Standing in front of one of JMW Turner’s stormy landscapes can make the spectator feel rather tiny and overwhelmed by forces grander, wilder and more awe-inspiring than can be comprehended. In fact his paintings of stormy skies and dramatic scenery were deliberately rendered by the artist to create this ‘Sublime’ impression on the viewer.
The notion of the Sublime cuts across historical boundaries from Turner and other landscapists to contemporary artists, and from 2007 to 2010, Tate is researching the aesthetic category of The Sublime Object in a collaborative project with a range of partners outside the museum. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the research project will go beyond landscape art to encompass philosophy, literature, music, film, theology and science, and explore the interaction of the Sublime between these spheres.
The project aims to stimulate debate and collaboration on a series of interrelated events and research activities focused on the role of the Sublime in our perceptions of the natural world. Its outcomes will include a site on Tate Online, publications aimed at both academic and broader audiences, gallery displays at Tate, symposia and commissioned art work. It hopes in particular to engage a wide audience at Tate with the idea of the Sublime, and will include educational activities aimed at children, students and adults.
The wide reach of this project is perhaps best indicated by one of the partners – Cape Farewell, which brings together artists and scientists on trips to the Arctic to help raise awareness of climate change.
