Post-Theory Art: Further Context As To Art History, Human History, Empty Intelligence, and Empty Art.
Post-Theory Art may be seen as a further articulation of our shared human capacity for self-understanding — and our need to preserve it. As understood in one sense, Post-Theory Art proposes that humans alone can generate theories about ourselves, that we alone have standing to do that, and not artificial intelligence, including because truly human theories encompass more than the mere objective; more than just what can be seen or measured or logically connected.
Truly human theories, it is suggested, are rooted not just in the objective but also in the intangible and unquantifiable aspects of human existence: Our capacity to feel deeply, to wonder, and to perceive connections and relationships between things and ideas that are beyond logic, math, and data alone.
Machines — artificial intelligence — for all their complexity, and for all that they will become, will still be “empty intelligence” — and their theories will, of logic alone, will always be distinguishable from the inherent creativity, irrationality, and emotion that is within every theory made by a human.
These notions, even if all but tacit, may be seen, heard, or read within every theory set forth in a piece of theory art and post-theory art — the theory, placed in a visual or a musical or a written form — the theory is inherently human, and uniquely human, on the proposition that artists’ theories manifesting in post-theory art are not just functions of logic and data; they are also inextricably the result of, and the documenting of, human emotions, feelings, and thoughts, rational and not, about the theories that the given artist, musician, poet, novelist, or filmmaker has proposed, documented, critiqued, or preserved and protected in a given post-theory piece, be it music, painting, verse, novel, or film.
It may be said that, across all times, cultures, and continents to date, our human endeavor of “art,” in all of its forms, has been a medium, or vehicle, or path through which our collective humanity has explored and expressed its understanding of itself, in relation to itself, and in relation to things we call “other,” be it the planet or other species on this planet or other places altogether, the Universe.
“Art” has carried the reflections of individuals, and the insights of cultures, preserving not just facts but also, crucially, the emotional and intuitive truths that define human life, as best we understand it, as best we continue to try and learn more, as to what relates and connects, as to what might and might not be possible for fearful or hopeful or true.
It is proposed in this short article that much of all human art to date may be seen as, and understood collectively as, “theory art” — paintings, music, spoken words, verse that proposed, documented, critiqued, or advanced a human theory.
This is a broad proposal. It applies to much art over the ages, but not all of it. It is a way to understand what some of the functions of art has been to date, across times, cultures, and continents.
And now it is apparent that there are machines, artificial intelligence, capable of emulating those parts of the human processes that propose, document, and analyze theories of fact and data.
For the first time, someone besides ourselves — something in addition to us — can make theories. Including theories about us. Theories that profess to say what we humans are, what we humans will do, who we humans are.
It also proposed in this short article that only theories by us, as humans, may be about us, and our human condition, our human imperfections, our human fears, our human hopes. Said in different words: It is Not About We Humans Unless It Is By Us.
It also proposed by the author that artists, all artists, of any type or kind, are particularly able amongst all humans to imbue and embed theories with our collective humanness; by the act of placing a theory onto canvas with paint, or of placing a theory into words in a song, or words in a story, or the words, songs, and visuals of a film, human artists place within any theory, regardless of subject matter or scope, more than just factual and data and the cold logical — rather also the intangible, the emotional, the creative, the intuitive, the irrational, the flawed — the essence of being human. It is not a human theory unless a human makes it. This may be seen as one of the interpretations of art that is Post-Theory Art.
And, finally, it is also proposed by the author that Post-Theory Art builds from all art to date, including theory art; it is not new; it is an evolution and adaptation in this way: “Post-theory art” may be seen, heard, read, and understood as a continuation of the elements of those types and categories of art, to date, across times, cultures, and continents, that can be construed as “theory art.”
“Post-Theory Art” may be in this sense understood as a continuation not just of “theory art,” but of all art, no matter its content or medium, no matter its materials or approach, continuing, and now, specifically, adapting and evolving, in order to not only propose, document, and evaluate our human theories about how we relate to ourselves and our worlds, both tangible and subconscious — not only to propose, document and evaluate those theories — but now to preserve them — and protect them — as well. This is an element of post-theory art.
More broadly, “Post-Theory Art” may be seen as one way that humanity, through its artists, placing within any given theory the emotions and intuition and irrationality and hope and fear that is unique to us as humans, and only us — Post-Theory Art may be seen, in this context, as a way to keep human theories human, as a means to keep empty intelligence out.
Artificial intelligence is “empty intelligence.” Artificial art is “empty art.” This article and the author do not coin these phrases lightly. There is much to them. For now: Post-Theory Art may be construed and observed as one of the ways that humans can keep empty intelligence out of our human-made theories, including out of our human-made theories that we will continue to make, as a species, as we continue to try and learn more about ourselves, in connection with ourselves, in relation our observable world, in relation to our individual and collective subconsciousness, in relation to each other, in relation to other things.
Seen in this light, “Post-theory art” not only notices and describes one of the lineages seen in the art histories of all cultures, continents, and times; and it not just notices and organizes art history, and human history, into understandable paths of our human theories in our human art. Post-theory art also, in addition to those things, provides one of the ways we can record, preserve, and protect our own human understandings of our universal human experience.
Post-theory art provides one of the ways we as humans can continue to maintain our humanness across time and across developments.
A theory is not a human theory, and a human theory is not about humans, unless it is imbued not only with facts and data and logic and hypotheses, but also with emotion and insight and irrationality and intuition — the things that humans, and human artists, uniquely have.
In conclusion, “Post-theory art” may be understood not just as a type of art, and not just a description, but as a term referring one of the emerging tangible ways that humans will be identifying, and using, that can protect humanity’s ability to reflect on itself authentically, humanly, with all the good and bad and imperfections and fear and hope that comes with our humanness.
Post-theory art is human art.
Because artificial intelligence lacks genuine human emotion and feeling, because it lacks true human consciousness and subconsciousness, because it lacks our human wildcards of intuition and irrationality, because it could not be less relational to any form of human or living life, artificial intelligence — empty intelligence — will never be able to create “Post-Theory Art.”
