. , r : t f ron, ; -qolnr i s l ) i ' ( i3 l in t r : rest , ever. \ : prodt lL l o i ar t is

r : : l t t r t r a i r ( l nr : i t t t r or l iv , to ihai ihe cLr l t l ra- : t is r rot oetrvecn mrl t -

ier rnd form b' , r l betr i i :en i ; r i t l t i ' r r t le t i \ ' { iy unfornler i and 'nat ter

lur i r , 'c luat . ly iont : , 'd . i he f : ,c l th. r t r i : t lect i ln t rn, is t i js t inct ive f orm

in p i , - 1u rcs 6 ;11 in , ; i be : t c l : t qa r i n { t i he f ac t t } r a t a p , i l i i ng co t r : j . t s

- . i i ln i i ' o i I ' rgmi ' ! '^ i : l ) i i r i - ' { r i on cr invls. s i t ' ,ce anv ar f i lngL' Int 'nt < l i ] ( l

d r s i gn t i r c l ha re i , , . : r f t r : r r r l l a p r r , r t c : t i - o f t l i c subs i : i n ce l i l i r l o f

n r - r 1 l i 11g r ' ) s r ' . S i t r ; i l ; r r l 1 . l i t . ' r ; r t t : : e . , : i t . l r i ; t s i * j u s t s ' i i t i an - v

lor t is , spol . in and q ' i i l tcn " : r i l i f i . i ver ] ' th i l lg , i l l l r l fL, rn1 a

rr : r r i le for ct - t r in asi ) ( 'c t . of t i re J l l i i l i . r \ \ 'hon i l t tcnt i ( ) i ; g( ' i ls

p r : n r r r i l l ' t o j L r s t t hcs t : i i sp i r t t i . ' I i r t i a c t ' l l l r t a r i - o r k o i a r t i : an

o i r aan i za t i on r : f t i i l r g i t s an r l t l r e r l l t t l i . ' t r r t c o i l he o rqan i za t i " n i s

a l l i n rpo r t an t , canno t r n i l i t i r t e aqa in : r t h t ' f : l " t i h i l t i r i . i t n t f j l ' s

rv i r i r :h : i re or geni zed i i i r t l th i t t orgi t r . j z i t t ion ht ls r , t t cx istence oui .s i t le

0t 1-nt ' i l l .

THE acknorviedgi :d comn i :n i t1 ' o i f , r rm in r i i f ferent ar t i c : I r '

r ies u i th i t l . i i rn l r l i . : r t ion a , :orre i l , r ,ndinq c,- ' l t . i ln t tn i ty oI srrb-

: , t lncc. I t is th is impl icat i r in r rh ich I norv | r t ' rpo.e 1rr er i r lor t anr i

ieveiop. I haie pre ' . ' i r ,us l ) ' nc ied that ar i is t ar , r l perc, : iver a i ike

beqin wi th nhat r r - ra1'bc r ; , i lcc l a t i . r ta l :e izure, an iucl t r ; ive i lual i -

tat ive \ rhole not ) 'c t r , . r t icul : r t i ' t l . nrr t r l is t int ' l ished : i l l to r l rombers.

Speaking of the or jg in o i ! ; is pocn. : . Schi l ler said: " \ [ ' i th me the

1 9 ? A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

perception is at first rvithout a clcar and definite object. This take..shape later. \ \rhat precedes is a pecul iar musical mood of mind,Afterwards comes the poetical ir lea." I interpret this saying tomean something oi the kind just stated. l loreover, not only doe-rthe "mood" come f irst, but i t persists es the substratum afterdist inct ions emerge; in fact thel. einergo as i ls di-st inct ions.

I lven at the out-{et. thc total and rnassive quali tv has i tsuniqueness; even when vrque antl Lrndehned, i t is just that ivhichit is and not an1'thing else. I i the.perception continues. discri ini-nation inevitably sets in. Attcnticut ntust move, and, as i t nroves,parts. members, emerge fronr the background. And i f attentionmoves in a uni i led cl irect ion instead of rvandering, i t is control ledby the pervading quali tat ive unitv; attention is control led by i tbecause i t operates rvithin i t . ' fhat ' ,r ,rses orc the poent, are i tssubstance, is so truist ic that i t sa1's nothing. I lut the fact .rvhich

the truism records coulr l not exist unltrss matter, po{tt ical ly felt ,calre f irst, and came in such a. unihed and nrassive wil) , . as todetermine i ts orvn dcvekrpnrent, that is i ts speci i tcat ion into dis-t inct ive parts. I f the percipient is asare of sean.rs antl rnechanicaljunctions in a rvork of art, i t is because the substance is not con-trol led by a pcrmeating quali ty.

Not only must this qual i ty be in al l "parts," bLr+. i t canonly be felt , that is, inrnrediatr ly exircr ienced. I am not trying todescribe i t , for i t cannot be dlscribed nor cven be spccifcal lypointed at-since yhatever is specilied in a rvork of art is one ofi ls dif ferentiat ions. I am oni l ' t r i . ' ing to cal l attention to somethingthat every one can reai ize i : preiel l t in his erperience of a workof art, but that is so thoroughly ancl pervasively present thati t is taken for granted. "Intuit icn" has been used b) ' phi losophersto designate ntany things-some of which are suspicious charac-ters. But the penetrat inq qtral i ty that runs through al l the partsof a rvork of art and binds them into an individual ized whole canonly be emotional ly " intuited." The dif ferent elements and specif icquali t ies of a work of art blend and fuse in a way which physicalthings cannot emrlate. This fusion is the felt presence of the samequali tat ive unity in al l of thcm. "Parts" are discriminated, notintuited. But rvi thout the intuited enveloping quali ty, parts areexternal to one another and rncchanically related. Yet the or-ganism rvhich is the work of art is notiins different from its

T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S I 9 3

parts or members. I t is the psrts as members-a fact that againbrings us to the one per,. 'asi le qual i ty that renrains the samequali tv in bcing dit ierentiated. The result ing sense of total i ty is ,comnterlorat ir , 'e, €\fgsgu!. insinr-rat ing. prcnronitorl ' .x " i

' Ihere is ' io nar.elo be givcn i t . As i t enl ivens anri ani-matcs, i t i> the spir i t of the rvork of art. I t is i ts real i ty, rvhen wefeel the q'ork of art to be real on i ts o\\ 'n account and not as areal ist ic erhibit ion. I t is the idionr in r l 'hich the part icular rvorkis composed ancl exprcssed, that u'hich ,stanrps i t rvi th individual-i ty. I t is the backgrouncl rvhich is nrore than spatial because i tenters into and quali f ies el 'er1'thing in the focus, evervthing dis-t inguished as a part and menrber. \ \ 'e are accustomed to thinkof physical objects as having bounded edges; things l ike rocks,chairs, books, houses, tracle, and science. l ' i th i ts efforts atprecise measurenrent, hrve confirmed the bel ief. Then we uncon-sciousl l ' carry over this bel icf in the bounded chlracter of al lobjects ol experience (a bel ief founded ult imately in the practicalexigcncies of our deal ings rvith things) into our conception ofexperience i tself . \ \ 'e suppose the experience has the sanre definitef imits as the things nith rvhich i t is concerned. 13ut any experiencethc most ordinarv, has an indefinite total sett ing. Things, objects,are only focal points of a here and now in a rvhole that stretchesout indefinitel l ' . This is the qr,ral irat ive "background" rvhich isdefined and macle definitel l- conscious in part icular objects andspecif ied propert ics and qLral i t ie:. Therc is sonrethinq m1'st icalassociated r i i th thc r lord intuit ion. and any experience becomesmystical in the dcgree in rvhich the sense, the feel ing, of the un-l imited envelopc become-s intense- -as i t nray do in experience ofan object of art. . \ : ' Ienn1'son said:

"Expcricnce is an arch altt'rtlliro'Glcans that untrai'e ll'd uorlrl , tihost: ntargin ladesI-orcucr and Jorcucr u,Jtcn I mttte."

I ior although there is a bounding horizon, i t moves as wemove. \ \ ie are never rvhoi l l ' f ree iront the sense of sontething thatl ies be1'ond. \ \ ' i thin the Lmited rvorld direct ly ' seen, there is a

* I take th i j oy l r , r r tL :n i i . r ' to r , r :n t ion age in thc rssa .v on Qua l i ta t iueThought , p rev ious ly ' r r i f r rc ( l to (p . r :o . ) .

