ART AS EXPERIENCE BY JOHN DEWEY MINTON, BALCH & COMPANY : NEW YORKCOPYRIGHT, 1934, BY JOHN DEWEY TO ALBERT C. BARNES IN GRATITUDE [MANDFACTORED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [AP THE VAN REES PRESSstatement is especialy true ofthe chapters on ert and he last chapter. My greatest indebtedness is to Dr. A. C. Barnes. ‘The chapters have been gone over one by one with him, and yet sniat Towe to his comments and suggestions on this account is but a small measure of my debt. I have had the benefit of con= versatons with him through a period of years, many of which cecured inthe presence of the univaed cllection of pictures he has assembled. The influence ofthese conversations, together ‘vith that of his books, has been a chef factor in shaping my own thinking about the pilosophy of esthetics. Whatever is sound in this volume is dve more than T ean say to the great educational ‘work catied on in the Barnes Foundation, That work is of ploncer quality comparable tothe best that has been done in any field during the present generation, that of scence not ex- ‘expted I should be lad to think ofthis volume as one phase of ‘the widespread influence the Foundation i exercising. ‘Tam indebted to the Barnes Foundation for permission to eprodace a number ofilustrations and to Barbara and Willard ‘Morgan for the photographs from which the reproductions were rade, ED. CONTENTS PREFACE, 1 THE LIVE CREATURE 1, THELIVE CREATURE AND “ETHERIAL THINGS" I, HAVING AN EXPERIENCE 1V, THE ACT OF EXPRESSION YV, THE EXPRESSIVE OBJECT VI. SUBSTANCE AND FORM ‘THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FORM ‘GUL, THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES 1X, THE COMMON SUBSTANCE OF THE ARTS X. THE VARIED SUBSTANCE OF THE ARTS XI. THE HUMAN CONTRIBUTION XIL, THE CHALLENGE To PHILOSOPHY XII, CRITICISM AND PERCEPTION XIV. ART AND CIVILIZATION INDEX 38 s fs 106, 14 wa aa Ms 2” 28 we ast‘CHAPTER VII THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES hs been reply inte tit tee eee or —t——S ST ne Te fo pal ot peal; ae Pee pena eet te pee ne, mre FESR Sees cence tld al omsomate, me PICU Say nas ipesng thee lel asm et eat with ery tng eo (rete andenaton Ti vey nae he hein sa ene; mate clOneracon eps se reerot he ng sly experience When ese. tcf tn set Oat fee eras By a ert mth emg Gt eo the xprce wey al tii nd antago wk gee Oy cou unc at ever coltey sb sl Peas men owed ling of pain a iste te ba eae Tee previ cal eps the pendence th ial wed geo aes ok ipo ava! at pobtel ty ree onion of fr ner nd rot een, butane epernce te war of tnt cally ee, Only 0 tne ren atin an cts cet ut + pou tbo {yt neapernc ul yee Aad hn invitee omen te iret om n- tad scp thre yt othe eter 2Stitecar sis he pat ene ling toxins Shen te ncaa utr hat dee te — Tinga yang the oda o et i of ae oso of yt Gat in sn sol cel te THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES 168 theory. For the misconception springs from fllure to take into fccount the fact that esthetc rhythm is a matter of perception land therefore includes whatever is contributed by the tl in the fitive process of peeling. And strangely enough the mieon cpl in question exists side by side with statements tha esthetic feprience is an affair of immediacy of perception. The notion refer to identifies rhythm with regularly of recurence amid hanging elements. Tiefre dealing dvectly with this conception, T want to pointcut its effect pon understanding art. The order of the Elements of spatial objects as spatial and physical, that is apart, ftom thei entrance info that interaction which eauzes an expeti- cence, i comparatively at leat, fixed. Aside from a slow process ff weathering, the Hines and planes of a statue stay the same, tnd 20 do the configurations and intervals of a building. From this fact is derived the conclusion that there ar to kinds of fine ate the spatial and the terporal, and that only the ater are Imarked by shythm: the counterpart ofthis error being that only bnuldings and statues possess symmetry. The mistake would be serious if it affected only theory. Ta fact denial of rhythm to pic- tures and buildings obstructs perception of qualities that are absolutly indispensable in ther esthetic effec. ‘The identification of eaythm with literal recurrence, with regula return of identical elements concedes of recurrence stat cally of anatomically instead of functionally; for the Inter inter peels recurrence on the basis of furtherance, through the energy fof the elements, of a complete and consummatory experince. Since a favorite lustration of thase who hold the theory is the Uicing of a clock, it may be called the tik-tock theory. Al- ‘ough it should be evident upon a moment's reflection that i it were possible to experience a uniform series of ticktocks, the eect would be