HEALING ART MANIFESTO

Measuring Beauty - Cultivating Taste

The Postmodernist statement that "Art is Everything" contradicts mathematical analysis of the precise laws of Art which are described by mathematical formulas.
Scientific and mathematical examination of Art was conducted by Aristotle and Newton. It has continued since then. In the beginning of the twentieth century the mathematician and Eastern Orthodox priest Pavel Florensky formulated the mathematical basis of the Laws of Art. His research became one of the foundations of Avant-garde Art. In the later part of 1920s George David Birkhoff, a leading figure among the mathematicians of the present century discovered a unified principal for the fundamental Law of Art. He mathematically described a "Formula of Beauty" which makes it possible to objectively measure and evaluate a work of art.
Art history is composed of various criteria of beauty used for recognizing the value of works of art. Beauty as the criteria of the value of art lead to the development of the false conception that the aim of art is beauty. In the twentieth century this conception was reviewed. According to Pavel Florensky the true goal of art is "...the painting should be the visual transposition of invisible perceptions."
Furthermore it should be stated that beauty as a measure of the value of art is not its goal but the consequence of its true aim. Beauty is a visual result of the imperceptible world and an indicator of its energy.
Following the idea of beauty being an indicator of energy and realizing the impossibility of its absolute comprehension, we understand that such energy can be used for creative as well as destructive purposes.
Beauty is two faced- one face reflects true beauty emanating positive, creative energy; the other face is false beauty masking negative, destructive energy.
To identify true beauty we propose to apply Birkhoff's mathematical "Formula of Beauty," which states that the maximum inherent potential of the form for further evolution is TRUE BEAUTY.
With the above in mind we have arrived at the idea of creating an instrument that would differentiate true beauty from false. For this purpose we have approached hardware and software engineers. In the course of discussions it became apparent that at present it is feasible to create a simplified version of such an instrument which will work in the positive/negative mode. We are certain that the further development of this instrument will lead to more complicated versions, that will be able to distinguish nuances and gradations in the measurement of beauty.
The implementation of instruments for the measurement of beauty is urgently necessary within the conditions of the "Death of Art" declared by the ideologists of Post Modernism.
Irresponsible and unconscious use of false concepts of beauty contains a threat to all of humanity. The premeditated cultivation of these false concepts leads civilization to degeneration and death. Archeology proves that through art we can diagnose the symptoms of disease and the cause of death of civilizations.
The idea of the development and implementation of beauty measuring instruments brings us to the difficult problem of researching the influence of the positive and negative energies of art on the health of the people.
Referring back to the nineteenth century statement that "beauty will save the world" we can perceive indications of the healing properties of art. From the moment of its inception at the cradle of mankind the purpose of art was to serve as a means of humanity's survival. Prehistoric cave paintings depicting hunting scenes were part of the ritual of magic interaction with the world. Amulets and totems tapped into the mystical force of nature.
Through religious art the ancient Egyptian civilization appealed to these positive energies with the aim of sensible and healthy behavior to maintain harmony between mankind and the universe.
The icons cultivated in man the humanitarian ideals of behavior. So called miracle working icons were endowed with the healing power of the Holy Spirit.
All of the above mentioned examples point to the ever present healing power of art.
Twentieth Century art turned toward egocentric and political self-indulgence, unleashing the destructive force of art. Being hostages of the art and culture of the twentieth century, only honest artists continue to be healed by art. Through self-reflection art allows us to discover individual harmony which we use to restore universal harmony.
We find ourselves in the privileged position of the chosen ones who have the divine power of art for self-psychotherapy. We are placed in the extreme situation of making the personal choice to carry out the mission of discovering and studying the laws of the healing power of art and of sharing this miraculous gift of nature with humanity.
Our mission forces us to break our individualistic shells and to form a team of dedicated professionals: artists, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, psychics, psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors, alternative health care practitioners, and creative writers to study all aspects of the healing properties of art and its impact on the psyche and health of people.
We see the future of art in neither the servitude of the base tastes of people nor in senseless intellectual games of the elitist art - but in identifying the real healing energy of art. We call this art of the future - HEALING ART.

Alexander Shnurov and Victor Olenev
© 1997