The Phenomenology of Paint - Between Materiality and Illusion

Analyzing the different modes of appearance and application of the most ubiquitous medium in art and ritual, this book examines the aesthetics, anthropology, ethnography and history of paint. The result is a clearly articulated account of both the materiality and phenomenology of paint, as substance and idea. Beginning with paint as ritual in prehistoric and ancient times, it discusses the provenance, politics and chemistry of pigments, the role of concealment and beautification as paint is applied to bodies, the stories and practices of hiding paint by artists, and efforts to isolate paint as an essential quantity, ending on the philosophical question as to whether paint is separable from colour.A phenomenology of paint is in many respects an ontology of the ways we seek to represent and mediate our existence: it is the medium for both covering (house paint, make-up) to revealing (art). By exploring paint in a multitude of roles, from bodily substances to chemical engineering, this study provides a fresh understanding of ritual and representation through this medium that reveals through covering.>

List of contents

Introduction
1. Paint and Phenomenology
2. Body Fluids
3. Painted Bodies
4. Politics of Pigments
5. Serving Illusion
6. Isolating Colour
7. Virtual Paint
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

About the author

Adam Geczy is an artist and writer who teaches at Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Product details

• Authors: Adam Geczy, Geczy Adam
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 12.06.2025
• EAN: 9781350446915
• ISBN: 978-1-350-44691-5
• No. of pages: 224
• Dimensions: 164 mm x 238 mm x 20 mm
• Series: Aesthetics and Contemporary Art
• Subjects: Education and learning > Teaching preparation > Vocational needs; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / General, Philosophy, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Phenomenology, PHILOSOPHY / Aesthetics, Philosophy: aesthetics, Phenomenology and Existentialism