1 9 4 A R T A 5 E X P E R I E N C E

tree rv i th a rock at i ts foot : we fasten o, t r s isht i lpon the rock,i inr l then ul )on th. i moss on tht rock. pr . rha1,r $.e lhen take amlcrc:cope to v ie l ' sontc t int ' l ich, :n. I iut rv i ;c t l i r r the scrrpe ofl i ,s i r in l r t , r 'ast cr nt inut€. nc c.xper icr ,ce i t a-s a n. i i - t of a larger\a ' i ro le anr l in l lus ivc n.h i : lc , r , i l t r t t i i : t t n i ) i r ioLt tses ctr r , , rprr i_ence. \ \ 'e n: ighf r . r l tanLl thc f ic ld l ronr the ntrr i lT{ . . t r the r i . ider .B:r t hur ' , "c ' . t : r b i -oad the i ie i l . i t rs st i l i ic i t ls nrr t i l ic x l io le: theFrargins shade i ' t t l ihat inc i r , f i r r i te er : t r tn_ie i rcvoacl lh ich i rn: ,q ina-t r on ca i l s t he r r n i v r l se . ' I ' h i , ' sen . c o f r h t : i n c l L r r i i r r g ; vho le i n t p l i c i tin crCinarv t , , * ryrr iences is r rnr iered inte i i -e l . i th in l l jc i r t r t l r .u l al .s int ing i t , r Doci t t , I ' . , r l tht - . r than anv s i rc, : i l r i f r , r rc: t t i . rn. : " , thatrrh ich re.onci les us to tht evcnts of t ragedr. . fhe s. i .ntbcl i : ts h" lvr :cxpio i ted th is indef in i te phase of ar t : P, j . spol :e of I . l * , ! : ; ! i ! ,ejndei ' in i tene-"s { r i veqLlr- and thercfore spi : i tLral ef i r :c t " v , ,h i i t_ (_ole.r idge said tha. t t . r 'c iv r rorh r . . f ar t mr ist h l r .e a l tcut i t . rotr ,c th ingnci uwlelst1od to obt t in i ts fu l l ef lect .

r \boui ever_r-e>:pl ic i t end f { rcal objecl . thcre is a recessionintc Cre inrpi ic i t ivhich is not ;nrei icctual l . , gr .aspei l . In , .e l lect ionrve cal l i t r i in t and vague. l tur rn the r i r ig inai e.rpc-r ier ;ce i t is notic ient i6ed as the vague. i t i> a f i lnct ion of thr : v hoje: , i tuat ion, andnot an elentent in i t . as i l would huve lo br in i , , rdcr to beappreiren, led a-r 1."agi t ! . . At t t . i l i< . 'ht . c iu, . i : is a det ight fu l quai i tvo f t i : c r vho le wo r i c l . I t i r i t i r pp r . r : r i l r e m ln i f r . t r t i on . I t b r . -corn( ' j a specia i i : : t ,d and obnoxi t : r - rs t ra i t t in l r lvhen i t pre_ve nts d i - t inct pr , r . ieDi io i r of ) . , r r ie p: l - r icui i r r rh i lg le de: i r* : todiscer l

The un<lel l t ,ed pervasive qr . ra l i tv cr l an esr,er ience is thatv"hich binds t r rss15"r a l l the r lc . t ined elentrnts. the objr , . ts of r r , \ ichr . , 'e , l ic focal ly ar , , are, nrakinq r l , r :n: a r ihole

' l i :e h i :s t e. ; idence

tha t s r r ch i s t he c : t : r : i . ou r cc , r . t : t n t s { t i i \ r o f l h i t q r Ls be lonq ingor not i - .c l rn( inq. l i :e le\ani . \ , ' , at . ence *hich ts i r i rmrr i iate. I t can-not be a product of r ; : t lect ion, e\ ' , ' i r though i t requires rcf lect ion toFn,! o i i t r ' ,hc iher s l rn ie l t r r r t icul ; r r ccrn:r i t ]er iL i r : i is pt- r , . i t rc i l t r , l r .vbl t twe arc doing.r t i l rnk ing For i in is , . . , t i t r , : i r l . : . r , rvr , , r , . i r . : r .ncr i iate, \ reshol , ld have no qrr id, . i - r t oul r t t ler : t ion. ' fh i , .en: .1 01 . l l l ex l r r ] , : l t , f ,and u:rder l l ing whcie i : , t l l { r a()ntrxt o i t . , r , r r , .Jr . . l ) r r i ( ,q( ,e and i t isfhe ; rssence , t f sani i t ' . [ i r r r the n, t r r ] . the insrr :e, r .h inq to u: ls uratwhich is tor l f r , r i i t thc c.ontmc:t . . , , r r , tc \ t and, . t .h i r :b stanr. is a lc ineani l i - r t la l r .d, t : i an] ' t i t in l j r i lu : : t \ , ,L ich r :ccur: in a, . r ( l r ld i f ia l ly

T H E C o M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T r i E A R T S i 9 s

cl i i icrent f rcn or i r . . \ \ " i thout en inr lc t t ' rnt in, . t f r lnd un'Jeiermined

:t t t ing, the ni : i tcr ia l of ln l ' ' e : ; ;cr icnce is inct ,herent .

I n.ork l i ar t_ e l ic i ts n, t . l i i . . r 'n i r . t :1(-r th i , . oLrai i t ] ' , r f beine

: t . , i ' i r o l e ' i nd 1 ) i l ) i ' l , , n l l i ng t o t l t c i a r i ' t r . a l l i n c i i l s i r e l ho l e n i r i ch i s

t l r : u r r i ve r s l i n uh ie l , i l e l i l e . T i t i s ' ac t . I t h l nk . i s f hc t ' : : ; r l ana t i r ' : t

' r ! i l i ; r t f e r l r n r , ; f t : ; q i i i . , i t e i n t e l l i r : i l r i 1 i t 1 ' l r n t l c l r t : i l v q ' h l t ve t r .

: ' r , r p re r r r n .e o i an r , i r j c c ' i l : : t t i : t r 1 : c r i e r l c c l i i s i t j r c : t h . t i c i n -

i r l i . i t I . I t eq r l a i r r : a l so t i r e r c l i g i cu . f e r : l r ns t i r , i i l c i o r t r n l i i c - j - , . 1 '

l r ' r r : . , r is lhet ic p i r rcePi io i l . \ \ 'e : r rc, 'q j1 i1r | t . i : r l , ror l r t r ; i : r l in to i t

r . ' , , ,1, ] l r , l r r rnd th is. ,vr , r lc i which i - . never l i te l t 'ss the dccper real i t ' '

: t t lc u-r , r ' l r l in r r ' l : i r - -h l r 'c l iv t : i r r 11rr 6,rc l i i r : i rv r : r l ler i l t tc t 's . rJ 'e : r r r

carr i t , r i out l - 'e ; 'onr l out 'sch' ts t t t i tn, l c , i t r .e lvt 's . I can -ec(r l lo p i \ : -

l :hoicqir :a l grot t t ;d for such propei t i , ' : o i ' t t i e:<p, ' r ienr: t l sar t th i l .

. ! .n iehirw the tvoih i ) i ar t operates to r l l t ren ant i lo ra i .c 1{) *reat

c l : i i : i r - ' . ' t h : r t s t nsc o l : Ln enve lop i r r q undc l r n td ' \ l ) { i ' l e t h i l i a { c1 : i l -

panirrs € l 'er) 'nornr: t i r rx i )er ience. Ti r i r v 'hrr le js thcn fe l t as l r r

exp r r s i o r i r ' f r t , t t r s c l ve -q . F t r r r - r r , l ) ' nn ! { r L i s t r l t e i i i n : r 1 r : r r t i cu i r r

cb l cc t o f ( k s i i c upon r i ' i i i ch i e he r l : 1 l l i : i l h imse l i . l i ke l l a che th .

f r r u l s r . ha l l i i e i : . ; r l r l t ' t r , L i l , t ' an i r l i i , t . i r t l l o f r . o r t t r r i end f u r - ; ; ,

s i qn i f l i n r no t l i i ng . \ ' r ' he re eg , r i i s t ; r i c r l r ) t l r i s ( l e l h n t t ' ' - ' t r e f i

real i t - r . ' a ld vrr lue. " . ' , r : are c i t izens of th is i l i ' l ' , ' , ' , ; rk i be1'ond oi ' r '

sel ' ' t : , , . i i r r r l i l t iv intense real iz : t1 i , t r t ( i f i t : i - , ie !ence rr i th l t t td in r l -

b r ' ! ; . i ! r s a pecu l ; : L r l r ' . , a i i . i ) ' i r , ' j en : i { r { J i i t r i i l i n i t se l f ; , n ' i r v i t i ' ,

ou r se l vcs .

