| Abstrakt: |
Abstract: In this study entitled "Form and Style", we have attempted to explain Focillon’s understanding of artistic form. In Focillon’s view the creation of artistic forms depends on trans-individual civilizational forces and on the free imagination of the artist, while the relation between these ingredients is reminiscent of the complicated relation between Saussurian langue and parole. The trans-individual determinant of the creation of artistic forms is referred to by Focillon using the term "style", and in his view the style of each epoch goes through four developmental stages: archaic, experimental, classical and baroque. Artistic creation has, on the one hand, to deal with matter which, from the point of view of creation, asserts itself as an unpassable boundedness. The artist must respect it and, at the same time, must seek ways of working with matter so that the form created allows the adequate expression of the author’s own artistic intentions. Working on matter is mediated by instruments which determine artistic technique and deeply influence the resulting artistic form. On the other hand, "raw material" is important for the creation - this does not consist in memories or ideas but, since it already has inner form, has already also been worked upon. The creation of artistic forms is a complex process of negotiation between matter, instruments, the dexterity of the artist and the spiritual raw material of worked-upon inner form. |
