Symptoms of Personalisation in Arts

Abstract

Humans consist of spirit, materiality and vitality. Depending on which of these aspects takes the upper hand, the art created is characterised by humanism, personalisation or depersonalisation. One may observe in the sphere of Polish contemporary art symptoms of ethical and spiritual dynamics that entail new qualities. I refer to this as “personalisation of art”, which appears to be stemming more from Jewish metaphysics than from the Ancient Greece. Personalism is one of currents in Polish contemporary art that is, at least since the introduction of the Martial Law in 1981, symbiotically related to the circles of Christian culture which, in turn, is significantly influenced by the philosophy of personalisation. However, the “personalisation of art” entails a much broader phenomenon that is not necessarily directly related to Christian circles. It constitutes a consequence of artistic activity, which is under the sway of issues preoccupied with a personalised approach to humans. This uncommon ethical and spiritual dynamic traces its roots to the period of Young Poland (Młoda Polska), which saw an inception of a bridge between the realms of art and religion. This may not be simply dismissed as a kaleidoscopic, postmodernist approach but is more of an enunciation of searching for new opportunities to formulate structures that are more closely related to longing than they are to needs. Artists’ attitudes tilt more openly towards creating art that is preoccupied with life serving values. These justify a need for breaking away from the nature’s determinism trap that is reflected by the so-called production of art. Teilhard de Chardin’s work: A personalistic universe provided a stimulus for this attempt at investigating the symptoms of personalisation in Polish art.