Seeing the Invisible: Kandinsky and the Multi-dimensionality of Colors

Abstract

What is painting as a work of art? To address this fundamental question of the philosophy of art, I begin with the more qualified question: what is abstract painting? In this paper, I first take up Kandinsky’s view of abstract paintings, focusing especially on his views on colors. Second, to explicate the meaning of Kandinsky’s views, I refer to Michel Henry’s interpretation of Kandinsky. While Henry presented a very clear schematic interpretation of Kandinsky’s views, I think his interpretation is too metaphysical and anti-phenomenological. To compensate for Henry’s one-dimensional interpretation and to develop a phenomenological interpretation of Kandinsky’s view of abstract painting, I focus on the multi-dimensionality of colors. Finally, to extract the philosophical or “metaphysical” implications of the multi-dimensionality thesis, I take up Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of painting as developed in his Eye and Mind. The provisional answer to the question above that is obtained from these discussions is as follows: Painting as a work of art is an attempt to make visible the condition of visibility, and in this sense, painting can be regarded to be a kind of philosophical work about visibility.