ORIGINS Art Institute
ORIGINS
Enter the Future of Art Through the Gates of Tradition
ORIGINS: An Introduction
Whether you create art, study art history or—like so many of us—enjoy viewing art, you might have noticed a difference in how art is now approached. Art in the service of ideology seems the order of the day in both museums and universities—it appears that art’s true value is to illustrate ideas. The quality of the art object, formal excellence, and the pursuit of beauty are merely second thoughts—almost forgotten.
But ORIGINS is inspired by a traditional approach to art: formalism—the study of the formal elements of art, and how their arrangement creates artistic expression and profound, resonant meaning. We believe that this approach is primary to the experience of art. It’s simple: ideas (and ideology) are abstract and are absent from art unless given formal shape. But more importantly, the appreciation of form is an innate part of the human being and has its roots in our very origins.
The modern science of neuroaesthetics can now trace how the brain processes aesthetic form. The formal composition of a work strikes us three times faster than we can blink an eye. The brain evaluates an object, and if the work is judged compelling, reward systems are engaged. This occurs before conscious thought can describe subject matter. As the viewing process continues, networks ordinarily devoted to inward thought and self-reflection remain in play. This causes the visual sensation of the work to be absorbed into the viewer’s inner life and assigned personal meaning. Neuroaesthetics confirms that evaluating and appreciating form is a rapid, involuntary response innately present in the human brain—a magnificent part of our human origins.
When we stand in the presence of a masterpiece, our reaction is involuntary and deeply embedded in our evolutionary roots. The power of the art experience derives from the excellence of an object’s formal composition; it is not mediated with ideas, biography, historical context, political theory or ideology. To enjoy fully the experience of a great work of art, the viewer needs to know nothing of these areas. They are of secondary importance; they do not create the quality of the art object. Form does.
ORIGINS is dedicated to the teaching and advocacy of a tradition-based formalist approach to art. We publish and lecture on the topic. Neuroaesthetics is foundational to our mission. It shapes how we write about art, advocate for art, design exhibitions, and is guiding the design and construciton of our new building.
I. A Crisis of Meaning
Universities and museums have redefined art as an intellectual and political exercise. Counter to this is the tradition of formalism, which places emphasis on the viewer’s transcendent experience of the art object.
II. The Biology of Form
From early hominin collecting to Neanderthal marks, childhood scribbling, and neuroaesthetics, the evidence converges: the human instinct for form is innate, demonstrating the preeminent role of formalism in the evaluation of art.
III. The Brain on Art Neuroaesthetics traces what the viewer’s brain experiences during an encounter with a “compelling” formal composition.. Form is judged in a fraction of a second; and reward follows before the subject matter can be evaluated; when the work is strong enough, inward life stays in play and the object is taken into the viewer.
IV. The Shape of Ideas
Ideas depend on form; form does not depend on a great idea. A slight subject, masterfully made, can become a masterpiece. Righteous content cannot rescue a dead composition.
V. Our New Museum
ORIGINS will not be a warehouse of objects and wall text. It will be a cultural village of small pavilions and gardens, built so that a few masterpieces can be met without fatigue, ideology, or haste.
You see, no matter how many times people tell you stories about what music means, forget them. Stories are not what the music means at all. Music is never about anything. Music just is. Music is notes, beautiful notes and sounds put together in such a way that we get pleasure out of listening to them, and that's all there is to it.
—Leonard Bernstein, from his Young People’s Concerts
