Frida De Myr
Midway along the journey of our life,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
Dante / Divine Comedy
Midway along the journey of our life,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
Dante / Divine Comedy
Metaphysical Perception and the Void
It is possible to say that human beings actually construct themselves according to the way they comprehend and sense space. Not being able to develop a way of thinking about this phenomenon or not being able to develop a metaphysical perception of the geography/environment/space in which a person is born, even if they are not an artist, means being faced with the feeling of ‘void’ or 'emptiness'. If this feeling is not grounded in a fundamental way and transformed into a manageable state, it imprisons a human being in absence, nothingness, meaninglessness and, to put it mildly, melancholy. It causes people to stay away from the vital energy they need in their journey of self-realization and from actions towards authentic and meaningful work. Therefore, the question of whether a human being is 'in the void' or not is only possible for a person if he or she first gains an awareness of the space in which he or she lives. The first stage of this awareness is to determine the level of 'metaphysical' consciousness.
Metaphysics is a philosophical discipline that aims to know the field of existence of things, the nature of this existence, and to share the knowledge it has attained. It is possible to translate the word meta as beyond physics by giving it meanings such as beyond and above; in other words, to make an effort to understand beyond the visible and known material world. However, it would be appropriate to evaluate the word metaphysics, which appears in different forms of understanding and perception according to the ages, within the integrity of this difference. In the ancient ages, Aristotle's concept of metaphysics emerged as an effort to know the first causes and basic principles of the existence of being, which has an ontological perspective. Later on, philosophers who contributed to the Eastern and Western intellectual traditions emphasized the issue of whether human beings can reach metaphysical truths with their intellect. In this way, a relationship is established between the limits of human mental capacity and metaphysics. In the modern period, on the other hand, the sharing of what exists and what can be known came to the fore. Here, a system of thought, made visible by the science of logic, is now present.
Both the ontological structure of the word metaphysics and its appearance in everyday life find meaning in two concepts: reason and language. Reason appears as the place/space that embodies existence. Language, on the other hand, enables the expression of the thing whose existence is known as 'meta'. Although this means of expression takes place on a metaphysical ground, it does not emerge independently of the possibilities of language. Therefore, the mastery of the means of expression has an essential place in the realization of the existence of existence.
The concept of language, which is classified in many different ways from everyday life to its use in the field of art, finds its most abstract and conceptualized form in 'literary language'. Summarizing one's own sphere of existence as being-in-the-world, the artist concretely constructs a metaphysical way of thinking in their mind before creating their work. This situation, which can be expressed as an artistic way of feeling, constitutes the starting point of metaphysical thought. The artist, who ontologically creates the existence of the thing in their imaginary world, then attributes an epistemological meaning to this existence with the expression they bring to language and intuits the knowability of existence in their work in this state. Behind this world of meaning, which is veiled by symbol, image, metaphor and other elements of expression, lies metaphysical sensibility.
On the other hand, when this effort put forth by the artist appears in the form of a work of art, the artist expects to be made meaningful not only by themselves but also by the reader/viewer who stands before him as an object. When this happens, the human being, as the addressee of art and the artist, is now a subject. As a matter of fact, man is a being surrounded by needs. He is constantly in need of something and makes a lifelong effort to supply them. The human being, who tries to organize and fulfill his needs based on the physical world that the eye sees, acts in a limited area in terms of what he lacks. At this point, based on all the ancient teachings in the proposition, it is only possible for human beings to realize what they need if they know, recognize, wonder, and discover themselves; in other words, if they remember that they have a soul along with their intellect by becoming the subject that gives meaning to things.
