比较视域下艺术史写作的观念前提

The Preconceptions in Artistic History Writing from the Comparative Perspective

艺术观念起源是艺术史的一个基本问题。如果艺术起源是一个哲学或人类学的问题,艺术观念的起源则是一个更加根本性的语言学和心理学的问题。没有这个语言学和心理学的前提假定,艺术的起源问题也只能停留在巫术、游戏、劳动、情感等旧说的窠臼不能自拔。因此,艺术史的开篇不应该是艺术的诸种起源的猜测,而应该是艺术观念的考察和在这种艺术观念下对或物品或图像或遗址的"艺术"认定。纵观当代艺术史写作,仿佛每一个写作者心中都有一种"自明"的艺术观念,这也客观上造成了艺术史写作的繁荣,但这种繁荣背后是写作者观念的混乱和学理的缺失。

he origin of artistic concepts is a basic question of artistic history. If the origin of arts is a question of philosophy or humanity, then that of artistic concepts is an essential question in linguistics and psychology. Without these lin- guistic or psychological preconceptions, the origin of arts would be trapped in the old studies of witchcraft, game, labor and emotion. The beginning of artistic history thus should not be various speculations about origins; rather it should be the investigation of the artistic concepts and the “artistic” identification of objects, images and relics with these concepts. In the contemporary artistic history writing, it seems each writer has one “self- evident” set of artistic concepts that make the artistic history writing prosperous objectively, yet behind the prosperity emerge the writers＇conceptual confusion and the absence of theoretical basis.