Art as the Manifestation of Embodiment in the Age of Modern technology
Abstract
It is undeniable that modern technology has been penetrating our contemporary life in
myriad aspects. From the water we drink, foods we eat, to the installed applications in
our phone. Hence modern technology has become one dominating worldview on its
own which skips our reflection upon it. Its rapid growth stems from the dismissal of
tradition and simultaneously with the tremendous scientific discoveries with its inherent
instrumental rationality. It actively participates in serving the irrational dimension of
our cybernetics-contemporary life. Thus it is not a neutral ensemble of devices, but
normatively-prescriptive directs our being in achieving our goals mechanically. As
Heidegger said, it enframes our being in the world in a disembodied fashion. Enframing,
is the quintessence of modern technology. Merleau-Ponty, as another ardent critic, also
stated that modern technology is essentially manipulative. Under the heading of scientism
(and or cybernetics), it anesthetizes humanity as its own manipulandum. Contrasting
with such view, art potentially re-attunes our relation with things. From Merleau-Ponty’s
phenomenological perspective, art (especially painting) powerfully shows the prereflective
and embodied contact with the world. This paper is an attempt to show the role
of
art in a life that has been eclipsed by the modern technological worldview.
Keywords
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24821/ijcas.v5i1.2209
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