At this point, the aesthetic activity of the artist/reader, who opens to the metaphysical world and obtains a deep space of existence/rebirth, which can be summarized as searching, believing and expressing, is connected with intuition, which is at the center of the artistic way of feeling. The artist, who sets out on a quest with the possibility of intuition and opens to inner journeys, makes all these probes visible in the field of existence as a work of art. As the owner of a searching and questioning mind, the artist's making his work visible means that metaphysics reasserts itself in the plan of matter. This also clarifies how and in what direction creativity, as a technical term, is realized in the artist's world. However, there is another situation that needs to be fundamentally recognized here. That is, to what extent the human being deepens the aforementioned metaphysical way of feeling. For this, the way of perceiving 'space', in the most general sense, into which humans are born, is important. Indeed, every human being is in a state of exchange with the world.
Void Clinging to Space
From physiological needs to spiritual blockages, human beings try to obtain all their needs in this world, and to complete their metaphysical integrity along with their material existence in this world, where they experience new exchanges every moment. These places that people occupy in terms of matter enable the orientation and expansion of their consciousness from the macro to the micro level. While the city/city is an important stop of macro spaces, the 'home' where people create their own cosmos functions as a home in the micro plan. As Gaston Bachelard says in The Poetics of Space, home as a space ensures the preservation of the things acquired in human life, ensures their permanence, and sustains human beings against the storms they experience in their lives as well as the storms that descend from the sky.
On the other hand, as Robert T. Tally Jr. points out in his book Spatiality “The view of space as a “container” in which things are situated, a mere “relation” between things, or as a “subjective” condition of perception tends to diminish the importance of spatiality, since the philosophical focus turns to the things themselves which are situated in space, or which define the “space,” or to the individual perceiving them. If we expand on this issue a little more, we should also draw attention to the following, based on the aforementioned book: Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) disagreed with Descartes’s argument that space was itself a substance. ‘Space is, in Newton’s view, essentially an absolute, independent, infinite, three-dimensional, eternally fixed, uniform ‘container’ into which God ‘placed’ the material universe at the moment of creation’. Although the debate would continue throughout the eighteenth century, the Newtonian conception generally held sway, at least until Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and the theory of relativity. However, one important objection to the Newtonian conception of space as a container and to the Cartesian view of space as matter itself came from the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716). Leibniz dismissed the notion of absolute space and posited that space is fundamentally relational, that space in and of itself does not really exist at all; rather, space is the relation between bodies, just as we might think of “distance” as a relation between two points.
In The Critique of Pure Reason, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) attempted to resolve the problem, or perhaps to avoid it altogether, by establishing space and time as pure concepts or categories in which every other concept is situated. That is, when we perceive something, it appears to us as already in time and space; time and space are not additional things to be perceived. Kant hypothesized that our human reason cannot perceive the world as it really is, but only as it is perceived by us. As Kant had noted in an earlier work, Space is not something objective and real, nor is it a substance, nor an accident, nor a relation; it is, rather, subjective and ideal; it issues from the nature of the mind in accordance with a stable law as a scheme, as it were, for coordinating everything sensed externally. Kant’s relegation of space to a subjective condition imposed upon the perceived phenomena by the mind offers a way to understand one’s relationship with spatiality, but it does not alter the fundamental importance of space. Even in Kant’s philosophy, space remains a mere backdrop behind whatever phenomena are really significant.”
Therefore, for a person who tries to understand his/her existence in the world through a process of individual questioning and who has realized his/her own enlightenment, the places where one lives also have a different form of sensation. Through this sensation, people first look at their own 'home'/'universe' and then at the world; they feel 'at peace' or 'in the void' in proportion to the vastness of their souls rather than the vastness of physical spaces. The world of the human being, starting from the home and overflowing into space, gains width and multiplies in line with the depth of the human spirit rather than the size or abundance of material gains. This proliferation we are referring to is not about the physical space one occupies at home, on the street, in the neighborhood, in the city or in the world, but rather about the realization of one's own conditions of existence and moving one's soul from darkness to light.
