M.C. Escher’s “Relativity” reveals to us that just because we can observe a contradiction does not mean that it is compatible with reality and truth. The image of a contradiction is and must always be at its foundation utterly consistent. And the plain fact is that we cannot actually conceptualize a contradiction, and I mean cognitively. Though Escher’s lithograph appears contradictory, its form is perfectly rational. At its root, being wholly an artistic rendition in and of itself (the lithograph qua the lithograph), it necessarily conforms to the rational consistency reality always categorically demands.
Category Archives: Art
Aphorism of the Day: Art must come from reason
To approach any art absent a rational ontological frame of reference is to subject oneself to purely emotional manipulation. And art in service to collectivist ideology (e.g. moral subjectivism, socialist or religious dogma) is the easiest and most insidious form of propaganda–for it asks not even a pretense of reason.