essays

The semantic syntax of conscious abstraction The Symbol Grounding Problem, formulated by Stevan Harnad in the context of debates concerning the nature of symbolic representation and cognition, became an important point of reference in research on the relationship between symbols, representation, and meaning. Harnad pointed out that a system operating exclusively through syntactic relations between …

FROM CONCEPT TO MEANING. The Grounding Matrix as the Syntax of Conscious Abstraction Read More »

In his famous Artworld thesis, Arthur Danto posited an idea that has dominated thinking about art for decades: it is not the physical properties of an object that determine whether it becomes a work of art, but rather theory, history, and institutional context. In this framework, an object gains artistic status only when it is …

The Limits of Arthur Danto’s Concept and Conscious Abstraction: From Post Factum Rationalization to a Grounded Creative Cycle Read More »

In the 1960s, conceptualism declared war on traditional art, proclaiming that painting or sculpture was dead weight and that only pure thought mattered. Artists traded their studios for desks, becoming administrators of ideas rather than their creators. In this new world, a work of art became an instruction manual, a chart, or a dry note. …

Architecture of Meanings: Conscious Abstraction versus Conceptual Deconstruction Read More »

Władysław Strzemiński is one of the most important figures of the twentieth-century European avant-garde, a brilliant painter, and an outstanding art theorist. Written toward the end of his life, his most vital theoretical work, “The Theory of Vision”, became the foundation of modern thinking about the image and remains a point of reference in academic …

Beyond the Material Eye: Conscious Abstraction and the Limits of Unism Read More »

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterwards you can remove all traces of reality. There’s no danger then anyway, because the idea of the object will have left an indelible mark. It is what started the artist off, excited his ideas, and stirred up his emotions.” In May 1935, in …

Picasso’s Shadow in Conscious Abstraction. Why He Was Wrong. Read More »

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality. There’s no danger then anyway, because the idea of the object will have left an indelible mark. It is what started the artist, excited his ideas, and stirred up his emotions.” For the Spanish master, the …

A Stake in the Heart of Abstraction: Why Picasso Was Right Read More »

Postmodernism assumes that there is no longer a centre. Every form of expression becomes one of many possible versions of reality, and truth is fragmented into context, perspective, and irony. In this world, language ceases to describe the world and becomes a tool for its constant deconstruction. What was meant to convey meaning transforms into …

Cracks in Language: Tension Between Conscious Abstraction and Postmodernism Read More »

Twentieth-century abstraction became one of the most significant breakthroughs in the history of art, revolutionising not only the way the world is represented but also the understanding of the very function of an artwork. Its emergence marked a break with figuration and realistic depiction, introducing a more spiritual and intuitive approach to visual form. Modernist …

The Limit Beyond Gesture – the Conflict Between Conscious Abstraction and Modernism Read More »

The history of twentieth-century art shows that abstraction was not merely a search for new visual forms, but an attempt to redefine the role of the visual record within culture. Modernists, such as Kandinsky, Mondrian, Kazimierz Malewicz, and Hilma af Klint, believed that form could express the invisible: spirituality, order, and the universal laws of …

Interpenetrating Ideas – Modernism and Conscious Abstraction Read More »

A photographer and an artist-photographer represent two fundamentally different approaches to photography, sharing nothing but the camera itself. A photographer is, in essence, a craftsman or hobbyist, merely the author of images. An artist, by contrast, is a creator guided by principles of visual art, producing that which resonates within the depths of the soul. …

I Am Not a Photographer, I Am an Artist Read More »