The nature of art and painting, as with music and prose, is the essence of revealing the invisible, capturing the forces. In this statement, it is also important to note that while it is one thing to reveal the invisible, it is also the importance of painting the organs without the body; without the literalism.
Within each artist, composer, writer, exists a culmination of experiences and morals that affect their perception and methodology in their respective field. As Deleuze points out, “Bacon harbors within himself all the violence of Ireland, and the violence of Nazism, the violence of war” . In painting the hysteria rather than the horror, he subjects the audience to an image that allows the viewer to apply their own horror to match the hysteria. For example, the painting of the scene of the crucifixion with all the characters involved versus the expression of one individual at the crucifixion.
In this, although I don’t have to necessarily have to enjoy or actively like Bacon’s paintings, it will ultimately resonate within me and spark a cacophony of emotions regardless of my view on the physical painting. This is the importance of painting the invisible, the sensation and ultimately what great art does, to invoke sensation without forcing the artist’s sets of morals and ideals upon the audience.
Another example exists in Van Gogh’s work, in that the ability to depict the optimistic portrayal of invisible forces of a landscape or the ‘force of a sunflower seed’ beyond the inner turmoil and angst that lies within the artist demonstrates the ability to transcend the selfish endeavour for attention through art.
‘It is not movement that explains the levels of sensation, it is the levels of sensation that explain what remains of movement’ .
The horror of the unknown scream that is seen numerously in Bacon’s work far outweighs the horror of a narrated scene. ‘The scream captures or detects an invisible force’ , and within it, the potential for every narrated scene that exists to explain this invisible force; as Kafka spoke ‘of detecting the diabolical powers of the future knocking at the door’ . The importance of the separation between sensation and the spectacle and what Bacon distinguishes and paints primarily (sensation) is that the result of the spectacle in the painting may not ever lead to the sensation but by painting the sensation, the resulting spectacle becomes infinitely more powerful and isn’t limited to by the audience.

jacky

 

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