Hegel's Symbolic Stage: An Old Perspective on Contemporary Art

Authors

Laura T. DiSumma-Koop, Baruch College, CUNYFollow

Abstract

This paper proposes an evaluation of contemporary art works in light of some of the concepts embedded in Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s symbolic stage. My belief is that an analysis of Hegel’s conditions for the affirmation of art opens the door to a discussion of contemporary artistic trends, a discussion that also takes distance from the (perhaps) abused question of what defines art. Art does more than question itself; art questions, and challenges, the nature of our perception.