{"id":20388,"date":"2020-04-16T11:22:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T11:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/?p=20388"},"modified":"2020-04-16T11:24:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T11:24:24","slug":"art-in-times-of-uncertainty-some-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/art-in-times-of-uncertainty-some-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"Art in times of uncertainty: some thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Francesc Qu\u00edlez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Marinus<\/a>
Marinus van Reymerswaele, Saint Jerome in his Study<\/a><\/em>, 1535, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a time of worry, such as we are currently experiencing, in which we are overcome with anxiety and on the horizon we see only the image of uncertainty and despair, humanity seeks answers, remedies to help it bear this heavy burden that weighs us down, limits us and prevents us from going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two decades into the 21st<\/sup> century we are facing an unexpected situation that has questioned man\u2019s supposed unconditional ability and has shattered the foundations of an edifice, that of modernity<\/strong>, that we believed was resting on solid foundations. In reality, this epistemological construct, based on the supposed power of man, aided by limitless technological progress, has for some time being demonstrating its shortcomings and inadequacies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith in progress, in mechanization, in the desire for power, to paraphrase Nietzsche, contained the seeds of its own self-destruction. As we have progressed, achieving material conquests, feeling ourselves capable of facing and overcoming any and all challenges, we have become spiritually impoverished and we have distanced ourselves from the principles and values that have contributed the most to comforting us in times when we discover our own fragility and that of the system to which we belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has always been said, and rightly, that human thought never advances in linear terms, and that many of the reflections, observations, existential doubts and ideas are part of one cultural heritage, and that the same questions people asked in Antiquity are still valid today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Albrecht<\/a>
Albrecht D\u00fcrer, Melancolia I<\/a><\/em>, 1514. Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The work of art: from immanence to transcendence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this respect, the work of art, understood as a form of reflection, of the projection of longings, hopes, desires, or as the reflection of the thinking of an age, a worldview or as a sensitive artefact that helps us discover unknown facets of our own human condition, is the best balm for curing the arrogance and the pride that generally characterizes us. From this perspective, art museums are rather more than simple containers of material objects placed in chronological order and grouped together according to stylistic affinities or similarities<\/strong>. Although this temporal sequence is important, we believe that it has rather an instrumental interest. When all is said and done, it is merely a guideline that anchors us with a factor, time, that is just another convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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