ether to put us to sleep or goa us to exsperae tion, yet the conception of such regularity is taken as furnishing the ground-plan, whichis then supposed to be complicated by the superimposition of aumber of ther thythms, each equally ‘regula fn itelf. Of course it may be possible to analyze mathe- rmatially an actually experienced rythm into a combination of abasic regularity overlaid witha number of minor uniform repe- tits. But the result only a mechanical approximation to any1 ART AS EXPERIENCE vital or expressive rhythm. Iis similar tothe outcome of attempts to construc etheticaly satisfactory curved lines (ke those ofa Greek vase) out ofthe combination of a number of curves each of which is constructed according to rigd mathematical este ‘ion, ‘An investigator undertook withthe ald of a recording ine strument an ingiry int the voies of singers. It was found that the voles of accomplished artists, those rated as superior, were registred in lines slightly above ot slightly below the lines which stood for exact pitch, while singers stl in training were much tore likely to produce sounds that coincided exactly withthe registers of enact intervals, The investigator remarked thatthe art always “took liberties” with music In fact these “liberties” mark the diflerece between mechanical or purely objective con- struction and artistic production. For shythm volves constant variation. Ta the definition that wk given of rhythm as ordered variation of manifestation of eneray, variation isnot only as in portant as order, but i san indispensable cecficient of extetc order. The greater the variation, the more interesting the eect, provided order is maintained —a fact that proves that the of: ‘erin question i not to be stated in terms of objective rege- lartes but requires another principe for its interpretation, Ths Dict, once more, i that of cumulative progression toward the fullment of an experince fn terms of the interity of the exer- fence liself—something not to be measured In external tems, though not atainable without the use of extemal materials, ob- served a Imagined. Tray illustrate by a somewhat arbitrarily selected portion of verse, purposely taking that which, although intresting, Is rot of the highest order. Some lines from Wordsworth “Dre- Ide” will serve the purpose: “cathe wind and elety rain, And lt the business ofthe elements, The singlo sheep, ard the one Blasted tre, And the Bleak music from that old stone wal, The noise of wood end water, ond the mist atom the line of each of theve two roods Advanced in such indisputable shapes.” THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES 1s ‘There fs always something stupid about tuning poetry ato prose that is supposed to explain the meaning of the poety. But my purpose here in giving prosaic analyse snot to explain the line but to enforee a point of theory. So we notice that, a the frat place, thre is nota word that repeats the kind of fed sSgnifeane that might beset forth in a dictionary. The meaning of “wind, rao, sheep tc, stone wall, mist” isa funtion of the swhle situation expressed, and hence variable of tht situation fd not an external constant. The sate thing is true ofthe adjee- tives: sly, single, blasted, Beak, indisputable, Thee sense ‘kermined by the individual experience of desolation that is building; each contsbotes a furtherance ofits realization, wile cach in turn is qualified by the experience into the construction of which itenters as an energizing factor. Then there the vatar tion in objects, some relatively motionless st over against those ‘in mation; things soon and things heard rain and wind wall and suse; tree and nose. Then there Is the relatively slow pace as Jung 28 objects dominate, changing to an accelerated pace with cents, with “the noise of wood and water,” euminatng in the push ofthe relentlessly advancing mist. Te this variation afect= ing every detail hat makes the diference between such verses and ‘seesaw couplet. Yet “order” ie maintained, not that indeed of repetition insistence or inform, But actively, since each element ‘aries forward the building up ofan intgeally experienced stua- on, building it up without waste, and without incongrultis that clash and destroy. Order, for esthetic purposes, is defined and measured by functional and operative traits Contrast these lines with, say, some gospel byron from whose tit and swing thousands have obtained rudimentary ‘thetic satisfaction. The relatively external and physial cha acter ofthe latter is manifest inthe tendency to respond with a lyse keeping of times the poverty of the sentiment is due to (he comparative uniformity of both matter and is treatment ven in a ballad, refrains do not have in experience the uni formity they have in ication, For 38 they enter Into chang- Jing contents they