PerceivingDubuffet:Art,Embodiment,andtheVieweroffersacomprehensivereconsiderationofJeanDubuffet’sworkwhichcontextualizesitwithincontemporarydevelopmentsinphenomenologyandexaminesthecentralroleplayedbyquestionsrelatingtoembodimentintheevolutionofhisaestheticthinkingandartisticpractice.Conceivedasaninterdisciplinaryprojectandcombiningphenomenologicalapproacheswithdetailedvisualandlinguisticanalysis,elucidationofinterpictorialandintertextualreference,andextensivearchivalresearch,thestudyexaminesthedevelopmentacrossDubuffet’sworkofacoresetofcognatethemesandformalconcerns,chartshismanyandvariousshiftsinpriorityanddirection,andidentifiestheconstantsthatdrivehistirelessexperimentationwithmaterials,genre,dimensionality,viewerinvolvement,visual-verbalinterplay,andmetareference.Topicsexploredinclude:theaffinitiesbetweenMerleau-Ponty’saccountofthephenomenologicalreductionandDubuffet’sconceptionofthefunctioningoftheartwork;Dubuffet’sthematisationoftheexperienceofembodiment;theforegroundingoftemporalityandtheexplorationofcorporealandassociativememory;thetestingandtransgressionofgenericboundaries;theexperimentationwithunconventionalmaterialsandwithdimensionality;theimpactofDubuffet’sreadingofscientifictheoryandofDaoistandBuddhistphilosophyonhisunderstandingofman’srelationshipwithhisenvironment;andthecentralrolegiventotheviewer’sphysicalinteractionwiththeartwork.PerceivingDubuffet:Art,Embodiment,andtheViewercoversDubuffet’slengthycareerandexaminesthefullrangeofhispictorialandsculpturaloeuvreandthelargecorpusofaestheticwritingsproducedbetweenthe1940sandthe1980s.
