Boxing Kierkegaard DIPTYCH (1992)

Wood, dental plaster, fiber weave, copper plate, cotton string, steel springs, metal web, ink, and latex

H105cm x W115cm x D25cm

Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian. His ideas have had a lasting impact on modern philosophy and literature, but his bright star has faded to an almost imperceptible flicker in both academia and in popular culture. This is unfortunate, for not only did Kierkegaard predict many of the social, political, and philosophical issues of the 21st century, his artful descriptions of their root causes and insightful recommendations for action remain relevant.

In his magnum opus, Either/Or, Kierkegaard describes two distinct approaches to life: The aesthetic and the ethical. Boxing Kierkegaard is an attempt to convey in visual terms the basic principles of these positions.

The materials for the diptych consist of two wood crates, plaster, fiber weave, string, springs, and wood and copper pieces. The facial plaster fragment hangs suspended from taut springs, vibrating in response to any nearby movement. A disembodied hand is crossing a threshold as it stretches towards the face and the index finger breaks and separates in a desperate attempt to partake in the sensory ecstasy of Aesthetic Man. According to Kierkegaard, Aesthetic Man finds truth and authenticity in the transient, intense pleasures that can be extracted from the sensory experience of life, usually in art, literature, and love, but also in lower, even depraved pursuits, like wanton materialism, drugs, and sexual perversion.

In contrast, Ethical Man inhabits the civic realm of existence, where value and identity are judged in reference the objective world rather than the subject. The movement is one of gentle restraint, not desperate exertion. Taut strings form a weighed-down cross. The Christian symbol has been the point of cultural reference and the foundation of western law and morality for almost two millennia. The hand is reaching out from within the ground in a gesture beckoning the individual to notice the generations resting beneath the soil. Ethical Man rejects the subjectivism in favor of generational bonds, tradition, and conscious engagement with the world.

Boxing Kierkegaard does not try to take sides. Kierkegaard himself was well aware of the temptations of each realm and how the individual might lose sight of his or her true self. In fact, Kierkegaard believed that faith was the necessary and only rescue from the excesses of these two opposing realms. That may be true, but since western societies have experienced more than five decades of steady decline in church attendance, the future prospects of the individual (if we are to believe Kierkegaard) are dire indeed.

CMN