have a varying effect that carries on a cumula- five conservation. It is possible for an artist to employ something ‘hati externally sheer repetition to convey a sense of inexorable fate, But the effect depends upon a summation that Is more than6 ART AS EXPERIENCE. quantitative edaion, Thus in musica repeated phrase, perhaps the one thrown atu a the begining ofa symphony, guns force because the new contexts in which iis found, colori and give ita new vale, even if only that of a more insistent, precise and cumulative enunciation ofa theme. "There is, of course, no rhythm without recurrence. But the reflective analysis of physical science is substituted forthe experience of art when recurrence is interpreted as Tieral rep tition, whether of material or exact foterval. Mechanical recur rence is that of material units. Esthetic recureence is that of ‘elationships that sum up and carry forvard. Recurring units 38 fuck ell attention to themselves as slated parts, and thos aay the whole, Hence they lesen esthetic effect. Recurting rlae tionships serve to define and delimit parts, giving them indivi ality of tel own, But they also connect; the individual entitas they mark off demand, because of the ations, association and fnteraction with other individuals. Thus the parts vitally serve ia the construction ofan expanded whole. ‘The beat of the Geum of the savage has also been held vp as the model of shythm, so that the “tiektock” theory be- comes the “tom-tom” theory. Here, to, itis held that a simple, rather monotonous, repetition of beats is the standard, and that it ie varied by the addition of other rhythms each of which ie sel wiform, while piquancy i Introduced by the wse of ayth- mic change. Unfortunately for the supposed objective basis of the theory, tomtom beats do not occur alone, but a6 factors jn a much more complex whole of varied singing and dancing And testead of reptition there isa evelopment, a working Up to greater pitches of excitement, perhaps a fenzy, that has begun with relative slow and calm movement. What is even more in portant, the history of music shows that im fact the primitive ‘hythms, Ike thse of the African negeo, are more subly varied, Jess uniform, than those of the music of civilized folk just as those of northern negroes in the United States are usually more ‘conventionalized than thoze ofthe south. The exigencies of part ‘nusle and the potentialities of harmony have operated to reduce to greater uniformity that phase of rhythm that consists indirect variations of intensity, while the theory in question demands reverse movement, THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES ro ‘The live ercature demands order in his living but he also demands novelty. Contsion is displeasing but so fs ennui, The “ouch of ezorder” that lends charm to a regular scene is ds- tery only from some exteral standard. From the standpoint tf actual experience it adds emphasis, distinction, as long as it (des not prevent a cumulative carrying forward from ene part to another, If it were experienced as dsorder it would prodace tm unresolved clash snd be displeasing. A temporary clash, oa the othr band, may be the factor of resistance that summons vp ‘negy to proced the more actively and triumphantly. Only per ‘ans who have been spoiled in eaely life Uke things always sof persons of vigor who prefer to live and who are not contented til subsisting ind the to easy repulsive. The dificult becomes Chjectinable only when instead of challenging energy it over- trl and blocks it. Some esthetic products bave an Fnmelate ‘oeue they are the “bestsellers” oftheir day. They are “easy” ad thos make @ qulck appeal; their popularity calls out intr tors, and they set the fazion in plays or novels or songs for & tine, ut their very ready assimilation into experience exbausts them quickly; no new stimuhs is derived fom them. They have their day—and only a day. ‘Compare a picture by, say, Whistler with one by Renoir In the formier—in most cases—tere will be found considerable etches of color a8 neatly uniform as may be. Rhythms with their necesary factors of contrast, are constituted only By the ‘opposition of large block. On only @ square inch of painting by Renoir there wll be fund no tvo contiguous lines of exactly the same quality. We may not be conscious of this fact as we Took atthe pletute, but we are conscious of is effect. Tt con- lebutes tothe immediate richness of the whole, nd it provides the conditions for new stimulation of new responses upon every subeoquent epprosch, This element of continual varation—pro- vided dynamic relations of reénforcement, and conservation are ‘otis what makes a picture or any work of art weet. ‘What is true in the large 1 tue inthe small, Repetition of uniform units at uniform intervals i not only not