From The “Black Square” to the Ka’bah, a Way of Returning to The Heart
In other words, getting rid of being suspended in the void is related to the living spaces one accumulates within oneself. An artist is someone who takes refuge in these living spaces, no matter in which period. Whatever he wants to scream letter by letter, to express, to embroider with paint, to put into rhythm with notes, he is the one who opens to the outside, to the world, to the space with the power he gains from the aforementioned living spaces in his soul. The aforementioned opening is, in another sense, a form of holding on. A way of approaching and holding on to the artist's soul, to the authentic.
Here as an example it would be appropriate to remember Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935). In 1915, Malevich created a simple geometric form with his work titled “Black Square”. A one-meter black square, roughly painted on a white linen canvas, was a painting that represented nothing. However, it was a way of holding on to all the forms of the outside world, all the spaces that had lost their subjectivity. When 'emptiness' and the accompanying emotional states are tried to be interpreted through the way of perceiving existence, art always appears as a place of refuge and rebirth. Here we can give an example by Malevich, he freed his art from objects and formality and brought it to its zero forms. This was the pure and pinnacle point. A new abstract world was created from here. This is what Malevich meant when he said, "What I am exhibiting is not an empty square." The black square on a white background was an expression of objectless feeling. On the other hand, it is also possible to evaluate Malevich's new movement in terms of representing the abstract universe beyond human perception. Here, 'nothing' is integrated with 'everything'. The disappearance of objects in nothingness and the resetting of form is not a sign of complete annihilation, but of rebirth. According to Malevich, “Zero-Form” has become a symbol of salvation not only for art but also for humanity. As a matter of fact, “Zero-Form” was the harbinger of a new era in the history of humanity in which objects, the greed for property and possessions would disappear, an era that would bring happiness to people beyond all kinds of interests and selfishness. And it was Malevich who heralded this. "Comrades," he said, "free yourselves from the tyranny of objects.”
Images 1: Black Square Painting by Kazimir Malevich
Malevich's inner world, which he set out to explore in order not to fall into emptiness, enabled him to take a holistic view from the 19th century, when the modern world system began to take shape rapidly, to the 20th century, when human uniqueness was destroyed. This 'way of seeing' in the artist turned into an ability to recognize the simplicity, authenticity or mystery hidden in a jet-black frame. By subjecting his effort to an interdisciplinary reading, it is possible to understand it together with a structure built centuries ago and metaphorically turn to new fields of meaning. The state of liberation from the Void makes such readings and interpretations necessary for human beings who need to search for new meanings. Therefore, it is possible to interpret Malevic's understanding of pure beauty in parallel with the black veil of the Ka’bah, the Qiblah of Muslims, which was covered in a jet-black veil after it was built centuries ago.
Images 2: Ka’bah
The Ka'bah, too, is a hollow, abstract black square. It is also central to understanding Islamic art. Even if it is not called a work of art, it can be called "proto-art", corresponding to myth or revelation in its imaginary sense. In its symbolic form, it is an 'embryo' of what is referred to as 'sacred art'. Therefore, every Muslim turns to this structure five times a day. According to Islam, the pilgrimage, which must be performed by those who have the financial means, is integrated by circling around this holy place. Muslims cover only a part of their bodies with seamless clothes and worship around the Ka'bah with pure love and faith to be purified from all bad feelings and to be reborn. Like the heart, which we can call the central organ of the human being, the Ka'bah is a holding center for Muslims, where they can escape from being suspended in the void of the world. Therefore, it is possible to metaphorically interpret circling around it as returning to one's heart. Just like the field of meaning evoked by Kazimir Malevich's painting "Black Square", which indicates the need to get rid of the burden of objects until one reaches the pure and clear.
The Conception of The 'Void' as an Art
By ignoring the distance of centuries between them, it is possible to reproduce with examples the relationship between space and art, which we draw attention to, based on the semantic projection of the "Black Square '' and the Ka'bah. The ways of perceiving the void differed according to the periods in the imaginations of the artists; and an effort has been made to reveal a kind of protection, clinging and, as mentioned, ways to protect against the feeling of emptiness by gaining strength from the depths of the soul through art. For example, 'masks' known to have existed since the Neanderthals. In this sense, it can be interpreted as both the first works of art and the embodiment of spiritual power.
