On The Sublime Of Eliasson's Art Space Construction

Facing with the infinite scenery such as majestic mountains and endless sea,human being shall feel powerless and horrified due to their own smallness.Such meaning was regarded as the sense of sublimity by Kant.Based on the concept of“ sublimity” by Kant,we are able to know that the spectators are the representatives in the limited lives.When faced with unlimited substance,the spectators shall feel oppressed by such unimaginable objects.That is why they feel horrified and painful deeply: the deep fright of the infinite,absent,hidden and unclassified objects and the suffering that derives from the depreciated and suppressed life.In terms of traditional landscape paintings that expressed the concrete images in western countries,the imagination of the spectators was always aroused by the images of “ spectacular mountains” and the sense of sublimity will be aroused from suffering to pleasure.On the contrary,as for Lyotard,the sense of sublimity that was remarkable in traditional painting was considered as nostalgic sublimity.However Lyotard thought highly of experimental sublimity which got ride of everything from nostalgic sublimity and valued the form of postmodern art.Moreover experimental sublimity emphasized on thrilling scenes instead of the strong sense of pleasure and pain.However the author found out that there were two types of sublimity in the works of Eliasson.Moreover both of the sublimity appeared in one masterpiece— both of them were not in the state of contradiction.Eliasson is a world-renowned artist whose works have showed the various changeable relationship by applying natural elements such as the light and water in the art exhibitions to construct the experience and cognition of the spectators from different perspectives.The space that was created by Eliasson was not the virtual space that presented by technology in new media,rather the three dimensional space was the real one that was constructed by real material.It was the transformation of space in daily life,therefore the spectators shall feel familiar with the space in the works.If the spectators start from the presence of the work,they will discover that these works were neither visual perception of space nor the “ image of space” constructed with meaning.But this work was viewed as the perception of space that was perceived by the body and mind.Such space referred to the ultimate sense of sublimity described by Lyotard.Therefor in this article,the author shall first explain the expression of sublimity: in traditional aesthetics,Longinus,Burk and Kant have expressed the meaning of sublimity separately;in post modernism,the comprehension of sublimity by Lyotard could be used as reference;in the perspective of art,the author has concluded a clear framework after combining the sublime discourse in aesthetics,that was the sublime expression that based on the natural images.Therefore the main topic of this article was highlighted: the works by Eliasson.This article analyzed his masterpieces from two aspects in sublimity: the first type was to apply the sublime aesthetics by Kant— the “nostalgic” sublimity;the second type was the post modern sublimity — the“ experimental” sublimity.Both of them haven't shown any contradictory but existed in the works of Eliasson.Based on the specific description,the “nostalgic” sublimity was at first explained.The space in the works of Eliasson didn't highlight the application of technology.However behind such technology,it was the pursuit of nature.Therefore this article shall continue to demonstrate the “ nature of sublime” and comprehend the works of Eliasson behind the technology.Based on the analysis of sublime aesthetics by Kant,we are able to experience the pain and pleasure from the installation art by Eliasson(especially the installations that were filled with natural elements).His works showed us that in front of the infinite and absolute power or numbers,the imagination would suffer from uncontrollable setbacks.Therefore,taken the Weather Project as an example,the author regarded the rational concept as the power of super sensory,which will be awakened by setbacks.It required the holistic understanding of infinite and absolute power.The former process(the setback of imagination)will bring the suffering to spectators before enabling them to the sense of pleasure.Therefore sublimity differs from merely pleasure in aesthetic feelings,instead,it is featured with sense of suffering and pleasure.Secondly,in the sublime aesthetics of Lyotard,the sense of sublime doesn't belong to the traditional meanings but refers to expression.The author mainly applied the sublime discourse that related to the analysis of uncertainty and astonishment byLyotard to the works of Eliasson.For example,in the theme works of Eliasson,there were words that meant “ You”.In fact,it reflected that the author created his words in terms of spectators' perspective,which removed the traditional techniques of creation.Therefore his works were filled with uncertainty to attach great importance to the feeling of spectators as an individual.Moreover,a great many elements of mirrors in his work have inspired spectators to self-reconstruction,which connected with nostalgic sublimity.Meanwhile his works have aroused the inner feelings of spectators by thrilling scenes and presented the objects that were hidden in daily life.In the end,the sense of sublime in the works of Eliasson was presented as the perceptual experience.Only when spectators are present,can they truly experience and have personal understanding of his works.Meanwhile the experience from spectators interacts with the works thus the meaning of the works isn't determined by the author.Such artistic concept was emphasized in experimental sublimity.Thus it was well-known as the way of decentralization.Finally the author was able to describe the presentation of sublimity in the works of Eliasson from perception of body and mind.