2.3.2 “Image as insight”
2.3.3. Theoretical framework
In order to relate the German churches’ engagement with contemporary art to the pertinent socio- cultural context and to answer the thesis’ main question–“Is there a new type of art experience that transpires in spaces of old active churches?”–a set of selected theories follows the discussion of case studies. Firstly, the thesis argues for uniqueness of old active churches as venues for exhibiting art and as experiential spaces. To support this claim, chapter six first elaborates upon the element of the “old” in old church architecture with the thought of a German art historian Otto von Simson and second consults Gernot Böhme’s phenomenology of architectural atmospheres in connection with the individual’s experience of historical ecclesiastical settings. Secondly, in order to understand how a living religion can influence the experience of art in an active church the thesis turns to the notion of post-secularism. This method helps to reveal the impact of present-day social significance of traditional religions upon human disposition towards both a locus of living faith and contemporary secular art in its midst. In other words, the post- secular discourse allows us to conceptually approach the intersection between belief and non- belief–the junction that we eventually call post-secular space. Thus, the twofold theoretical framework conduces to the proposition and construction of the synthesizing concept which has given the title to this work. The post-secular space is a term that regards both old ecclesiastical architecture and living Christian faith as importantly contributive to the person’s encounter with contemporary non-sacramental art inside old active churches. While answering the thesis’ main question, it also distinguishes religious edifices from the myriad of other public places where the visual arts can be found today. Lastly, it is the hope of the author that the term post-secular space becomes a helpful contribution to the evolving discourse on the relationship between Christianity and the visual arts in the twenty-first century.
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2.3.4. Sources
Any study of contemporary phenomena is bound to face difficulties in locating the proper sources of required information. For one, printed material compiled by experts in a certain field is scarce; given that the field as such exists at all. Similarly, much needed archives are rare. Secondly, academic inquiry in the twenty-first century can no longer be sustained within a single scholarly field: interdisciplinarity has become essential for research in both natural sciences and humanities. That is why one must equip oneself with sufficient knowledge in more than one field. Thirdly, a substantial amount of information is available only on the internet, the main problem of which is dubitable authorship. The World Wide Web can overwhelm the researcher with profusion of statements that must be systematically filtered through and then compared to those opinions that exist outside of the online world. Moreover, with today’s speed of social and cultural changes much of information is not always up-to-date, which forces the scholar to step away from the existent sources and delve into the field on his or her own–observe, document, and produce a source that becomes primary in its own right. As a consequence, in-the-field work counts for a high percentage of an entire research project; though it should be balanced by theory. Finally, because the lack of temporal distance from the subject of study makes it impossible to obtain “the big picture” one must be ready to participate in an open-ended discussion.
This thesis posits its main questions and arguments as an addition to the body of literature, discussed above, on the topic of “art and religion” from the past thirty to forty years. This is the first grouping of the consulted texts. Then, it finds the factual data about German churches and art exhibitions from the major articles and books, official websites of concerned Christian institutions, and online texts such as exhibition reviews, interviews, brochures, and social media.
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This is the second grouping of sources. The concluding chapter of the thesis deals with concepts and theory that are applied to the given case studies in order to decipher commonalities, facilitate understanding, and construct meaning of what has been studied in the preceding sections. That part refers to both thinkers of the past (Otto von Simson, Rudolf Schwarz), and contemporary minds (Gernot Böhme, Charles Taylor, Mike King, Mark Taylor). Their writings make up the last grouping of the thesis bibliography.
In-the-field research is an important component of this project, which is hardly conceivable without direct, on-site investigation. The aspect includes visiting exhibitions, attending openings and other related events, speaking with guests, interviewing priests, curators, artists, and viewers. The value of in-the-field work is twofold: firstly, getting first-hand experience of stepping into a given architectural fabric and looking and/or interacting with a given artwork; secondly, gathering the opinions and impressions of other participants. In-person conversations allow comprehending the perspectives of those involved in an immediate and hence more truthful way; i.e. without an intervening agent of the edited written word. Particularly significant is an opportunity to simply observe and/or speak with the viewer, whose opinion, with rare exceptions, is barely present in newspaper reviews or academic literature. In order to analyze responses from more viewers, this thesis also relies on the guest- and comment-books inserted into the places of exhibitions. Still and all, it is the experience of the spectator that determines the effectiveness of art exhibitions. One of the characteristics of the post-secular age is a growing role of the subjective and the personal in social transformations; hence one of the approaches employed by this thesis is to describe and analyze what happens in the space of encounter between a work of art and a human being.
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