Leonard Shlain (1937 - 2009) was a surgeon, inventor, and author whose 1991 book “Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light” shaped much of our artistic thinking. Shlain’s core argument is: the great (visual) artists are visionaries who are able to presage discoveries in other fields by cultivating their own, more individualistic work. But how can we actually use Leonard Shlain’s theories for understanding individual works of art? And is this form of analysis enough?
Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: [ Ссылка ]
Apple Podcasts: [ Ссылка ]
Google Podcasts: [ Ссылка ]
Amazon Music: [ Ссылка ]
Podbean: [ Ссылка ]
iHeartRadio: [ Ссылка ]
Dan Schneider's interview with Leonard Shlain (2003): [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: @automachination
Alex's (archived) essays: alexsheremet.com
Joel’s website: poeticimport.com
Timestamps:
0:00 – Defining Leonard Shlain’s core argument
5:20 – Does art ‘merely’ organize one’s perceptions?
9:28 – Joel: people don’t want to parse out ambiguous terms
11:05 – Alex: nonvisual artists prefigure reality, as well
19:38 – Why society laughs at innovators
25:12 – Joel opines on the mutual benefits of art/science
29:30 – Euclidean geometry in ancient art
34:40 – Alex: art over-compensates for new knowledge
39:30 – Mosaic in the Middle Ages: Shlain’s “just-so” story?
44:00 – Giotto’s proto-perspective
48:57 – Joel on the need to contextualize Giotto & period art
55:05 – Alex: every artistic “problem” forces its own solution
57:50 – A few words on Leonardo da Vinci
01:05:56 – Joel shows off his woolen lamb
01:09:47 – Rembrandt’s use of chiaroscuro
01:13:54 – Edouard Manet’s “Luncheon on the Grass”
01:36:21 – Claude Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series
01:50:04 – Van Gogh’s “Wheatfield with Crows”
02:01:32 – Henri Matisse’s “The Dance”
02:12:21 – Leonard Shlain’s argument for Cubism
02:17:38 – Pablo Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”
02:29:50 – Alex: Marcel Duchamp was a lot more mature than big-name Modernists
02:32:52 – Marc Chagall's "I And The Village"
02:36:43 – Leonard Shlain on Asian art
03:01:49 – Hokusai's "36 Views of Mount Fuji"
03:43:17 – What does today’s art tell us about society?
Tags: #ArtiFact, #LeonardShlain, #Art, #Physics, #Euclid, #Giotto, #Monet, #Manet, #Picasso, #Duchamp, #Chagall, #Hokusai, #VanGogh