Image 3: A 35,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Mask
It is known that almost all of the peoples living in different geographies use masks that turn into ritual objects, considering that they have a relationship with spirits or metaphysical fields as explained above. These masks, called "Imago", emerged as a result of cultural connections established through death traditions and were generally accepted as "an armor that protects the soul". Therefore, it can be said that by escaping from the 'void', they undertake the role of a curtain between existence and non-existence.
Image 4: Examples of Different Masks Used in the Historical Process
It is known that the inner parts of the masks are made of soft tissue due to the skin and mustache of the dead. This method was later used in Ancient Greece to model the soft material used in the making of reliefs and walkable sculptures. This period is also a period in which the forms consisting of solid and stationary mass are started to go beyond. Another important feature of the Ancient Greek period is that works of art are associated with the space outside their existing masses and a more active role is given to the space. Instead of the dull, solid form of the Egyptian statue like mummies, the separation between arms and legs and space are included in the sculpture.
Image 5: Example of Egyptian SculptureImage 6: Place a sample of Ancient Greece Sculpture next to the statue above.
igure 5: Example of
Thus, the existing mass of the sculpture is associated with the space outside. This process, which started with the Renaissance, paved the way for sculpture to emerge independently of architecture, especially in Baroque art, and changed the perception of space by the artists. This change has brought with it the ability to look at the void from different perspectives. Especially Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Albreth Dürer and Tiziano started to use the space as a perspective.
Image 7: Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam
Just as a musician needs empty sounds to create his rhythm, new compositions are created in visual arts thanks to space. As a matter of fact, after the experiences exemplified above, the void has begun to be seen as an instrument as important as the volume and mass forming a form in both Western and Eastern art. As Lao Tse puts it,
“Clay is kneaded into a vessel;
The usefulness of the vessel
lies in the space where there is nothing.
A room is created by cutting out doors and windows;
The usefulness of the room
lies in the space where there is nothing.”
(Translated by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura, 2004, Chapter 11, Tao Te Ching)
Again in Zen Buddhism, to be full is to be empty, to be empty is to be full. Therefore, form is emptiness; space is form. As a matter of fact, in Chinese philosophy, the universe is defined as a void as the basis of ontology. “A form without a form”, that is, a being without being, means opening up to eternal existence and a nothingness that can encompass everything.
Image 8: Whirlpool Art Awa by Katsushika Hokushika Hokusai
The mystical perspective of Eastern philosophy towards existence has also influenced many artists in the West. For example, Yves Klein is an important name who applies an art idea based on Far Eastern philosophical ideas to his works With the act of "leaping" Ywes experienced that Martin Heiddeger's theory of "throwing into being" that forms the basis of his philosophical discourse. In Gaston Bachelard's words, "First there is nothing, then there is a deep nothingness, then there is a blue depth." At the Le Vide exhibition in Paris in 1958, he drew attention to the space by taking out all the furniture inside the gallery and painting all the walls of the gallery white; He experienced the "Jump into the Void" by saying "the blue sky is my work".
Image 9: Jumping
When it comes to modern times, the perceptions of the artists against the value of the feeling of emptiness have begun to gain both diversity and metaphysical depth. As can be seen from Klein's performances, the 19th century. Modern art has almost built a line of defense against all the sanctions that ignore human uniqueness. One of the German romantic painters, Caspar David Friedrich's famous painting named "Journey Above the Clouds" is a good example of the way we challenge the void/modern world that we are trying to mark.