U \ :ERY r ' . ' r , r k o f a r t has a l r r t i l : u l r r i i r e l l i i l n b I ' r vh ; r L , a .mcn_q

o the r t l i i ngs , t h l r u r l i t a t i ' , t ' I ) i ' r v r i : ; i t t s l ' , ) l e i ( ca r : r e t l . I : e l r r j

expe r i encc we t J ' , l c i ' t h i : i r , r r l ' i t h r , t t l u l ' r s r l i l e I - r l r t i a : l l 3 r l an t i l f l e '

r i e ca r f \ ' o l t a i ' , t i r r * . r c r i t ' , ' - ' r . , i t h t t . i t r : , t n i ' s l t o l t e t t t t t s . t h ro r i l l h

a spcci3 l i red . rg; in. I ] ) t r r "nt i ie : r rgrni : ; r t * ' ; l l ' . r ' l l i ts charge ol

t i re p l i . t a i rd ' , : r icc l re( . r rce: ; operat ts, l l l l t ) ' . , : , l ler : t 'cs thrur tg l i

a pa r t i cu l r l r , r i ' t i i t i r , r l r l t o f e t ' e , as i t i n t c r : t c i s l v i 1h I ve . t ' i l r

1n (1 t ouch . ' i l r r f i n c a i t s l : i y h r r l d u f l h i s i ac t ; r n t l l u . l , i t t r r i t -

r i r . r in,ur i r r r f s ig i r ; l ic l ine r I r r an1, ' orr l inar l . t v i* ra i I ) r r ( ' : 11i i r ,n, rvr

see bv rnci rnq oi l ieht : lv i : r l is t ing ' . l ish t ry tneans r t i r i : l i r ' , : ter l : inr . l

l i . l racted culors: t l ,at is : r t ru isn, . Bl t in ordinar] I r t r r r 'pt ion.t i r is rneCiurn ot cr lor i : . nr i : r i 'c l . a l l r ' l terr i td. \ \ 'h i ie rvt - : i?t , \1a

i lso h. i t r : we i re l , r re, ,srr r r :s , arx i hci l t or coid. [ r a l l , t i r t inr : r - , : , i i r i

IIi

i

1 9 6 A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

renders the scene rv i thout thece al lo) 's and i ' , - r lur i t i t ' ; . Thev l r . .pa r t o f t he d r r ) s : t h : i t i . . squ r cze r l oL r t an r i l r f t l r ch i n r l i n en ac t ' :in ten,s i t led exprrssion. The met l ium bct ornr .s col( t r a lone, and s in i ,color a lonc n.r ' , rs t no\ \ ' carr l , : t i lc r lLr l r l i l ies r . ) i i l l r lvct l tent . toLl( i .s u u n , l . e t c . . l l r r t a r c p r e . . e n t i , h . \ , i , . r l l v o r r t i i ( i r o s r r l c c o u n t i :ordinary v is ion, the expressiveness and encrgy of color are cn-hanced.

Photographs to pr imi t ive fo lk have. so i t is said, a fearfL: lmagical qur l i t ) , ' . I t is uncanny that sol id and l iv ing th ings shorr i , lbe t l i u s p r csen t rd . Thc re i s ev i d tnce t ha t when p i c t u res o f any k i n i ihrst made their appearance, n i ig ical powcr '$xs imputed to thentTheir porver of representat ion could come onlv f rom a super-na tu ra l sou rcc . ' I - o one r i ho i : no t r ende rec l ca l l ous b1 ' comn toncontact lv i th p ictor ia l reprcsentat ions there is st i l l somethingnt i raculous in the pci ' ,ver of a cont facted, i la t . uni form th ing todepict the rv ide and divers ined universe of anintate and inanimatethings: i t is possib l l ' fc i r th is reason that popular ly , ,ar t ' , tendsto denote paint ing, anr l "ar t is t" one l 'ho paints. Pr imi t ive nranalso in iputed to sounds s 'hcn used a^s tvord_r the porver to contro lsupernatural l \ r the acts and secrcts of men and to contmand, pro-v ided the r ight rvord u 'as there, the forces of nature. The porver ofmere sount ls to e\press in l i terature al l event . -s and obiects isequxl l ! ' rnan'c lous.

Such facts as these secm to nte to -suggest the r6 le l inr is igni l icance of ntecl iu for ar t . - - \ t hrst s ight . i t scelus a fact notworth recordinq that t . , 'e-r t ' ar t ha.-s a ntcdiunr, r f i ts on,n. \ \ 'hr ,puti t d r - r un i n b l ack and r vh i t t : t ha t ; r e i n t i ng canno t r , \ i r t r v i t hou tcolor , nrusic rv i thout sound, archi tecture tv i thorr t s tone and * .ood,statuary tv i thout marble and bronze. l i teratLrre r i . i thout rvords.c. lancing u ' i thr iut thc l iv ing bodr '? The unsrr .er h l rs. I bel ieve. beenindicated. In everv exper ienct ' . there is the perr .ar l ing unr ler l l , ingqual i tat ive r iholc that corresponds to and nrani fests the rvholeo rgan i za t i on o f ac t i v i t i c s *h i ch cons t i t t r t e t h { r n t \ . s t e r i ous humanframe. IJut in every cxper icnce, th i . cor lp lex, th is c l i f ic , rent iatedand recording, nrechanisnt operates throrrgh specia l s t rLtctures thattake the lead. not in d ispersed c l i iJusi , ,n thrc iugh:r l l organs a! once-save in panic rvhen, a; rve t ru lv s i ry. one has lost one,s htud.' ' f l ed i um" i n f i ne a r t dcno tes t he f l r c t t ha t t h i s . pec ia l i za t i on andindiv idual izat ion of a part icLrJar orqan of crper ience is carr icc l

I H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S 1 9 7

the point r ' , 'hcrein a l l i ts possib i l i t ie : are erplo i tcd ' fhe

e1'e or

, : t ha l i s cen t r : i i l l ' a c t i ve do t s no t l o : t i t s spec i r r c che r r " c t e r and

: ' spccia l htness as the bearcr of au c: ;Pcr icncf that i t r rn iquely '

: : rkes possib lc. ln ar t , tht seeing or hcl i r inq thr t is d ispcrsed and

, . r : l e c l i n o rd i na r l ' pe r cc l l t i ons i s conc t l l t r i l t e ( l t l n t i l t h t ' i r ec r : l i l r

r lce of the s1xrc ia l n lct l i t i rn o l )crates * i th iu l i cncrgy ' { ree {rom

: : : i r aC t i on .' ] Iedium" s igni t res f i rs t of a l l an intermedier) . Thc import

f the worcl " l t te i tns" is thc sanle. 1 'he1' are the nl iddle, the inter-

. , .n ing. th ing' thtough *hich strn leth ing now rcnrote is brouqht to

:r : lss. Yct not a l l n lean: l are ntecl ie" fht ' rc are tu 'o k inds of mei lns '

i tne k ind i -c external to that rvhich is accornpi ished; the other

" : inc l is taken r l l l in to the col . l : t ' t1 t t . - t tcc; prot l t t t :cc l rnd remains

i l l rnanent in t } rcI l r . . rhere ar t errr ls r rh i r : i r are nlcr t l l ' r r 'e lcome

.essat ions and there are cnds th l l t are fu l f r lh l lents of what went

l re iore. The tUi i ! i a }a l rorcr is t (1u (r f t rn 0nl t 'a l t arr tecct lcnt to the

lage he receives, as con.runlpt ion of gasol i r te is r r terel l ' a mei lns

to l ransportat i rn. Tht ' l l le l ln- i c t 'ase to act l lh tn the "cnd" is

:eachedi one $, , t t i , l Le gi r i r l ' r ts a ru lc ' to get t l l ( r resul t $ i t 'hout

having to enlp lo i r thc nteans' Thc'u- are Lrr t a scai fo l r l ing '

