[Fis] Art as human practice

[Francesco Rizzo]

Caro Mark,
non v'è niente che non sia causa o effetto di *emo-ra-zionalità*: quindi
non solo *emozionalità* da sola o *razionalità* da sola.
Con grande rispetto.
Francesco

Il giorno mer 14 gen 2026 alle ore 10:06 Mark Johnson <johnsonmwj1 en gmail.com>
ha scritto:

> Dear all,
>
> I wonder if we confuse art artefacts (and the feelings they produce in us)
> from the practice that produces them. Art is a labour intensive business.
> Indeed, it may be the epitome of "work" if Arendt's distinction between
> work and labour holds up.
>
> So while I am sympathetic to the relationship between emotion and art
> (particularly as was beautifully described by Suzanne Langer's view of
> music as a "picture" of emotion), there remain explanatory problems if we
> are to distinguish human art from natural processes that produce things
> which appear beautiful to us.
>
> Animals certainly have emotion, but they don't have artistic practice in
> the way we do. Even the Lascaux pictures had to have been rehearsed and
> practiced (maybe using primitive technology -
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/atxurra-cave-art-experimental-archaeology__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!QYFkyIh9fFWADWETAImBNN5UQC6oN6LgRB1EwKJySa_kqo-Zcu5jzSkwgHMs5UObr6LFCXNToFlh5Jd21E4fDuprnFCr$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/atxurra-cave-art-experimental-archaeology__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!R_26-avMi9x22ING-WIFmusZlmTP8hzMs-p1hsl-3hIGe9TyyvxLi2fPYuCRg9ohDzF4BD-dNRsJoKK04zr4JRA$>).
> The skill of execution had to be gained, and that requires focus and
> determination in learning and intention. While emotion plays a role, as it
> does in all conscious existence, there is something which drives the
> acquisition of skill, the construction of form, and the execution of intent
> which may result in something that evinces an emotion, but whose
> construction is not as emotional as one might suppose. Indeed emotion can
> get in the way. It cannot be emotion that drives this acquisition of skill,
> but insight and foresight into the effects of artistic execution.
>
> The prerequisite of such insight and foresight perhaps includes shared
> physiology and a shared environment. But perhaps Bucky Fuller hit on
> something when discussion his creative process - "I didn't set out to
> create a geodesic dome. I set out to discover the operative principles of
> the universe".
>
> When Mozart expresses the view that “The whole, though it be long, stands
> almost finished and complete in my mind… I do not hear it successively, but
> all at once.” (a letter to Rochlitz in 1789), I suspect that there is a
> deep connection between Bucky Fuller's observation and Mozart, who must
> also have known something about the principles of the universe.
>
> And its important to say, such insight is culturally universal, and unites
> vastly different artistic practices across different cultures. The
> fundamental challenge to Paul Suni is that all humans inhabit the same
> universe.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Mark
>
>
> Dr. Mark William Johnson
> Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
> University of Manchester
>
> Department of Science Education
> University of Copenhagen
>
> Department of Eye and Vision Science (honorary)
> University of Liverpool
> Phone: 07786 064505
> Email: johnsonmwj1 en gmail.com
> Blog: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dailyimprovisation.blogspot.com__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!QYFkyIh9fFWADWETAImBNN5UQC6oN6LgRB1EwKJySa_kqo-Zcu5jzSkwgHMs5UObr6LFCXNToFlh5Jd21E4fDpLLOdoM$ 
> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dailyimprovisation.blogspot.com__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!R_26-avMi9x22ING-WIFmusZlmTP8hzMs-p1hsl-3hIGe9TyyvxLi2fPYuCRg9ohDzF4BD-dNRsJoKK0aYQdpIc$>
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