Re-Enchantment

Esoteric Score

Arcane

Re-Enchantment

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📝 Description

Esoteric Score · Arcane

Published in 2008, Re-Enchantment directly addresses the art world's neglect of religion.

The absence of religion from contemporary art discourse is a significant problem. While artists may critique religion, modernist thought generally excludes spirituality. Concepts like the sublime, Weber's 're-enchantment,' and Benjamin's 'aura' have been used to reintroduce religious ideas into academic writing. However, direct dialogue between religious scholars and art theorists remains limited.

This volume, Re-Enchantment, aims to connect these fields. It features an introduction and two concluding essays alongside contributions from leading figures in the study of religion and art. The book includes essays by Boris Groys, James Elkins, Thierry de Duve, David Morgan, Norman Girardot, Sally Promey, Brent Plate, and Christopher Pinney.

Esoteric Context

Re-Enchantment engages with concepts that have historically appeared in esoteric thought, such as the idea of a lost sacredness or a 're-enchantment' of the world, a theme explored by thinkers like Max Weber. It also touches upon Walter Benjamin's discussion of the 'aura,' which relates to the unique presence and authority often associated with art, a quality that can be seen as having spiritual or even magical dimensions. By examining how these ideas are discussed in contemporary art theory, the book situates itself within broader philosophical conversations that grapple with the sacred and the secular.

Themes

art and religion in modernism spirituality in contemporary art the concept of re-enchantment the sublime and the aura

Reading level: Scholarly

First published: 2008

For readers of: Walter Benjamin, Max Weber, Boris Groys, James Elkins