Baker, Jenifer (2018) a Theological Enquiry Into the Processes of Painting, with Reference to the Phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion
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Baker, Jenifer (2018) A theological enquiry into the processes of painting, with reference to the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion. Doctoral thesis, York St John University. Downloaded from: http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/3250/ Research at York St John (RaY) is an institutional repository. It supports the principles of open access by making the research outputs of the University available in digital form. Copyright of the items stored in RaY reside with the authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full text items free of charge, and may download a copy for private study or non-commercial research. For further reuse terms, see licence terms governing individual outputs. Institutional Repository Policy Statement RaY Research at the University of York St John For more information please contact RaY at [email protected] 1 A THEOLOGICAL ENQUIRY INTO THE PROCESSES OF PAINTING, WITH REFERENCE TO THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF JEAN-LUC MARION Jenifer Marlene Baker Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy York St John University School of Humanities, Religion and Philosophy July 2017 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material. Any reuse must comply with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and any licence under which this copy is released. © 2017 York St John University and Jenifer Marlene Baker The right of Candidate’s Name to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 3 Dedicated to the memory of my parents Elsie Amy 1914-2005 Frederick Albert 1915-1993 and my sister Juliet Rosemary 1946-2011 With love and gratitude 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to my principal supervisor Dr Sue Yore for her consistent encouragement, constructive criticism and thought-provoking questions during the seven year period of this research, together with my other supervisors Revd Professor Andrew Village and Dr Ann Christie. Additionally, Dr Stuart Jesson has kindly provided helpful comments and references with respect to philosophical issues. More generally, I have benefited from the supportive ambience in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at York St John University, and the opportunities to present and discuss research both at internal seminars and at international conferences. In view of their status as research involving other people, details of practical projects described in Chapter 7 were submitted to the York St John University Research Ethics Committee, and approval gained; references UC/23/6/10/JB, UC/14/7/10/JB and ET/12/06/12/JMB. I am grateful for constructive comments by Committee members during this process. Further, these practical projects would not have been possible without much- appreciated help from many quarters, in particular Revd L Foster (former Vicar of Ruyton-XI-Towns, Great Ness and Little Ness, Shropshire) and the Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist Church, Ruyton-XI-Towns; St John the Baptist Church Youth Group and Tuesday Club; Mrs S Irish (former headteacher) and the staff and pupils of St John the Baptist Primary School, Ruyton-XI-Towns; Mr D Dicken (chairman) and members of the Ruyton-XI-Towns Art Group; and the many families and individuals who contributed to the ‘Street Art’ Community Picture. I am deeply grateful to the late Tommy and Hilda Walker, inspirational teachers of art and English during my teenage years at Ilkley Grammar School; the Revd Robin Bradbury who first encouraged me in a theological direction; and Helen McIldowie-Jenkins for an excellent introduction to icon painting. I have also much appreciated the general interest and support of the Rt Revd John Davies (former Bishop of Shrewsbury), Anne and Alan Smith, Claire Vuckovic, and the Thursday evening beer appreciation group in the Talbot Inn, Ruyton-XI-Towns. 5 ABSTRACT Starting points for this thesis were personal observations about how paintings may be responses to unplanned experiences, how they may take on a life of their own, and how meanings may emerge rather than be imposed. Questions arose about possible links with Christian concepts of revelation, and these were investigated with particular reference to the French Catholic philosopher and theologian Jean-Luc Marion. His concepts of saturated phenomena and their ‘excess’ of pure givenness were found to resonate with the actual experiences of painters but also to be critiqued by them. The core chapters discuss examples of paintings drawn from the three worlds of nature, ‘culture’, and persons, using an essentially threefold format: 1) presentation