Image 10: Caspar David Friedrich / “Journey Above the Clouds”
The Naked Truth: Death and Emptiness/Holding on
The human being of modern times, who has been turned into a robot by being purified from his soul, feelings and emotions and turned into a mannequin, needs to face the phenomenon of death in order to get rid of the 'emptiness' and return to his heart. Death and the thoughts that come with it have been one of the biggest problems of human beings since they have occupied the earth. For some, death is a salvation, for others it is the biggest source of anxiety, for some it is an end, for others it is an indispensable condition for 'survival' and 'holding on' by getting rid of the 'emptiness' in the face of life. The attitude people take towards death is directly related to their understanding of metaphysics. It is inevitable that people who have no concern about the meaning of this life, which is uncertain when and how it will end, but which will surely end one day, will be exhausted in the face of death.
The "domestication" of death in the pre-modern era is incomprehensible to modern man. In this inauthentic lifestyle, death and the dead are thrown away from the space/urban. In his book Symbolic Exchange and Death, Baudrillard draws attention to the fact that over time, the dead are taken away from the cemeteries, which reflect the warmth of village and city centers and which people also use to gather together, and thrown "outward" and says that there is "nothing foreseen for the dead in the new cities or contemporary metropolises, both in terms of physical space and mental space". Therefore, modernity, unable to overcome death/death, seeks ways to remove this great reality from sight and mind. As Zygmunt Bauman puts it, it tries to "rationalize" it in small manageable pieces. It succeeds in this, but it is not enough for modern man to get rid of the 'emptiness', to get rid of the thought of death that stands before him as a naked reality.
Modern man does whatever it takes to eliminate death and mortality from his life, to cleanse and scrape life of death. For this, it is necessary to sanitize death, to cover it up, at all costs. Those who have fallen away from themselves, who proportion their existence in life to their stomachs, "zipper" the idea of death and put it away for the time being, away from their lives. In this way, people who continue to go about their daily business as usual and who are approaching the end of their lives are not disturbed by 'dying' and 'the dead'. As a matter of fact, both death itself and the idea of death are not even as much a part of the modern world as ordinary work. Death, having been expelled from people's lives, has become something obscene and disturbing because it upsets those around it. Even funeral procession programs are kept to a minimum so as not to disturb the eyes and senses of passers-by. Such a 'vulgar' 'reality' has no chance of going beyond a void and nothingness in the life of modern man, who lives in a 'space-time' where identities and words are eviscerated.
Besides, the difference between human beings and other existing creatures is not only that they know that they will die one day. The biggest difference is that human beings are aware of the fact that they are facing death and that they have earned their existence on the journey towards death. Death is therefore a condition that makes it possible for a person to live his or her life in an authentic way. Although the physicality of death destroys the human being, the idea of death protects the human being and prevents him/her from being consumed and lost in the pursuit of everyday gains. Thanks to this consciousness, human beings are not only distinguished from other living beings, but are also elevated to a different position within the human race. This consciousness is also the consciousness that prevents human beings from hanging in the void.
Facing the thought of death means asking the question of where we are in the face of the "Black Square". Smiling at the reality of death means journeying into the depths of our hearts as we circle the Ka'ba. "Come home! Return to the song! Return to your heart!"
References
Aristotle Metaphysics. Istanbul: Pinhan, 2018.
Bachelard, Gaston. Air and Dreams, 1943.
Bachelard, Gaston. Poetics of Space. Istanbul: Kesit, 1996
Baudrillard, Jean. Symbolic Exchange and Death. Istanbul: Boğaziçi University, 2002.
Bauman, Zygmunt. Death, Immortality and Other Strategies of Life. Istanbul: Ayrıntı, 2000.
Bergson, Henri et al. Introduction to Metaphysics. Istanbul: Paradigma, 2011.
Cevizci, Ahmet. Dictionary of Philosophy. Istanbul: Paradigma, 2005.
Mengüşoğlu, Takiyettin. Human Philosophy. Istanbul: Remzi, 1988.
Tally Jr., Robert T. Spatiality. Abingdon: Routledge, 2013.