Interpreting Contemporary Art

94

VI D M O O S RAINER CRONE AN D D A VI

form. form. Paint in its its various various manifestations manifestations of colour, line line,, texture and an d shape is capable of constituting form when contextualized in such a way that the constituent elements compliment, communicate and support each other. The form on the left side becomes meaningful to us as spectators if  we can experience the other part of it on the right side through different pain painte terl rly y me mean ans, s, both aspe aspect ctss enhan enhance ced d through through the the homog homogene eneou ouss background and the pink bars. The The arbitrarin arbitrariness ess of the painting in the left left form (evidenced by the intuitive brushwork of the yellow lines) is posed against itself as an indulgent emotive expression, while the right form is subdued and restrained in a meticulous way. As the elements of form coalesce, offering the viewer the opportunity to experience the actuality of painting, we glimpse the rigorous and unique manifestation of a mind mediated through paint. This occurrence of an experience assumes importance as truthful to its own object objective ive - tha t of confini confining ng the experi experienc encee and a nd expressi expression on to paint pain t alone. What the arrangement of form(s) may connote in the external or even internal world is not significant; the paramount goal for Lasker is the placement and execution of the brushstroke onto the linen as an unconditional authentic statement. The act of painting is dictated by this aspiration, contained within itself, confronting the question of how a human being can create a form without referring to external reality of  visions, ideas (emotions) or history. As painting becomes a self-sufficient abstract abstract lang languag uage, e, a compounded compounded abstract abstraction ion of non-re non-refer ferent ential ial/no /non n represe representa ntation tional al elem elemen ents ts,, the importan importance ce of either either estab establis lishin hing g or poss posses essi sing ng a crit criter erio ion n for for contin continuat uation ion and evalu evaluati ation on beco become mess as important as the resul resultt itse itsellf. With With Double Play the exeg exeges esis is of this this process process - of understanding understand ing through throu gh revealin revealing g the development of form  dictates the result. Inst Instea ead d of disc discou ours rsin ing g upon the the expa expans nsiv ivee embatt embattled led terrai terrain n that paintin painting g today occu occupi pies es (con (conse seque quent nt to its its disb disbel elie ieff in origin originali ality ty of  thought and capitulation to cynicism) Lasker returns to a fundamental priority, the foundation of form. Form, the result of a mark  or trace trace - an essential component for the 'image' - is a constant in painting which merits merits excl exclus usiv ivee examination. examination. It is enoug enough h to addr addres esss its proc proces esss of  how w a 'formation' before overstepping the actuality to discourse about ho painting can function as a thematically thematically oriented issue-gover issue-governed ned object. object. In  Doub  Do uble le Play form occurs as a created order of the real, one profound aspect of the painting. Analysis of form provides an occasion to regain truth in creation, an occasion to confront the principle of truth and its relationship to creativity.