of selected paintings together with artists’ autobiographical material; 2) phenomenological analysis; and 3) theological interpretation. Underlying this approach is Marion’s approach to revelation by way of saturated phenomena, for whilst phenomenology alone cannot determine if actual revelation has taken place, it can investigate conditions for the possibility of revelation. Original features include the following: Development of a ten-part typology of painting trajectories, reflecting diverse interactions between givenness and intentionality. Identification of ‘nature’ as a saturated phenomenon from the evidence of painting processes; this is new evidence supporting an existing critique of Marion. Discernment of saturated phenomena as ‘nested’, that is manifesting at different scales from the cosmic to the microscopic. Application of the ‘visual-verbal chronotope’ to the complexities of painterly hermeneutics, with respect to biblical images. Use of collaborative painting processes to enter the worlds of primary school children. Identification of painting processes as saturated phenomena in their own right. Realisation that Marion’s ‘givenness through saturated phenomena’ approach is complementary to the ‘imagination’ approach to revelation pursued by several British and North American theologians. It is suggested that the two approaches need each other. It is concluded that, phenomenologically, painters’ imaginative responses to givenness are common to both secular and theistic interpretations of revelation, and that through this commonality painting processes can contribute to addressing tensions between natural and revealed theology. 6 A THEOLOGICAL ENQUIRY INTO THE PROCESSES OF PAINTING, WITH REFERENCE TO THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF JEAN-LUC MARION CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: THE THREE SPIRALS 1.1 Starting points 11 1.2 The visual model 20 1.3 The nature spiral 25 1.4 The culture spiral 34 1.5 The person spiral 38 1.6 The emergence of the new 45 CHAPTER 2: GIVENNESS IN PAINTING PROCESSES 2.1 Experiences of givenness 47 2.2 Painting trajectories 47 2.3 Going with the flow 64 2.4 Phenomenological concepts 68 2.5 Saturated phenomena 83 2.6 Questioning Marion 87 CHAPTER 3: THE FIRST SPIRAL: GIVENS FROM NATURE 3.1 Nature and saturated phenomena 90 3.2 Cézanne and Mont Sainte-Victoire 90 3.3 The English Lake District 98 3.4 Phenomenological analysis 108 3.5 Theological interpretation 116 7 CHAPTER 4: THE SECOND SPIRAL (1): GIVENS FROM HUMANITY’S RELIGIOUS QUEST, EXEMPLIFIED BY THE BIBLE 4.1 The Bible and visual imagery 127 4.2 The Deluge 127 4.3 Moses and the Burning Bush 133 4.4 The Parable of the Good Samaritan 137 4.5 Phenomenological analysis 147 4.6 Theological interpretation 153 CHAPTER 5: THE SECOND SPIRAL (2): TERRIBLE GIVENS FROM HUMANITY’S DARK SIDE, EXEMPLIFIED BY THE FIRST WORLD WAR 5.1 Art of the First World War 159 5.2 The war paintings of Paul Nash 160 5.3 The Sandham Memorial Chapel paintings 167 of Stanley Spencer 5.4 A broader spectrum of themes 174 5.5 Phenomenological analysis 183 5.6 Theological interpretation 186 CHAPTER 6: THE THIRD SPIRAL (1): GIVENS IN AND THROUGH PERSONS 6.1 Persons and saturated phenomena 192 6.2 What is a person? 192 6.3 Approaches to portrait painting 194 6.4 Portraits at the limits 204 6.5 Sinners and saints 210 6.6 Phenomenological analysis 215 6.7 Theological interpretation 223 8 CHAPTER 7: THE THIRD SPIRAL (2): GIVENS THROUGH COMMUNAL AND COLLABORATIVE PAINTING 7.1 Another dimension 233 7.2 The street art approach 234 7.3 The focus group with artist approach 242 7.4 Phenomenological analysis 263 7.5 Theological interpretation 273 CHAPTER 8: APPROACHING REVELATION 8.1 Painting processes and saturated phenomena 282 8.2 ‘A bigger message’ 283 8.3 Between givenness and paintings 289 8.4 Saturated phenomena and revelation 294 8.5 The role of imagination 307 8.6 Around the hermeneutical spiral 311 BIBLIOGRAPHY 319 9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure: 1.1 The Three Spirals 21 2.1 Slates Lane in the Snow 53 2.2 The Presence of the Lord 57 2.3 The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil 59 2.4 The Rock of Ages 61 2.5 Vision of the Church 76 2.6. To the Edge 80 3.1 The Centre of the Universe 113 4.1 Paintings of the Biblical Deluge: 149 A Visual-Verbal Chronotope 4.2 Paintings of Moses and the Burning Bush: 150 A Visual-Verbal Chronotope 4.3 Paintings of the Parable of the Good Samaritan: 151 A Visual-Verbal Chronotope 6.1 St Francis of Assisi 214 7.1 Location of ‘Street Art’ Site 235 7.2 Painting Boards and Materials 235 7.3 Evolution of a Local Landscape Scene 237 7.4 The Final Picture 238 7.5 Details: Human Evolution, and Kilroy was Here 241 7.6 Class 1: Our Safe Places 250 7.7 Class 2: A Walk along the Rainbow 251 7.8 Class 3: Our Wonderful World 252 7.9