Such er ter t ta i t ) r ,nL ' r t I l l t : lns, as rr e l l l rpt r i l ' t t rm them'

3re usual l ) 'o f s t rch a sort th i l ' t r r t i r t ' rs cat l be subst i tuted for t t renl ;

the part icular ones entplo l 'ed ar t : dct t ' rn l ined ht ' s t t t t te cr i t ianeous

c o n s i d t r x t i o n , l i l i c c h e a p n e s s . i J u l t h t l l l { ) l l l f n t \ \ ' r ' s a \ ' ' 1 l l e ( l i 3 " '

rve rcfer to n lcens that are i t rcor l lor l t t t ' r l in t l l ' ' out i l l l te ] lVt 'n

br icks and ntor tar becoi .nt e l tar t Of tht hol t .c t l t tY ar t cr l lp lo l 'ed

to b r r i l t l : t hc ) ' a re no t l ne re n ) c i l ns t o i ' s t r t c t i " n ( ' oL r r s t r r c t he

paint ing: tonL's are thc nr t ts ic t \ l ' icr r ' r r . t Paint t t l \ \ ' i th \v l l t r r colors

has a c lual i t l 'd i f ierent f rc inr th l t t painted t t ' ; t l r i i l E ' thet ic et iects

l re long intr ins ical l l ' to tht ' i r n leci iut t . l : *hen lL; t ' r ther n l t t i iur ' is

subst i tut i td, lve have a stunt r i l ther thr tn ln obiect of ar t ' Even

rvhen subst i tut ion is prrrct iccd t i th tht r ' l tmost v i r tuosi t l ' or for

anv rcason outs i t le the k incl of t :nt l de-r i rer l ' the prr ' r i t rc t is mechani-

cal or a taudr l ' shanr- l ike boart ls painted to r t '<enrble stonc in

t he cons t ruc t i cn c f a ca thed rx i . f o r : t one i s i n t eq ra l no t j us t

ph1's icr l l1, ' , but t r . r the ' esthet ic t f icct '

The di i f t rence betrvet 'n t 'x ternl t l and intr ins ic c-rperat ions

r u n s t l r r o t i { h a l l t h e a f f a i r s r l f i i i e . ( ) r r e S t . L l i ] l , n t s t u r l i e s t o p l s s

an exant in l t i ion, to gct prol ) lot iL in ' l 'o

anothr : r ' thc n leans' the

I 9 8 A R T A S E X P E R ] E N C E

activity of learning, is completely one with what results from it.The consequence, instruction, illumination, is one with the proc-ess. Sonretimes we journey to get somewhere else because we havebusiness at the latter point and would .gladly, were it possible, cutout the traveling. At other times we journey for the delight ofmoving about and seeing what we see. lleans arid end coalesce.If we run over in mind a number of sr-rch cases we quickly seetlat all the cases in which means and ends are external to oneanother are non-esthetic. This externality may even be regardedas a definition of the non-esthetic.

Being "good" for the sake of avoiding penalty, whether itbe going to jail or to hell, makes conduct unlovely. It is asanesthetic as is going to the dentist's chair so as to avoid a lastinginjury. trVhen the Greeks identified the good and beautiful inactions, they revealed, in their feeling of grace and proportion inright conduct, a perception of fusion of means and ends. Theadventures of a pirate have at least a ronlantic attrection lackingin the painful acquisitions of him who stays within the law rnerelybecause he thinks it pays better in the end to do so. A large partof popular revulsion against utilitarianism in moral theory is be-cause of its exaggeration of sheer calcuiation. "Decorum" and"propriety" which once had a favorable, because esthetic, mean-ing are taking on a disparaging signification because they areunderstood to denote a primness or smugness assumed because ofdesire for arr external end. In all ranges of experience, externalityof means defines the mechanical. l\{uch of rvhat is termed spiritualis also unesthetic. But the unesthetic quality is becausc the thingsdenoted by the word also exemplifl' separation of means and end;the "ideal" is so cut- off from the realities, by tvhich alone it can bestriven for, that it is vapid. The "spiritual" gets a local habitationand achieves the solidity of form required for esrhetic qualityonly when it is embodied in a sense of actual things. Even angelshave to be provided in imagination rvith bodies and wings.

I have referred morc than once to the esthetic quality thatmay inhere in scientific work. To the layrnan the material of thescientist is usually forbidding. To the inquirer there exists a fui-filling and consummatory quality, for conclusions sum up andperfect the conditions that lead up to them. Nloreover, they haveat times an elegant and even austere form. It is said that Clark-

T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S I 9 9

\la-rwell once introduced a symbol in order to make a physical

:quation symmetrical, and that it rvas only later that experimental

:esults gave the symbol its meaning. I suppose that it is also true

::at if business men were the mere money-grubbers they are often..:pposed to be by the unsympathetic outsider, business would be

:.uch less attractive than it is. In practice, it may take on the

:,:operties of a game, and even rvhen it is socially harmful it must

3\'e an esthetic quality to those'rvhom it captivates.

I{eans are, then, media when they are not just preparatory

rr preliminary. As a medium' color is a go-between for the values

*rak and dispersed in ordinary experiences and the new concen'

::ated perception occasioned by a painting' A phonographic disk

:s a vehicle of an effect and nothing nore. The music which issues

rrom it is also a vehicle but is something more; it is a vehicle

which becomes one with what it carries; it coalesces with what

ii conveys. Physically, a brush and the movement of the hand

in applying color to canvas are external to a painting. Not so

3rtistically. Brush-strokes are an integral part of the esthetic effect

of a painting wben it is perceived. Some philosophers have put

forth the idea that esthetic effect or beauty is a kind of ethereal

essence which, in accommodation to flesh, is compelled to use

external sensuous material as a vehicle. The doctrine implies that

$ere not the soul imprisoned in the body, pictures would exist

rvithout colors, music without sottnds, and literature without

words. Except, however, for critics who tell us how they feel

n'ithout telling or knowing in terms of rnedia used why they feel

a-. they do, and except for persons rvho identify gush with appre'

ciation, media and esthetic effect are completely fused.

Sensitivity to a medium as a medium is the very heart of

all artistic creation and esthetic perception. Such sensitiveness

does not lug in extraneous materia-I. When, for example, paintings

are looked at as illustrations of historical scenes, of literature, of

familiar scenes, thel' are not perceived in terms of their media'

Or, when they are looked at sirnply with reference to the technic

employed in making them what they are, they are not esthetically

perceived. For here, too, means' are separated frotn ends' Anal-

ysis of the forrner becomes a substitute for enjoyment of the

latter. It is true that artists seem themselves often to approacb

a work of art from an exclusively technical standpoint-and the

2 O O A R T A S I X P E R I E N C E

outcome is at leai t refreshing af icr having l iac i a dose of *hatis regarded as 'apDrecir t ion." I lut in rer l i t1. . for the niost nart .they so feel the s-hole that i t is uct neccssi l rv to c l r i .e i l upon theend, the rvhole. in rvorc is, and --qo thc) .are f r t .ed to consic lcr hor i .thc lat ter is product :d.

Thc nredir r l t i : i a rnediar , i l r . l t is x g6- l jg1r\ rcn of ar t is t anr lpcrceir ,er . Tolsto i i r r thr nt i r ls t o i l , i : l tora l pr .concrpt ions of t ( ,nspeaks as an a r t i , , t . He i ; c c l eb r . : l t i n c t h i s i t i n c t i r r n o f i i n . r r t i . twhen he inai ies the rcnr l rks a l r r ' . . r lv quoicr l i ibout ar t as thxrrvhich uni tes.

