The Concept of Stratification of the Work of Art in the Aesthetic Thought of Roman Ingarden and Władysław Stróżewski in Relation to Contemporary Art On the Example of an Analysis and Interpretation of an Installation by Arthur Jafa

Abstract

The text begins with an indication of the influence Roman Ingarden’s philosophy exerted on Władysław Stróżewski’s aesthetic thought. A particular emphasis is applied to the belief in the intentional nature of the work of art, as well as its multi-- layered structure and the location of the ‘aesthetically valuable qualities’ and ‘qualities of aesthetic values’ within such a structure. Next, selected topics discussed by Stróżewski in Dialectics of Creativity are presented. Finally, considerations regarding the relationship ‘was–is,’ ‘beginning–end,’ ‘top (content, idea)–bottom (material, technique)’, necessity and freedom, as well as necessity and possibility are applied to the contemporary ‘installation art.’ Arthur Jafa’s work The White Album (awarded the main trophy at the 2019 Biennial in Venice) is analyzed. Although the installation is constructed with the use of various media and materials, it has been shown that the reception of the whole gives it the character of an intentional work. The analysis also demonstrates a presence of a multi-layered structure and dialectical juxtapositions mentioned above. For installations using various materials and media, the multiplication of strata and the surprising transformation (through a unique ‘installation’) of the material-meaning-sense relationship is especially characteristic. The multiplication of strata and the transformation of material-meaning-sense relationship also highlight the issues raised in Dialectics of Creativity, yet they do so in an artistic way. The specific ‘aesthetically valuable’ qualities such as immersiveness, intensity, and poeticality are eventually described as revealing the values of beauty and truth.