Journals / MESOS Disiplinlerarası Ortaçağ Çalışmaları Dergisi / 2022 / Sayı: IV

On Some “Othering” Terms: the horror vacui, the modern use of Arabesque etc. and the allegation of aesthetics as content - evading, rather than addressing meaning in the use of design in Islamic art - Part I

horror vacui”, “arabesk” ve diğerleri: Ötekileştiren Bir Grup Terim üzerinden İslam sanatında anlamı araştırmaktan kaçınmak. Birinci Bölüm

Pages
33–62
Publication Date
2022-12-30
DOI
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

A term dismissive of any content to the designs employed, indicating these designs were employed just to fill otherwise empty space and is a term that continues in use in this context today, amongst a group of related terms repeatedly employed, resulting in the illusion of truth purveyed through their repeated use in the art historical and related literature, and the consequent deliberate(?) denial of content-meaning in the use of Islamic design.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This article is divided into two parts.
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Key Findings & Data:It concerns some confusions and misapprehensions consequent upon the use of some newly devised and older European terms that have been applied to describe the use of designs in Islamic art, othering terms, that unfortunately if not always deliberately, mislead.
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Conclusion & Impact:A term dismissive of any content to the designs employed, indicating these designs were employed just to fill otherwise empty space and is a term that continues in use in this context today, amongst a group of related terms repeatedly employed, resulting in the illusion of truth purveyed through their repeated use in the art historical and related literature, and the consequent deliberate(?) denial of content-meaning in the use of Islamic design.
🔬Design:Research Article
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:ötekileştirme · İslam Sanatı · horror vacui

Abstract

This article is divided into two parts. It concerns some confusions and misapprehensions consequent upon the use of some newly devised and older European terms that have been applied to describe the use of designs in Islamic art, othering terms, that unfortunately if not always deliberately, mislead. The use of these terms has resulted in the widespread mis-reading of the intent and content of design on works of Islamic art that carry what is termed, “decoration,” “ornament,” “abstract design”. This article questions the idea that Islamic designs developed due to iconophobia; or from an alleged fear of open spaces, a rare medical condition termed kenophobia, or, from any supposed fear of leaving empty spaces on a work, termed by orientalists, art historians and others from the late 19th c. onwards in respect to works of Islamic art, “horror vacui”. A term dismissive of any content to the designs employed, indicating these designs were employed just to fill otherwise empty space and is a term that continues in use in this context today, amongst a group of related terms repeatedly employed, resulting in the illusion of truth purveyed through their repeated use in the art historical and related literature, and the consequent deliberate(?) denial of content-meaning in the use of Islamic design.

Özet

İki bölüm olarak tasarlanan bu makale İslam sanatında kullanılan bir grup bezeme üslubunu adlandırmak için kullanılan Batı kökenli terimlerin yarattığı karmaşa ve yanlış değerlendirmeleri konu edinmektedir. Bazıları yakın zamanda önerilmiş bazıları ise uzun süredir kullanılan bu terimler ne yazık ki İslam sanatını ötekileştirme yönünde, bilinçli olmasa da, yanlış yönlendirmelere yol açmaktadır. “Bezeme”, “süsleme” ve “soyut tasarımlar” olarak verilen bu terimler İslam sanatı bezeme sanatı örneklerinin niyet ve kapsamına dair yanlış okumalara neden olmuştur. Makale İslam sanatında tasarımların temelinde figürlü süslemeden kaçınan“ikonofobi” ya da açık alan korkusu olarak tanımlanan “kenofobi” olduğu önerisini sorgulamayı amaçlamaktadır. İslam sanatında eser bezenirken kullanılan ve yüzeyde hiç boş alan kalmayacak şekilde oluşturulan tasarım üslubu bu nedenle 19 yüzyıldan başlayarak sanat tarihçileri tarafından “horror vacui” boşluk korkusu olarak tanımlanmıştır. Herhangi bir şekilde bir bağlamla ilişkilendirilmeyen bu tanımlama, ki günümüzde de hala kullanılmaktadır, benzer başka terminoloji ile birlikte tekrarlanarak İslam sanatının yaratısal anlamda bir bağlamı/anlamı olmadığı, şekillerin basit bir tekrarı ile oluşturulduğu algısını yaratmakta, sanat tarihi ve tarih alanında eserleri anlamlandırma çabalarının (bilinçli ya da bilinçsiz olarak) önünü kesmektedir.

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Cite This Article

DUGGAN, T. M. P. (2022). On Some “Othering” Terms: the horror vacui, the modern use of Arabesque etc. and the allegation of aesthetics as content - evading, rather than addressing meaning in the use of design in Islamic art - Part I. MESOS Disiplinlerarası Ortaçağ Çalışmaları Dergisi, Sayı: IV, 33–62. https://ajindex.com/articles/869985

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