' fhc intportant th i r ig i r l thc th. , i ) r1, . of at . t is thrr t

th is union is e i i rc ter i through th l r isc of spcci : t l nratr : r ia l as amedium, Bv t t 'n l r r l lu l rnt . I r ( rhap5 ] , t ' in i : l i rnt i , rn rnr l as l t i r -ur ion.v , ' e a re a l l a r t i : r tS . up t . ) a ce r t l r i r r l t o i n t . \ \ ' n : r t i . j : r c k i ng i s t he irvhich ntarks thr ur t is t in cr :ccur i , l t . i . 'or thc i t r t is i has t l lc l towerto scize upon a spr c i : r i k ind ct f r ;nt r . r ia l ; in t i c , rnvt , r t i t in t r . ran aut i tent ic mer l iu i t ' t t t i i ' rpr tss i r r r . t . l hc rcst o i r t : i r i , lu i re ! r l i ln t .ch:Lnnels and a n. l i i rs r - r f n.a l r r i r l io g ivc r rJrr i ,ss i , rn t r ; * .1:e i . rv t ,should l :Lc l t i sr i ' . Thcn t i r , : r ' : t r ic l . , .o i agcnci ts t , tnolovct l p{r : i i r tt he $ t v c i onc ano thc r en r l r cnc l t ' r . r \ i ) r { r : : i { ) n t L r r l r i c i . r vh i j r : t hesl iecr bulh of nreter ia l cnr l r lover l nrei ie- . i t conf i rsed end arvkr i l r r l .The ar l i , . t s t icks to h is choscn ors;rn ani i i ts c, r r respcinding nra-ter ia l . and ihr is thc idta s inglv ancl concentratedlr . fc l t in terntsof the mediun" come-s througir pt i r .e ancl c l t 'ar . I {e p i : r . , .s the gamein te r : - - t l r ' . b ce ; r r r s , , . t r i r r 1 ) ' .

Sonrething .u 'h ich Delai : r t i i - t - .a id of painters of i , l is dayappl ie i to infer ior ar t is ts genert l l r ' . tL: sejd ther. u.cd L. . r lor , r t ionrather than color . The sta i ( .n i 'u t s i . in i t lec l thet thcl ' a l tp i ied crr lor/o their r t 'prcscnted objrcts ins iear l of ntaking thcrn ou' r r , f color .This procedure s igni f i ts th l t coi r r rs As ntei ins lnc l obj t ,et , : : rnclscenes depicted r ' ; r re kei t t a1;rr t

' fhev did not u, .e color a. . ntedir rnr

tv i th complere de. ,ot ion. ' fheir

nr inr ls ant i cxptrr iencc \ \ .erc ( l iv i i le( I .\ Iean-s and end did not col lcsce.

' l ' i i , : grear.est c: - th( . t ic r l - , .o iLr t ionin the histor ' ' ' o f l la int inq took place nhc'n color \ \ , : ls r t : r ( r l s t ruc_tural lv ; then pi r : tures ccaset l to be c, . ' lo lcd t i r r . , r . inqs.

' i -he t rue

art i ,s t sees ant j f rc ls i t t t t rnt . ; r , f h is ntcr l iut l an( l the onc r i .hc l haslearned to perceive est i tet ical iv cmLr lat t ,s the o; ;cr l r1 i , rn. ( ) rhersca r r y i n t o t he i r se t , i nq o f p i c t r r r es : r nd hca r i ng e , f n i us i t . i ) r { , concep -t ions drarvn f rc. rnt sotrrccs that . ( ,bstruct tnd Lonir , t -<r ptrccpi ion.

Fine ar t is somr: t intes dl i incd a: polyrr to crr : t te i l l i r - . ions.

T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A I ] C E O F T H E , A R T S 2 O I

r . r far as I can.ce th is statcment is a decidedl-v uninte l l igent

: r , .1 in is l t 'ading u r iy r ; f s tet inq a t l t l ' .11-nanlei1" thrLt l r t is ts create' : ' ,c ts l l ' cot t tn l l r t , l of s inule t r lcr i i t tn l . In ordinary percept ion rve

. i )cnd ulon cot t t r i i r t l t ion f Ic , i l i a var iet l ' o f : .ourccs for our

. : . r ler : tanr l inc o i the mtat l i t t { of i ' ,h : i t rve are undergoing. The

. : i i s t i c us . o f l t n r cd iu t l s i gn i i t ' s t ha t i r r e l cvan t a i ds a re exc i uded

.: , r l one stn ie qt t : t i i t l ' ' is c, lnccntr : r tecl l ; -anr l intensel"v usei l to do' : r r vo r k t i su l l l y ' done l r i ose l v $ i t h t he a i t l o f man r ' . Bu t t o ca l l- : r r rcsul i ln i l l t rs ion is to nt i r n lat tc!"s that should be dist in-

. ' . r i s i r ed . i i n re l su re o f a r t i s t i c n l c r i t r v c re r b i l i t l ' t o pa in t a f l ) '

r a Jretch,qo th:r t ive arc movcd to bru.h i t of f or grapes on a

.rnvas so t i r . i t b i r t ls come to i rcck at th€ni , a scare-crow 11ould be

, * 'ork of consun)mate i lne-ar t rvhen i t sur- iceeds at keepin{ a lay' , i re crows.

' Ihe confr . i - ion of uhich I have j r rst spoken can be c leared

p. There is something phvsical , in i ts ordin l ' r : \ ' ser lse of real

f \ is t ( 'ncc. f -hr : r r is thc coior or sound th i l t const i tutes t l le n ledium'

\ncl thcrc is an t rper ict tce having a scnse of rcal i tv . qui te l ikel ! '

: , hc iehtentd onc. ' l 'h is sensc tvt . ' t t ld bei l lusory, i f i t rvere I i l ie that

, rh ich appt ' r ta in: io thc st 'nse of thc rcal e\ is t r ' l lce of the medium.

l jut i t is ver1,- d i i ferent . { )n 1}16 51xgg thc rnecl ia, the aclors and'- ] ' r r i r voices and qcstures, are rcs l l ) ' therr ' ' : thel 'cx ist And the cul-

t ivatecl audi tor h l ts as a cot lscquence a heightencr i sensc (suppos-

rng the play ' to be genrr incl ) ' ar t is t ic) of the redi tv of th ingi uf

t t t l inut , erper icnce. Onl l ' the uncl i i t ivatecl th( ' : l i ! ' rg. ier has such

an i l lus ion ol the rcal i t l , ' r : f rvhat is tnacter l that bc i t lcnt i f ies \ \ 'hat

is done rv i t i r the k int l o i rer l i t ) ' mrni fcstcd in the psl 'chical pres-

ence of the actors. . , \ ( ) that he t r ies t r l j l in in thc act ion. A paint ing

, , f t rees or rocks r t tav nrake t l te character is t ic real i tv of t ree or

i 'cck ntore poi i tn; tnt than i t her l c ' ,cr bt 'er t before. I lut that does

not impl l ' that the spcctxtor takes a pl i r t of the pict l ) re to be an

actual rock of the k inr l he could hln lmer or s i t on. \ \ 'hat makes

e mater ia l a medium is thr t i t is u- .ed to expre:s a meaning rvhich

is o lher than that rvhic i r i t i ,s in v i r t r re of i ts bare ph;-s ical e ist '

ence: the meaning not of u 'hat i t phy 's ical l f is . but of what i t

expresses.

In the discussion of the qual i tat ive background of exper i -

ence and of the specia l mediutrr through rvhich dist inct meanings

and values f rc projected upon i t , wc ere in the presence of some'

i

202 A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

The function we are likely. to assign to tine, upon first*:5:,r_"^lt 1,,loi, "r. ro.'". e ri* ;;fi,;;ffiJ"rll"ilil:"* :::i 1*1:q'"'lq'hv'h;' ffi;;il;HH#:"fr*::.:*:,9-".'.theiuslr.r"tio*r,if in-;ililil;';;ffi ;r"JJu uullsut

#:r::yy_"-r f.o i.1 tn" "tr.i;i,;;;;;;." ,"lT3;::"1.:'-":linarlr."naturar';iil"'il;:ffi:,ingortrees,y::jf"I3, a patcb of grassy netd, and;;;;li;;r"# ;:HjSlIj:,IT scene consists of tr.r. p".t". d;; _# ; ;, ffi:f:: ::li_ :. -lT l. g1 u:d,u .,.*. ;;-;";;;;. ffi illt.:frilTllt Tf-r.:_.:_ll. not placed righ,; r" *"rt'tol##til:*,:: I^:f lranch.es a",J ni ; "ft ;;r,," ffi :'fi;n:."ffIjttre way.Hj*"T**

a good setting, "ril.;;'ilr;;fir,::,:il::

Physically thc things mentioned are parts of the scene. Butfjl:':,:::f f ,:jr,rri.[r.ii",-#;,ffi l;ffjKHil:first tendenry, Iooking

