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Van Thi Diep | A Flourishing Commons
  • spiral patterns in landscape at sunset

    Finding Place, Shifting Perception: From Landscape as Image to Landscape as Cosmology

    We cannot physically transform the world through landscape design in ten days, but we can change the way we see the world and make place by shifting perception.

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  • rock formations landscape

    Finding Truth in the “Void” Through Chinese Landscape Painting

    The Void can be found in the archetypal landscape between heaven and earth, humanity and divinity. It is a clearing for truth in Heidegger’s phenomenology.

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  • painting of boots by Van Gogh

    Heidegger’s Hermeneutic Circle: What is the Meaning of Art?

    In The Origin of the Work of Art, Heidegger uses the hermeneutic circle to show that working and thinking are processes of unconcealing existential truth.

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  • painting of a hut with mountains behind

    Appreciation for Johan Christian Dahl

    Johan Christian Dahl is the best representative of the three pillars of Romantic art: spiritual connection, scientific observation, and personal expression.

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  • painting of abstract ship in storm during sunrise

    Between Science and Mystery: Representing the Intangible in Romantic art

    While Romantic science deliberated over nature’s purpose, the existence of souls, and Earth’s creation, Romantic art turned to these subjects for inspiration.

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  • etching of frankenstein and monster

    Romantic Science, the Existence of Souls, and Nature’s Truth

    Romantic science was sentimental and subjective and was simultaneously inseparable from and at tensions with religious faith. Art revealed this duality.

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  • painting of small figure in landscape with sky and water

    Introduction to the Sublime in Romanticism and Luminism

    This post discusses Burke and Kant’s sublime and shows examples of landscape paintings by Northern European Romantics, the Hudson River School and Luminists.

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  • painting of 18th century people gathered around experiment

    In Search for Truth: Science, Faith, and the Representation of Nature in Romantic Art

    In Romantic landscape paintings we can find evidence of how science, faith, and the representation of nature shape the way we see landscapes and nature today.

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  • painting of misty landscape with water and trees

    Romanticism and Nostalgia: The Modern Condition

    Romanticism and nostalgia are paradoxes of modernity: to be authentic within illusions, yearn for individualism in connectedness, and find pleasure in mourning.

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This blog consists of philosophical musings I have about life and world. I write about spirituality, nature, culture, personal growth, and many things in between. My explorations on social issues and collective trauma are based on intuition and personal experiences.

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