SQUARES AND CIRCLES
INTRODUCTION
It is not for me to
attempt to spell out or describe exactly what is being symbolized or
illustrated by any of the paintings, since, quite apart from the irrelevance of
such a procedure to the enjoyment of art, most of them will either prove
self-explanatory or at least more intelligible after a study of certain of the
relevant philosophical works included in both CENTRETRUTHS - Journeys to the Centre of Truth
(Collected Philosophy 1977-2009)
and, more generally, OPERA D’OEUVRE (Collected Writings 1973-2009), which were, after all, the principal motive for their creation in the first
place. They can, of course, be viewed and enjoyed without reference to the
mature philosophy; but with a knowledge and understanding of it, most of them
should come to life in a way that will leave no doubt as to their symbolic
significance and status as an adjunct to the philosophy in question.
This is especially so of
the four volumes of Squares and Circles (2001-2), the full significance of which would be impossible to grasp
without a grounding in the later philosophical works.
For, in the final analysis, the paintings are there to serve the philosophy,
not vice versa! But they are still, I believe, a genuine sort of art, and to me
a higher and deeper species of art than anything demonstrably metachemical and 'square', which is to say, noumenally objective, not to say than anything
representational and overly phenomenal, whether with an objective (chemical) or
a subjective (physical) bias. And, being art, they should not be judged by
criteria applying to technical drawing, geometry, or architecture!
Unlike Mondrian, who is in most respects my antithesis, I have not
resorted to callipers or rulers in order to measure the exact placement of
horizontal or vertical lines within any given form, but have relied on
intelligent guesswork, a sort of cultural intuition as to the correct or most
advantageous positioning of a line, with a consequence that the result can
never be more than an approximation
to a central or equidistant position and overall impression - something crucial
to the continuance of art not only as distinct from, say, technical drawing or
geometry, but in and of itself, where the artist's individual judgement is the
touchstone by which the authenticity and, above all, cultural significance of
his art should be evaluated!
For no man
has the right to consider himself an artist for whom technique is more than the
mere handmaiden of vision. Callipers and rulers simply result in craft, and craft can get along
more than adequately without any vision at all, as evidenced by the paucity of
imagination attending those works which have been so carefully and meticulously
crafted ... that nothing demonstrably artistic or cultural is to be discerned
in or, rather, on them at all, and their mass production becomes all the more feasible,
if not inevitable!
Perish the thought that
the viewer familiar with any of these paintings should come to a similar
decision in regard to them!
John O’Loughlin, 2002
(Revised 2006-10)
Copyright 2001-10
John O’Loughlin