rhythm but ‘is opposed to the experience of rhythm. A checkerboard eflect 's more pleasing than a large Blank space or than on filled with lies that wander at random and that instead of defining figuresus ART AS EXPERIENCE fntefere withthe carrying forward of vision, For experience ofthe checkered arrangement isnot so regular a isthe object taken physically and geometrically. As the eye moves it takes in ‘ew and reinforcing surfaces, and careful cbservaton wil show that new patterns are almost automatically constructed. The squares run now vertically, now horizontally, now in one diagonal, tow in the other; and the smaller squares constuct not only larger squares but also rectanles and figures having staiike cuties, The organic damand for variety is such that itis ene forced in experience, even without much external occasion, Even the tcktock of the clock as Its eard varies, beeause what is ‘icra san interaction ofthe physical event with changing pa tations of organic reponce, The often made comparison of music and architecture rests upon the fact that thee arts, mote dieclly than oters, exemplify organic recurrences efected by cumulae tive relationships rather than by repetition of unite. The esthetic vulgarity of many of our ees, especially of those that line ‘American city streets, is due to the monotony caused by neguat repetition of forms, uniformly spaced, the architect depending only upon adventitious ornamentation for variety. An even mote steking example is found in our terrible cvibwar monuments T have said thatthe organism craves variety as well order. The statement, however is too weak for it sets forth a secondary property rather than the primary fact. The process of ‘organi Ife 4 variation. In words which William James often ‘ote it marks an instance of “ever, not quit.” Craving as sach arses only when this natural tendency i blocked by untoward leeunstance by the monotony of excess poverty or exces luniy. ‘Every movement of experience in completing itself recurs to is begining since its satisfaction of the prompting inital need. Dut the recutrence is witha dference; itis charged with all the liferenes the journey out and away feom the beginning bas tmade. For random samples, take the return after many year to childhood’ home; the proposition that is proved through @ ‘course of reasoning and the proposition ap first enunciated? the roeeting with an old friend after separation; the recurrence of @ ‘hrase in musi; ofa refrain in poetry. ‘Demand for variety is the manifestation of the fact that THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES 9 ting alive we sek to live, unt we are cowed by fear or dled Ey watine. The need of life itself pushes ws out into the un- Thonn, Tis s the abiding truth of romance. It may degenerate {ato formless Indulgence in motion and excitement for its own take, ad be expressed in peeudo-romanticism. But voeal clas fim, that which preaches rather than enacts as does that which emoely Occomes clase, is always based on fear of life and Reaction fom its exigencies and challenges. The romantic ‘then ordered by appropriate thythm becomes cassie, when- Ther the adventure undertaken is of scope suficient to tet as (fll as evoke the energies of men: The “Iliad” and “Odyssey” tee peremial witnesses, Rhythm is rationality among qualities. ‘The bold of the lowest order of ehythm upon the uncultivated hows that some order i desied inthe str of existence. And even the equations of mathematicians are evidence that varia (die inthe midst of maximum repetition, since they express teuvalences, not exact dente, Esthetic recurrence in short is vital, physiological, fanc- tional, Relationships rather than elements recur, and they recur fn difering contests and with diferent consequences so that each currence novel aswell asa remind. Ta satisfying an aroused Capectaney, it avo institutes a new longing, incites a fresh curi- tty eslalishes a changed suspense. The completeness of the Intetation of these two offices, opposed as they are in abstract ‘aneption, by the same means Instead of by using one device to tyouse energy and another to bring It to rest, measures artistry of production and perception, A well-conducted scientific inquiry Clscovers asi tests, and proves as it explores it does so in vite tue of a method which combines both functions. And conversa- Ao, dams novel and architectural constr tee f= ordered experince, reach a stage that at once records and sums vp the value of what precedes, and evokes and prophesies what is to come, Every closure is an awakening, and every awakening setles something, This state of afats delines organization of cere Tnsstence upon variation in rhythm may seem to be a Inborng of the obvious. My excuse is not only that infuentil theories have slighted this property, but