Art & rationality

“How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.”

--Isaac Asimov, quoted in The Atlantic's Daily Dish

Abstraction

As a viewer, abstraction appeals to me because of the authority it gives me to determine what I’m seeing and what it brings to mind and heart.  Abstract expressionism can be defined in many ways, but most simply, “abstract” visual art doesn’t represent any single set of physical objects, and “expressionist” painting uses color, form, texture, and their juxtaposition (composition) to evoke conscious or not-quite-conscious feelings in the viewer.  The work is what it is – not a mountain, vase, or person – but for me, it can be at least as powerful as painted images of such objects.