"t tr.",ir", j;::i: wtrore' l\ow our

be to assipn rhe ;.e.,- .l".Iu:*r esthetically, would probably

*",':,:::r"*:,:.'..'Tt,lJ:i.-;;ilffi;:ft "";rl"ilUill:and disturbing relationship of "orrr.,-'

;"":"^-",r":r:r ruauelluare

shoutrt nnr h- _-^-_,_ .- J.of _1nto3rr mass, and placing. eoi,"

;*"11.:::*-:::ci"r..tie;"; j",';;#;:.T:.":;ffl #,T:"f.::::1"1_it *u

"31v "nalysis further, ," ,Ji;lt::'rH;:,:l*::Tr :r"t^l :ili :'-.[6 il;.'J'ffi#lll': "f;i;';;'tr ::"3::*:: -;i! j. ;il;ift;lilJ il:,:illTwe make ia order to get a bett", co,nfiJtlo;jil'#",ffi;

.\ing common in the substance of the arts. Media are differentin the different arts. But possession of a medium belongs to themall. Orhprwise they woutd not be expressir;;;;;;i,h".t tbis com-mon substance courd tbey possess form. r referreJ earrier to Dr.Barnes' definition of form as the integrati*, tfr-rgl relations,of color, light, line and space. Cobr ls .uij.nity tbe medium.But the other arts not onlyiave.o..tling;or-ffinding to color

T.ruqy but they have as a property of their substance some-ttring which exercises the same funciion ifr"t fin" "Jspace

performin a picture. rn the latter, tine aema.catef;;#;; and the resulris presentation of distinct objects, frc";;;;;;; i'"ing tturn"*,!v ylicl an otherwise inaiscriminaie ;;r;J;frr.d into identi_fiable..objects, persons, mountains, g."rs. truery--art has indi_vidualized, defined members. Every-art *o u# its substantialmedium as to give complexity

"i p"rtr-to'tie unity of itscreations.

r H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S 2 0 3

lqrs an individualization, a definiteness, in perception they didmt have before.

The same sort of thing holds when accent and intervalue in question. They are determined by the necessity of main-raining the relations that bind parts into a whole. But also with-out these elements, parts would be a jumble, running aimlesslyinto one anottrer; they would lack the demarcation tbat indi-vidualizes. In music or verse there would be meaningless lapses.If a painting is to be a picture, there must be not only rhythm,but mass-the common substratum of color-must be definedinto figures; otherwise there are smears, blotches, and blurs.

There are pictures in which colors are subdued and yet ttrepainting gives us a sense of glow and splendor, while tbe colorsin other paintings are bright to the point of loudness, and yetthe total effect is of something drab. Vividly bright color, exceptat the hands of an artist, is reasonably sure to suggest a cbromo.But with an a,rtist, a color garish in itself or even muddy mayenhance enerry. The explanation of such facts as these is thatan artist uses color to define an object,and, accomplishes tbis indi-vidualization so completely that color and object fuse. Tbe coloris of the object and the object in all its qualities is expressedthrough color. For it is objects that glowaems and sunlight;and it is objects that are splendid---<rowns, robes, sunlight. Ex.cept as tbey express objects, through being the significant color-quality of materials of ordinary orperience, colors efiect onlytransient excitations-as red arouses while another color sootles.Take any art one pleases, and it will appear that the medium isexpressive because it is used to individualize and defing andthis not just in the sense of physical outline but iu the sense oferyressing that quality which is one with the cbaracter of anobject; it renders cha^racter distinct by emphasis.

Wbat would a novel or drama be without difierent per-sons, situations, actions, ideas, movements, events? These aremarked ofr technically by acts and scenes in the drama, by va,ri-ous entra^nces and exits and all the devices of stagecraft. Butthe latter ale just means of throwing elements into suc! reliefttrat tley complete objects and episodes on their own account-as rests in music are not blanks, but, while they continue a rhlrthm,trtnctuate and institute individuality. Wbat would rn architec-

2 U A R T A S E X P E R I E N C Etural structure be without difrerentiation of masses, and a difrer_entiation that is not just physical *a .f"ti"l, but one thatdefines parts, windows, doors, cornicer, ,ffir,r, roof, and soon? But by dwelling unduly on a fact ttrat^il

"I*uy, piurunt iiany complex significant whote,-I may appear to make a mysteryout of a thing that is our most famifia. erpeiieice_that no wholeis significant to us except as it is constiiuted by parts that arethemselves significant apart from tte *nofe io iilicl ttrey betong-that, in short, no significant community Li-exist save as itis composed of individuals who are signifr.;

The American watercolorist, ;Jhn Marin, has said of awork.of art:-.,Identity looms up as'tle great sieet anchor. Andas nature in the fashioning of man has adhlered strictly to IdentitlHead, Body, Limbs and their separate *rtu"t , io.ruties in them-Tlt:l -1".*iC .:u.ry-

part within itself and through and withff-:i.t

par.l:, its neighbors, at its best approaching a beautiful:-lTu, so thts art product is made up of neighbor identities.And if an identity in this make-up doesnit tail;; ptace and partit's a bad neighbor. And if-the .n*a. .o*"ori *, neighbors!o

no1 tale their places and parts, it,s a baaserice, a bad con-tact._ so ttris Art product is i village io itr.tt.J rn*e identitiesare the parts that are themselves individual ;h;i* ; ttre substanceof ttre work of art.

- fn great art, there is no limit set to tle individuatization:f .ryrtr within parts. Leibniz t"ugii o", tiJuniverse is in_lTt ty organic heciuse every organic thing is constituted adt:Y:u- of other organisms.

-Or. ""i"f U" .t'.ptical of the truthof.this proposition as regards tte uniuerre,id; a measure ofartistic achievement, it is true tbat uu..y p"rf oi

" work of artis potentialty at least so constituted, .in.. it is susceptible of in_

!e!ai!e perceptuat difrerentiation. We ; ilil;ln which thereis little e3 aething in the parts to arrest attentiln-unless fromsheer ugtiness.* our eyes iterally gt""". ;;;;;;; by. rn trivialmlsig parts are simply .".n. oi i*.iog oi; ttJv ao not holdus as parts, nor as the succession goes on do we hord what precedesas parts; as with the esthetically cheap novel, we may get a.Tte cehnotion of the fact

ilyt things WIy in themselves rnay con-tribute to thc esthetic efiect of a wtote-is aouftteJ'iri**ffto the fact thatthcy are so u'ed as to contribute r" Irdtil;La;;;;;;;; within a whole.

T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R I S 2 0 5

'Lick" from the excitation of movement, but there is nothing

u dwell upon unless there is an individualized object or event.

On the other band, prose may have a symphonic effect when

erticulation is carried down into every particular. The more de6'

nition of parts contributes to the whole, the more it is important

in itself.To look at a work of art in order to see how well certaio

rules are observed and canons conformed to impoverishes percep'

tion. But to strive to Dote the ways in which certain conditions

are fulfilled, such as the organic means by which the media is made

to express and carry definite parts, or how the problem of adequateindividualization is solved, sharpens estbetic perception and en-

riches its content. For every artist accomplishes the operation in

bis own way and never exactly repeats himself in any two of his

works. He is entitled to every and any technical means by wbich

be can effect tbe result, while to apprehend his characteristic

metbod of doing so is to get an initiation into esthetic comprehen-

sion. One painter gives individuality in detail by fluid lines, by

mergings, more than another artist does with the most sharply

outlined profile. One does with chia,roscuro what anotler brings

about by high lights. It is not uncommon to find in Rembrandt's

drawings, lines within a figure that are stronger than those whichbound it externally-and yet there is gain rather than sacrificcof individuality. In a general way there are two opposite methodsl

that of contrast, of the staccato, the abrupt, and that of tbe fluid'

the merging, the subtle gradation. From that we can proceed to

discovery of ever-increasing refinements. As instances of the twomethods in tle large, we may take instances cited by Leo Stein.

"Compare," be says, ttthe line of Shakespeare 'in cradle of rudeimperious surge'with the line 'When icicles hang by the wall."'In the first, there are contrasts like cradle-surge, imperious-rude.contrasts of vowels and also of pace. fn the other, he says: ttEacl

line is like a loop in a lightly hung chain, or even like a canti.lever, easily in touch with its fellows." The fact that tbe methodof abruptness lends itself most directly to definition aDd thatof continuity to establishing of relations is perhaps a reason whyartists have tiked to reverse the process and thus increase theamount of energr elicited.