that there isa tendency tolimit vay to someone phase of an art produc: for instance,- ART AS EXPERIENCE ‘o tempo in misc, ines fn psiating, meter in poctey; to Mattened for smooth curves in eculpture. Such limitation always tends in the direction of what Bosanquet called “easy beauty,” and when tavied through lgiealy, whether in theory or practice, results in some matter being left without form and some form being sitar isposed upon matter. Ta the Spring and Birth of Venus of Botticell the charm of arabeeques and lin in rhythmic patterns is easily felt. ts charm may easly seduce a spectator into making this phase of rhythm, more unconsciously than explicly, a standard of judgment for fexperience of other patings. It will then result fa an overest- sation of Bottcli in comparison with other painters. This fn itself i a minor matter, since it i beter to be sensitive to one aspect of form than to judge pictures merely as illustrations What is mote important is that it tends to create insensitiveness to ways of achieving rhythms that are at once more solid and rmoce subtle: such as relation of planes, of masses, of eclors nat sharply delineated. Again, the adequacy of Greek seulpure as a ‘means of expressing the human figure through the use of Mat- teped or rounded planes fs worth the admiration ealled forth by the statues of Pheidis, Dut it ie not wel when this particlar rhythmic made i set up as the sole standard, Then perception {s obscured of what is characteristic ofthe best in Eaypiian scalp. ture, obtained by relation of larger masses, of negro scul- ture'with its sharp anguarte, of works lke Epstein's that de pend so largely upon shythms’of light obtained by continually broken surfaces, ‘The same instances exemplify the separation of substance and form that reslts when rhythm is limited to variation and recurrence in.a single feature. Fanillar ideas, standardized moral ‘counsels, themes of conventional ramance like the love of s Darby for some Joan, the established charm of objects such a rose and iy are hade more pleasing when clothed in rhyme and punctu- ated with metrical swing. But in such eases we are, at the end, only reminded in an agreable way, occasining a temporary tiation of pleasure of what we have already experienced. When all materials ar interpenetrated by rhythm, the theme of “sub- ject” fs wansformed into a new subject-matter, There is tht sudden mage which gives us the sense of an inner revelation THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES m brought to Ws about something we had supposed to be known through and through. In short, the reciprocal interpretation of parts and whole, which we have seen to consitate an object « Jrock of at, is effected when all the constituents of the work, Inbeter pitute, drama, poem of building, stand in rhythmic fuenetion with all other members of the same Rind—line with Tine, color with color, space with space, lumination with ght tad shade in paintg—and all ofthese distinctive factors re- Enforce one another as variations that build up an integrated Complex experience. Te would be pedantic as well as ungenerous to deny all esthetic quality to an object that is marked in some tne respect by thythms that consolidate and organize the ener- tes involved in having an experience. But the objective measure tf greatness is precively the varlety and scope of factors which in ‘ng rhythmic each to each, sil cumulatively conserve and promote one another in bulaing up the actual experience, ‘An attempt has been made to support the distinction be- teen substance and form in works of art by contrasting “ne- es” with “greatness.” Artis fine itis said, when form is pee- fected; but i is great because of the intrinsic scope and weight of Ge subject-matter dealt with, even though the manner of dealing wth ite lest fine, The novels of Jane Austen and of Sir Water Scott have been used to illustrate the alleged distinction. Teannot find that i i valid. 1) the novels of Soot are greater Jn spe and amplitude than thse of Miss Austen, although less fine, ite because, while no one phase of the means employed is carted through a8 perfetly as in the one medium in which Jane Austen excels, there Is a wider range of subject-matter in which tome degree of form is attained, Its nota question of form versus subjectmatter but ofthe numberof kinds of co-working formal relationships. A clear pool, a gem, a miniature, an illuminated ‘manuscript, a shot story have their own perfection, each after its Kind. The Slagle quality that dominates in each may be cared through more adequately than is any single system of relations in objects of greater scope and compleity. But the multipli- tion of effects in the latter, when they conduce to an unified ‘emptience, makes the later “greater.” ‘When itis a matter of