For years in my art practice, I wondered if the artistic investigation of concepts can be analogous to art object creation. Unlike other fields, visual artists explore things through visual processing, often intertwined with visual subjectivity. An artwork, even a painting or drawing, comes to life through an investigative process involving mind-image creation or imaginary thinking. This is what we call investigation in visual or fine arts, which has been fundamental in art practice since ancient times. Every such element of our ancestors, generationally, inherits the human artist’s psyche. Since the birth of modern art, artists have expanded their methods of investigation through writing and practice process documentation.

At this point, I would like to bridge “the thinking eye” of P. Klee (1956)1 used in his art lectures. I think Klee’s idea of the thinking eye shows a significant moment where inheritance fuses with modernity to surface new ways of perceiving and creating. For visual artists, the way of perceiving things or the world within and without is the way that often initiates creativity. This component of the creative process has kept me engaged with thoughts around concepts in visual arts. I am trying to allude to concepts and their role in the first stage of the creative process. Meanwhile, my own experience, from early studies of form and objects to the evolving practice in concepts and philosophy, becomes a guiding principle to explore this element in the fine/visual arts.

A raw-thinking space

This article is a condensed form coming out of my notebooks, which have become a raw thinking space since 2012. The mind’s flow consists mostly of rapid writings showing thoughts restlessly moving within a chaotic realm—in such a way I have laid it down for many years. Now that I am deepening my exploration into alchemical, philosophical, and psychological works, this belief has changed. The chaotic realm is not much different than a primal intangible space, like the “Prima Materia” in alchemical theories. It has its laws and order. This realm can be called the etheric body of a concept. This etheric body shows us the existence of concepts within the mind’s thinking flow.

Another fact shows that a concept changes over time, influenced by knowledge and experiences. For R. Steiner 2, a concept cannot be easily described through words, consolidating that concepts are always drawn to personal experiences. This is something that artists find similar when describing their own artworks. Words cannot satisfy an artwork and its wholeness, but words otherwise can become extensions of the artwork. For example, words can be part of the artwork through process documentation. Concluding with such a thought, we can say that here we have a concept in practice. As words follow the practical trajectory, conceptual approaches arise. Art practice is an open field, for it allows turning things up and down and transforming thinking and seeing. Even this article itself becomes part of a perception exploring concepts in visual arts.

It is significant, to my understanding, to embrace without fear this playfulness of the arts as a thing that evenly opens new horizons. A concept gives birth to other concepts, as well as shapes new ones. Now, I would like to draft shortly on the other two questions: the appearance and role of concepts in the artist’s inner world.

How does perception activate concepts?

It is significant to mention that I am not talking about conceptual approaches but focusing on concepts activating the artist’s eye and shaping perception. Perceiving things as separate particles deepens my artistic and philosophical questions. Yet, in spiritual philosophy, everything is part of a single existence.

If scientists see a concept as an analytical framework for experimentation and empirical evidence, artists frame a concept within a visual subject. This subject becomes an interesting one, valuable for creative exploration and expression. Continuing in this direction, I want to primarily bridge thinking with seeing—something that pertains to time and reflective moments. In the artist’s mind, thinking evolves largely and is informed through seeing and the cultivation of inner vision. Through this mechanism, an artist can grow and consolidate imagination, which is closely bonded to mind-image creation.

In this way, internalization of the multifaceted outer world often becomes a component of the making process itself. While this internalization expands into other psychic parts within the artist’s inner world, visual associations appear by constructing individual perceptions. Perception, as we all know, can always change. Just as life and human inner states similarly change. Henceforth, these perceptual changes influence concept transformation. That is why we have different approaches and artistic forms visually housing the same concept.

The philosophical and practical role of concepts in art

One way to answer this is to put it simply. This is to say, artists treat concepts mostly like an objects. Still, I aim to trigger curiosity and expose this exploration to philosophical aspects as well. In the book A Dictionary of Symbols, by E. Cirlot (p. xvi, para. 2), he writes:

The invisible or spiritual order is analogous to the material order.3

The concept is an invisible thing and hard to grasp. Unlike an idea, a concept's order is analogous to an external object’s order, while an idea remains abstract. The only difference here is the source of influence. An object can influence perception through its appearance in space (including man-made space), while both perception and the artist’s subjective view influence the concept.

Another passage I want to mention is that of Mircea Eliade (1952). He says that “[…] symbolic thought opens the door onto immediate reality for us, but without weakening or invalidating it; seen in this light, the universe is no longer sealed off; nothing is isolated inside its existence: everything is linked by a system of correspondence and assimilation.” This passage mirrors how concepts significantly inspire artistic practices. Concepts do not only intertwine with artistic investigation; they also become one's objects for artistic investigation.

Just as artists investigate objects by exploring their material and non-material aspects—objects as single forms or forms concerning space—similarly, artists explore their subjects through concepts. Although it is hard to explore concepts through words, visual language makes it easier. In the arts, concepts point to energetic fields from which images can appear and become the starters of artworks coming out of creative processes. The world of concepts is a large and complex landscape. Yet, I look at concepts through a spiritual language, seeking to reconnect life’s opposites.

This article is a short format, as we say in the arts, surfacing thoughts and perspectives of an artist’s mind and individual creative endeavor. Writing a concrete conclusion would affect the purpose of sharing my thoughts. But allowing myself to allude to or artistically hallucinate creates a safe space to build new ways of perceiving not only the art practice but also the world and life itself.

Concepts are potential means to approach the visual arts playfully. Exploring art conceptually creates opportunities for artists to build their inner world and gain knowledge even in other fields far removed from the fine/visual arts.

References

1 Klee, Paul. The Thinking Eye: The Notebooks of Paul Klee. Edited by Jürg Spiller. Translated by Ralph Manheim. London: Lund Humphries, 1961.
2 Steiner, Rudolf. The Philosophy of Freedom. Translated by Michael Wilson. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964.
3 Cirlot, J. E. A Dictionary of Symbols. Translated by Jack Sage. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962.