It is possible for both perceiver and artist to carry tbeir

206 A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S 2 0 7

:.'iality in sounds, and some of them made even this a matter of

:.lellectual relationship instead of a quality as distinctive as any':her trait of sound. James showed that sounds were spatially. r'luminous as rvell-a fact which every musician had practically

.:ployed and exhibited whether he had theoretically formulated

.: or not. As with the other properties of substance oI which we

:.rve spoken, the fine arts seek out and elicit this quality of all'.:e things rve experience and express it more energetically and

:learly than do the things from which they extract it' As science

:.:kes qualitative space and time and reduces them to relations

::rat enter into equations, so art makes them abound in their

r$-n sense as significant values of the very substance of all things.

Movement in direct experience is alteration in the qualities

oi objects, and space as experienced is an aspect of this qualita-

:ive change. Up and down, back and front, to and fro, this side

rnd that--or right and left-here and there, leel differently. The

reason tley do is that they are not static points in something itself

.tatic, but are objects in movement, qualitative changes of value.

For "back" is short for backwards and front for forzoards. So

nith velocity. Mathematically there are no such things as fast

and slow. They mark simply greater and less on a number

scale. As experienced they are qualitatively as unlike as are noise

and silence, heat and cold, biack and white. To be forced to rvait

a long time for an important event to happen is a length very

dinerent from that measured by the movements of the hands of

: clock. It is something qualitativc.There is another significant involution of time and move-

nent in space. It is constitu;ed not only by directional tendencies-up and down, for example-but by mutual approaches and re-

treatings. Near and far, close and distant, are qualities of preg-

nant, often tragic, import-that is, as they are experienced, notjust stated by measurement in science. They signify loosening

and tightening, expanding and contracting, separating and com-

pacting, soaring and drooping, rising and falling; the disper-

sive, scattering, and the hovering and broocling, unsubstantial

lightness and massive blorv. Such actions and reaction are the

very stuff out of which the objects and events rve experience are

made. They can be described in :,cience becartse they are there

reduced to relations that difier only mathematically, as science

predilection for a particular method of attaining individuariza.tion to such a point that they confuse the method with t}te end,and deny the latter exists when they are repelled by the meansused to acbieve it. From the side of tle audience, this fact isillustrated on a large scale by the reception given to paintingswhen artists ceased to employ obvious shadinglo delimit figures,using a relation of colors instead. It is pecuiiarly evident fromthe side of art, in one who is significant in painting (but es_pecially in drawing) and predminently great in poetry, Blake.He denied esthetic merit to Rubens, Rembrandt, and the Venetianand Flemish schools generally because they worked with ,,brokenlines, broken masses and broken colors"_the very factors thatcharacterize the great revival of painting toward the end of thenineteenth century. He added: ,,The great and golden rule ofart, as well as of life, is this: That the more distinct, sharp andwiry the bounding line, the more perfect t}re work of art, and theless keen and sharp, the greater is tie evidence of weak imagina-tion, plagiarism and bungling. , . . The want of this determinateand bounding form evidences t]'e want of idea in the artist,smind, and the pretense of plagiary in all its branches.,, The pas_sage deserves quotation for its emphatic recognition oi,ths ngs.r_sity of determinateness of individualization of the members of awork of art. But it also indicates the limitation that may accom_pany a particular mode of vision when it is intense.

- -, There is another matter that is common to the substanceof all works of art. Space and time__or rather space-time_arefound in the matter of every art product. In the arts, they areneither the empty containers nor the formal rerations that schoolsof philosophy have sometimes represented them to be. They aresubstantial; they are properties of every kind of material em_ployed in artistic expression and esthetic realization. Imaginein reading N{acbeth an attempt to separate the witches from theheath, or in the matter of Keats, ,,Ode on the Grecian IJrn,,, aseparation of the bodily figures of priest, maidens, and heiferfrom something called soul or spirit. In painting, space certainlyrelates; it helps constitute form. But it is direitly felt, sensej,as quality also. If it were not, a picture would be so full of horesas to disorganize perceptual experience. psychologists, until lVil_Iiam James taught better, were accustomed to find only temporal

2 0 8 A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

is concerned about the remote and identical or repeated thingsthat are conditi.ons of actual experience and not with experiencein its own right. But in experience they are infinitely diversifiedand cannot be described, rvhile in works of art they are expressed.For art is a selection of what is significant, rvith rejection by thevery same impulse of rvhat is irrelevant, and thereby the signifi-cant is compressed and intensified.

Music, for example, gives us the very essence of the drop-ping down and the exalted rising, the surging and retreating, theacceleration and retardation, the tightening and loosening, thesudden thrust and the gradual insinuation of things. The expres_sion is abstract in that i t is freed from attachment to this andthat, while at the same time it is intensely direct and concrete. Itwould be possible, I think, to make out a plausible case for theassertion that, without the arts, the experience of volumes, masses.figures, distances and directions of qualitative change would haveremained rudimentary, something dimly apprehended and hardlycapable of articulate communication.

While the emphasis of the plastic arts is upon the spatialaspects of change and that of music and the literary arts uponthe temporal, the difference is only one of emphasis within acommon substance. Each possesses rvhat the other actively ex_ploits, and its possession is a background without which the prop_erties brought to the front by emphasis would explode into thevoid, evaporate into imperc:ptible homogeneity. An almost pointfor point correspohdence can be instituted between, say, the open-ing bars of Beethoven's fifth symphony,and the serial order ofweight5, of ponderous volumes, in C6zanne's , ,Card players."In consequence of the voluminous quality belonging to thern both,both the symphony and the painting have porver, strength, andsolidity-like a massive, well-constructed bridge of storre. Theyboth express the enduring, that which is structurally resistant.Two artists by different media put the essential quality of a rockinto things as unlike as a picture and a series of complex sounds.One does his work by color plus space, the other by a sound plustime, which in this case has the massive volume of space.

For space and time as experienced are not only qualita-tive but infrnitely diversified in qualities. \\re can reduce thediversification to three general themes: Room, Extent, position_

T H E C O M M O N S U B S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S 2 0 9

Slaciousness, Spatiality, Spacing-or in terms of time-transition,

!rdurance and date. In experience, these traits qualify one an-, iher in a single effect. One usually predominates over the others,

i,lvever, and while they have no separate existence they can be

distinguished in thought.Space is room, Raum, and room is roominess, a chance to

be, live and move. The very word "breathing-space" suggests the

choking, the oppression that results when things are constricted.

-\nger appears to be a reaction in protest against fixed limitation

c,f movement. Lack of room is denial of life, and openness of

:pace is affirmation of its potentiality. Orercrorvding, even when

ir does not impede iife, is irritating. \Vhat is true of space is true,,f time. \\re need a "space of time" in which to accomplish any-

thing signilicant. Undue haste forced upon us by pressure of

circumstances is hateful. Otlr constant cry rvhen pushed from

rvithout is Give us time! The master, it is true, shows himselfrvithin limitations, and a literally infinite room within which to

rct would signify complete dispersion. But the limitations must

bear a definite ratio to porver; they involve coijperative choice;

they cannot be imposed.\Vorks of art express space as opportunity for movement

and action. It is a matter of proportions qualitativcly felt. A

lvric ode may have it when a rvould-be epic misses it. Small pic-

tures manifest it when acres of paint leave us with a sense of

being cribbed and cabined. Emphasis upon spaciousness is a

characteristic of Chinese paintings. Instead of being centralized

so as to require frames, they move outwards, while panoramic

scroll paintings present a rvorld in which ordinary boundaries are

transformed into invitations to proceed. Yet by different means,

riestern paintings that are highly centralized create the sense oi

the extensive whole that encloses a scene that is carefully de'fined. Even an interior, like Van Eyck's "Jean Arnolfini and

\\'ife," may convey rvithin a defined compass the explicit sense

of the outdoors beyond the rvalls. Titian paints the background in

the portrait of an individual so that infinite space, not just thecanvas, is behind the figure.

Mere room, opportunity and possibility wholly indeter-minate, would be, however, blank and empty. Space and time inexperience are also occupancy, filling-not merely something ex.

