Venturing out on the thread of a tune: the artist as improvisor in public life.

Douglas, Anne

Abstract

In discussing the work of Wassily Kandinsky of some hundred years ago, Will Grohmann, an art historian, focuses on Kandinsky's effort to develop a new grammar for the visual arts. Kandinsky, Grohmann argues, undertakes a profound rethinking of visual perception from the perspective of the artist. Working alongside Paul Klee and others in the context of the Bauhaus at Weimar, Kandinsky repositioned art and craft in relation both to industrialisation and the emergence of anthroposophy, at a point of momentous social, cultural and political change. It is 'theory' Grohmann argues that guides the artists and their followers to navigate through the new terrain aesthetically, practically, spiritually and intellectually. Acting as leaders, they opened up a new kind of potential in the way the visual arts were thought and practised.

Citation

DOUGLAS, A. 2018. Venturing out on the thread of a tune: the artist as improvisor in public life. In Oliver, J. (ed.) Creative practice and the art of association, trajectories of practice as research. Melbourne: University of Melbourne Press [online], chapter 6. https://www.mup.com.au/items/190001

• Online Publication Date: Apr 2, 2018
• Publication Date: Apr 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 22, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 3, 2020
• Publisher: Melbourne University Press
• Book Title: Creative practice and the art of association, trajectories of practice as research
• Chapter Number: Chapter 6
• ISBN: 9780522869989
• Keywords: Visual arts; Visual perception; Artist; Art and crafts; Public life
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2058
• Publisher URL: https://www.mup.com.au/items/190001