By

Javier Mondragon Sanchez

ARTiculation prize

Ladies and Gentlemen it is both an honour and a pleasure to have you here today
listening to my presentation.

The subject of my talk, this piece of art in front of you, entitled Wanderer above the
sea of Fog is the well-known Masterpiece by Caspar David Friedrich. What do you
think this painting is trying to tell us? One man, poised as he is, precariously on a
rocky crag, perilously above the clouds.
As a human, I find myself being ever inquisitive, trying to find a new experience that
will take my breath away.
I think that people have been in this constant pursuit for a long time.
In the eighteen-century artists were interested in exploring new lands, but most
importantly in experiencing new sensations. This was a period of insatiable
curiosity, and this time, artists were leading the way. This search for the exotic and
astounding is now called the poetics of mountains. It is known as such because it
was in the European mountains that the artists encountered these new
perspectives.
Friedrich was one of the painters looking to share with the viewer the experience of
a person being in the presence of the sublime.
In the Wanderer we have the image of a man giving us his back. Friedrich doesnt
want us to look at him, he expects us to see through the picture and contemplate the
imposing landscape. Some believe that it may be a self-portrait, while others think
that it is a man serving for the Prussian army. The man is not dressed as a climber; it
could be anyone in a sense. The figure is placed as a timeless witness of a spectacle.
A more psychological connotation of the painting similar to the one John Lewis
Gaddis wrote about in his book The Landscape of History comparers the wanderer
with a person looking at his past. He is placed on a vantage point, lets say on top of a
mountain, and he is looking at his memories, that seem to be made of fog, they are
blurry, and in the words of the writer they cant be relived, retrieved or rerun. It is
simply a shadow of our past reality.
If this is true, moments like that ought to be lived. In his painting he opens a window
for us, while you contemplate this or similar pictures, the viewer must try to
separate itself from the setting of the museum, and get immersed in the picture.

When people have explained this or contemporary paintings, they have been
described as sublime. The sublime is a very difficult term to pinpoint, but it has been
used for a very long time. (Pseudo)- Longinus started talking about the sublime back
in the 1st century AD. He said, Invariably what inspires wonder casts a spell upon
us and is always superior to what is convincing and pleasing.
So that is our first point of importance, the sublime causes wonder.
These Romantic painters are no longer obsessed in trying to find the rules needed to
create beauty, they are interested in the effect that beauty will have on the viewer.
They want to share their passion for being awestruck.

Friedrich was influenced by a revolution. The Sturm und Drang, translated to

English means, Storm and Urge. It was a reaction against the excess of stress in
rationalism, extending from the Enlightment, especially the French one. They
wanted to defeat the importance of thought with raw emotion, this people were
perhaps in the search for the sublime by letting their feelings unravel.
Caspar said, The artist should paint not only what he sees before him but also what
he sees within him. If however he sees nothing within him, he should also refrain
from painting what he sees before him. Although art normally tends to be
autobiographical, Caspar would have put a special emphasis on being introspective.
He hardly described his own works, he probably believed that the paintings should
speak for themselves; his work irradiated some kind of spirituality.

But can everyone experience the sublime, and if so, where can it be found.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant related the sublime with two kinds of beauty,
mathematical and dynamic.
Getting the opportunity to separate from the urban life, and travel to the
countryside. Pick a stretch of land free from light pollution, and simply lie down and
stare into the sky. The celestial vault is so enormous, and the sky is decorated with
so many stars; or perhaps, looking at the sunset from a boat. During experiences like
that the mind starts to wonder about infinity, the vastness of the ocean, or even
greater, of the universe, but the exercise can be exhausting and even demoralising
as the mind is unable to grasp the concept of infinity. Kant would describe this as
mathematical beauty.
On the other hand, dynamic beauty would occur in the presence of a storm. The
object of admiration this time is the power that is infinitively greater than our own.
In the words of Thomas Burnett, events like this fill and over-bear the mind in their
excess, and cast it into a pleasing kind of stupor and admiration.

There is the second point of importance, the sublime escapes even our imagination,
and in the process it certainly leaves a sense of discomfort, but that is only part of
the experience. Events portrayed in art can provide us with sublime beauty even if
they are considered frightful or painful, as long as the viewer is simply an observer.
As Joseph Addison said, The sublime fills the mind with an agreeable kind of
horror. There are parallels nowadays with rampart drug use and the need to
escape. As Byron, famously said, The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we
exist even in pain.

The ideas of this period were bound to transcend time, and tried to be captured
using different methods, in this essential quest.
Here in the Fitzwilliam there is a picture by Francis Danby that represents the
sublime. The moon, or perhaps lighting is illuminating the voluminous mountains,
and a raft on the beach perhaps signifying the insignificance of mankind.
The image of the sole figure facing immensity was also a subject that preoccupied
the English painter John Martin, even though he focused more on apocalyptic
landscapes

The 21st century has brought us The Weather Project that took place in the Turbine
Hall of Tate Modern, created by Olafur Eliasson is another powerful example, maybe
he is not using oil paint, but he is trying to take the audience away. It was irrelevant
if the weather was miserable outside, the artist, just like Friedrich, was able to
capture a place, a time, and maybe even an emotion. The people that came in were
compelled to stay in this artificial setting and simply enjoy the moment. It is a nice
contrast to the fast-paced society we inhabit John Lennon said, Life is what happens
when you are busy making other plans.
Friedrichs Wanderer clearly has a direct impact on the entertainment community.
As it has been portrayed in the posters for several films. This poster of Inception is
an example, Leonardo Di Caprio facing away from us; the difference is that in this
case he is in front of a cityscape. Would it be then possible that manmade objects
become a source of the sublime? We may be faced with similar dilemmas when
trying to imagine the amount of information that a computer can store, or the power
of a machine.
Even though I havent yet had the opportunity to appreciate the Wanderer in the
flesh. I have had similar experiences, I imagine we all have; I have been in places
where I have felt what I imagine this man had been feeling. That is why I relate so
much to the painting, because I keep pondering on the importance of my life in
relation to a much greater landscape. That is part of our human condition, what
unites all of us, despite gender, race, or social status. Forgetting about how to
survive, people set out to find experiences that would answer the most important
question, why survive at all. Im only 17 and sometimes I feel like the wanderer on
top of a mountain, I may be wearing a mask of relaxation, but inside I might be
watching a storm. I may be looking at the endless opportunities in front of me. Or I
may only be contemplating a dream-like landscape.

In the words of David Hockney What an artist is trying to do for people is bringing
them closer to something, because art is about sharing. You wouldnt be an artist
unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.

Thank you