2 t 0

IrJ.? l"d bulk. Thtre are sniall Ian.lscal,es tiai conrey ttre

:i:11i::::j:il:,," .\ stin rife of ce,zanne,s. .,r'i,r, . .,"pl.;,i,,"r ! \ r r r r f r u : r r l u l l

of pears and epl i les, con\:e),s the verv esscnce of ," lolunre in dv_n a m i c c o u i l i h r i r r n r h o r h r ^ . h ^ l L ^ - . - . r . ^ , . r : -.1.1','iit*9''jilf t,,:" both to a nothe i' irncl to -s11 116 p n.l i ;; ;,;;#

C O M M O N S U E S T A N C E O F T H E A R T S

.cl1'connected with rightness in placing. For there is an energy: osition as well as of motion. And while the former is some-

::c.s called potential energy ln physics in distinction from.:.!tic energy, as directly felt it is as actual as is the latter.- :red in the plastic arts, it is the means by which movement is

.i: ressed. Some intervals (determined in all directions, not merely

.:::rally) are favorable to the maniiestation of energy; others'-:trate its operation-boxing and wrestling are obvious exam-: : : .

Things may be too far apart, too near together, or disposed:: :he wrong angle in relation to one another, to allow of energy: .iction. Awkwardness of composition rvhether a human being ot: architecture, prose, or painting is the result. l\Ieter in poetry.e. its more subtle effects to what it does in securing a just posi.

. n for various elements-an obvious instancc being its frequent:..rr,sion of the order of prose. There are ideas that would be--trot€d if they were spaced by means of spondees instead: trochees. Too much distance or too undefined an interval-. novel and drama sets attention wandering or puts it to-...rp, while incidents and characters treading on one another's::rls detract from the force of them all. Certain effects thatr.:tinguish some painters depend upon their fine feeling for.: ecing-a matter quite distinct from use of planes to convey. -lumes and backgrounds. As Cdzanne is a nraster of the latter,'orot

has unerring tact for the former-especially in portraits-.:d so-called Italian paintings as comparcd with his popular but:rletively weak silvery landscapes. We think of transposition par-::.-ularly in connection with music, but in terms of media it:reracterizes equally painting and architecture. The recurrence: relations-not of elements-in ditferent contexts, which con,

.:itutes transposition is qualitative and hence is directly experi

.rced in perception.The progress-which is not necessarily an advance and,

: rrctically never an advance in all respects-of the arts displayr t.ransition from more obvious to subtler nreans of expressing:r'sition. In earlier literature position lvas in accord (as we have.rlready noted in another connection) with social convention affrconomic and political class. It was position in the sense of social:t3tus that fixed the force of place in the older tragedy. Distance

ternel lv f i l led. Spatial i ty is nrass and r.olume. as temlttral i tv i .endurancc. not just abstract duration. Sounds us rvel l as colcrr.shr ink anr l cxpand anr l corors l i k r suunt rs r i se and fa l l . - \ s Ihave noted bclore. \ \ ' i i l iam J.rtres ntat le ericl t .nt the vrr lurrr i 'c, i : .qua l i t y o f sounr ls , anr l i t i s no nre tephor n .hcn t ln t ,s a re dcnor r r i_ncted. high and lorv, l .n.g:rncl -.hort. thi 'ancl ntassi. ,e. ln ntu: ic

A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

and a

soundi return t : l , t l l as procr:cd; tht , r .c l ispla l , inter . r ,a ls as v.e l ias proqre, :s ion. The reason is i iLe thr t a l .ear iv uoted rcgardin lt he sp lend r l l o r r l i ng i ness o f 6o l , , r s i n l r r i n t i ng . T .hey be lo r rq t , ,objects; thc ' are not t loat ing anr l isr_r l i ted. , ,u,1 t l , . ]

"b j " . ; , ;

which thcv belong s ist jn a rvor ld l )os:rsser l of er tent ant l r .o lunie ._

] I r r rmur inq is of bro,rks. u,h isper ing. ancl rLrst l ing ofl eavc , s , r i r r p l i nq ( , f 1 \ . r v r , s , r { r a r o f s i l r f , , , i , l , l . , i n , 1a r , n roan ing an r lr vb i s t l i n s r . l f r r i nd . . . anc ] so on i n r l , , f i n i t r : ] t . . Bv t h i s s t a te l r en t Ido not rncrrn that the th innr,ss of thc t l i i te .s noi . anr l thc nrassir . t ,pca l , f t he o r r l an t i r e t t i r r c t h ,as :oc i l t t ( , d b1 , r r s r v i t h pa r t i cu l a rna tu r l r l ob j ec t s . DL : t I r l o i l r a l l t l t , i t t l r , - c 1nna . c \ p ress qu l J i t i e sof extension bctrLr .c onh' in ic l l t .c tu. l urrstract i r , ' c"n s. .par. , t . anevent in t jnrc f ror t r an cxtcnded objrct th; r t in i t ia tes or unrkrgoes.hong,'.

&5-l:.l]]llllJl:-qiltt-1!91-c.r1it; timc as an €nrirv rtn's r:r,r

s'el l . The frai l , the fragi le, nceLl not be eranrples of esthetic rveak_ness; thev, too, nla] ' l ic cnrbocrinrents of r.ol.me. Novels. poerns.drama-;, statur-s. bui ldings, chtLractcrs, _.ocial ntor-ernents, argu-ments. ts r ' . .e^, as picturcs and si)natas, are nrarkcd by sol idity,massiveness. and the re\.crse.

\\ : i thout the thircl property, spacing, occupancy rvouldbe a_jumblc. Place, posit ion, rrcter 'r ined b1- distr ibution of in-terlals through spacing, is a great factor in effect ing the indi_vidual izat ion of parts alreaclv spr.rken of. But a pasit ion taken hasan imntcdiate qual i tat ir .e vlt lue anrl as such is rrn inherent partof -substancc. The feel ing of energl, and especial ly. not iust ofenergy in general but of this or that pu*.i in ,f,. ."";r.i" i,

st. \ \ 'hl t er ists lre th_inss rct inq anJTti

A R T A S E X P E R I E N C E

was already determined outside the drama. In modernwith lbsen as tbe outstanding example, relations of husbandwife, politician and democratic citizenship, old age and encroa*ing youth (whether by way of competition or of seductive attrao.tion), contrasts of external convention and personal impulr.forcibly erpress energy of position.

The bustle and ado of modern life render nicety of plac-ing the feature most difficult for artists to achieve. Tempo is torapid and incidents too crowded to permit of decisiveness<defect found in architecture, drama, and fiction alike. The veryprofusion of materials and the mechanical force of activities gctin the way of effective distribution. There is more of vehemencrthan of tle intensity that is constituted by emphasis. When atteo,tion lacks the remission that is indispensable to its operations,it becomes numb as protection against its recurrent overstimula-tion. Only occasionally do we find the problem solved-as it bin fiction in Mann's "Magic l\{ountain" and in architecture in thctsush Building in New York City.

I have said that the three qualities of space and timereciprocally affect and qualify one another in experience. Spaceis inane save as occupied with active volumes. pauses are holewhen they do not accentuate masses and define figures as indi-viduals. Extension sprawls and finally benumbs if it does notinteract with place so as to assume intelligible distribution. Massis nothing fixed. It contracts and expands, asserts itself andyields, accordirlg to its relations to other spatial and enduringthings. While we may view these traits from the standpoint ofform, of rhythm, balance and organization, the relations whichthougbt grasps as ideas are present as qualities in perception andthey inhere in the very substance of art.

There are then common properties of the matter of arts be-cause there are general conditions without which an experience isnot possible, As we saw earlier, the basic condition is felt rela-tionship between doing and undergoing as the organism and en-vironment interact. Position expresses the poised readiness of thelive creature to meet the impact of surrounding forces, to meet soas to endure and to persist, to extend or expand througb under-going the very forces ttrat, apart from its response, are indifrerentand hostile. Through going out into the environment, position

r H E C O M M O N S U E S T A N C E O F I H E A R T S 2 I 3

dolds into volumel through the pressure of environmeot' mass

f r.it".,A into eneigy of position, and space remains' when mat-

tsr is contracted, as an opportunity for further action' Distinction

J elements and consistency of members in a whole are the func-

tioos that define intelligence; the intelligibility of a work of art de-

gA, opoo the presence to ibe meaning that renders individuality

i p"rt "na

their relationship in the whole directly present to tle

cyi and ear trained in PercePtion'

212