Artists as truth-seekers: Focusing on agency and seekership in the study of art and occulture
This article focuses on the concept of the seeker and considers how the analytical tool of seekership, defined and developed in the sociology of religion, could be applied to the study of art and esotericism. The theoretical argument is made more tangible with the example of the Finnish artist Aksel...
| Published in: | Approaching religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[publisher not identified]
[2021]
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| In: |
Approaching religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Gallen-Kallela, Akseli 1865-1931
/ Artist
/ Spirituality
/ Truth
/ Search for
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AE Psychology of religion AG Religious life; material religion AZ New religious movements KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia |
| Further subjects: | B
Occulture
B Spirituality B Esotericism B New Age B fin-de-siécle art B seekership B Akseli Gallen-Kallela B sociology of religion B Seekers B Occultism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article focuses on the concept of the seeker and considers how the analytical tool of seekership, defined and developed in the sociology of religion, could be applied to the study of art and esotericism. The theoretical argument is made more tangible with the example of the Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931), whose life story, art and writings resonate with the concept of seekership. The ways in which Gallen-Kallela writes about his interest in esotericism and the dawn of the new age appear in a new light; as part of the processes of a spiritualisation of modern art and religiosity. In addition, the article points out that the concept of seekership can offer new possibilities more generally for the study of art and esotericism. Utilising the analytical tool of seekership may be especially helpful regarding those artists who did not subscribe to any esoteric movement or doctrine, but stressed a more individual relationship with the occulture of their time. It will also provide an opportunity to outline how the connections between art and esotericism have changed over different times and places. |
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| ISSN: | 1799-3121 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Approaching religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.30664/ar.98310 |