From mechanism to organicism: thoughts on linear perspective and re-contextualizing contemporary Chinese art

In the context of art history, the rise and fall of linear perspective in painting is typically discussed as a framework for studying changes in artistic styles. This essay aims to re-examine the modes of thinking behind artistic practice between the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries, investigating how shifts in ways of thinking have been applied to artistic creation and noting that the rise and decline of linear perspective are aligned with changes in philosophical thinking in the corresponding periods. Furthermore, cybernetics has penetrated contemporary artistic creation as a further current in organic thinking. The current tendency in contemporary Chinese art is towards technological art, which is based on a cybernetic mindset rather than traditional Chinese art. Focusing on linear perspective in artworks, I compare the relationship between linear perspective, mechanism, and organicism during the same period, in the hope of bringing an appreciation of the sublime back into the work of art, whilst also, countering the sinking homogeneous tendencies of technological systems established by cybernetics. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.