technology, domestic economy, oF social ply, we do not have to be told that eatlonality, intellim ART AS EXPERIENCE bit, is measured by orderly co-adapation of means moving toward a common end. Absurity is mutual nullification eatried to fis competion, becoming esthetic or “funny” when sucess- fully exceed. We are aware in a corresponding way, that a man's practical ability is determined by bis capacity t0 mobilize 1 variety of means aed measures to accomplish a large result with, the maninum of economy and that economy becomes esthetialy tmplessat when its forced upon attention as separate factor, tile sope of means fs magnificent, not ily display, when there fe a corresponding extenive result, So too, we are avare that thinking consists in ordering a varity of meanings so that they move to 2 condision that ll support and in which all are fmmed up and coneerved. What we pethaps are les cognizant fof is tat this organisation of energies to move cumulatively toa {ecminal whole in whieh the values of all means and media are in- corporated isthe estenceof fine art. “Tn the practice and reasoning of ordinary Ife, organization fs less direct, and the eenze of the conluson or consummation mes, comparetively at least, only atthe end, instead of being Carvie at every stage. This postponement of the sense of com- pletion thi Tack ofthe presence of continuous pecfcting, reat, Df couse, to reduce means used to the state of mere means. ‘They are indispeneable antecedent conditions, but they are not intros constituents of the end, Ta such cast, in other words, ‘organisation of enerales is piceerneal, one replacing another, while in the artiste proces tf cumulating and conserving. And this sweare brought again to rhythm. For whenever each step forward Isat the same tne summing up and fuliment of what precedes, and every consummation earies expectation tensly forward, there is rhythm. ‘In ordinary Ife, much of our pressing forward is impelled by outside necessities, instead of an onward motion like tht of ‘waves of the sea. Similarly, much of our resting is recuperation ftom exhaustion; It to, © compelled by something external. In rhythile ordering, every close and pause, like the rst fn music, nnnects a well a dolimits and indvidualizes. A pause in music isnot a blank, but isa rythnic silence that punctuates what done while at the same time it conveys. an impulsion forward, Instead of arresting at the point which it defines. In look- THE ORGANIZATION OF ENERGIES i fog at a picture oF reading prem oF drama, we sometimes take soe ee Teatre in is defining and closing quality, sometimes in I Sante effce. Normally, the way we take it depends upon ve vpvection of our fterst at that particular point in our experi- ree: Dut there are art-products in which an element insists upon ‘ring taken in only one way. Then theres the kindof restiton rae ound in painting BY the exaggeration of line in the For- ‘Re school of light ia Leonardo, and in Raphael under the i= uence of Leonardo} of atmosphere in the thoroughgoingimpres- mista, To achieve an exact balance of mergings that carry fo ony cnd pauses Oat acentuate and define is extremely diicalt Tete can derive genuine esthetic satisfaction fom objects in ‘tient not accomplished. But organization of energy fs none theless partial ia such eases. “The ative a distinct from morphological character of the rythm of acts and undergings, of defining ests and forward im- Talons, fade clear in at bythe fact thatthe artist ses that Michie usually found gly to get esthetic effect; coors that Tub, sounds that are discordant, cacophonies in poetry, seem- {nny dark and obscure paces or even sheer blanks—as in Matisse i painting Tis the way the thing is related that counts, The Tamilar instance of Shakespeare's employing the comic in the rns of tage isin pot. U¢ does more than relieve strain on the part ofthe spectator. Tt has a mote intrinsic ofice i that i pnetuats tagie quality. Any product whose quality is not of the very “easy” core exibits dislocations and dissocations of ‘whats usually connected The distortion found in paintings serves the ned of some particular hytbm. But it does mor. 1 brings to definite perception values that are concealed in ordinary ex perience because of habituation. Ordinary prepossession must be Troken through if the degree of energy required for anesthetic cepetience is to be evoked, ‘Vafortunately, in writing upon esthetic theory one fs com- pal to speak in generalized terms because it is impossible to Present the workin which the material exists in is individualized form. But I shall engage in a schematic istration drawn from sn actual pating* In looking at this particular object T have in + Bin “The A in Fiting” “eech Prnvs and Thal Forms” snd "The At of Henn Mallee” give many dead ages of cares