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MIND
MAP
 The November-December issue of
Enhancing Racialized the Forum features the Enhancing Life Project,
Social Life: The Implicit which takes aim at addressing one of the most
Spiritual Dimension of basic human questions—the desire to enhance
life. This desire is seen in the arts, technology,
Critical Race Theory religion, medicine, culture, and social forms.
Andrew Packman (University of Chicago) joins Throughout the ages, thinkers have wondered
the roundtable with his essay, “Enhancing Racialized about the meaning of enhancing life, the ways
Social Life: The Implicit Spiritual Dimension of Critical to enhance life, and the judgments about
Race Theory.”
whether life has been enhanced. In our global
technological age, these issues have become
more widespread and urgent. Over the last two
years, 35 renowned scholars from around the
world in the fields of law, social sciences,
humanities, religion, communications, and
others, have explored basic questions of human
existence. These scholars have generated
individual research projects and engaged in
teaching in Enhancing Life Studies within their
fields, as well as contributed to public
engagement in various ways.
The Naysayers
• A discredited academic called Chip Lambert, who has
Adorno and Benjamin, debating art in abandoned Marxist theory in favour of screenwriting, goes to
the technological age, sustained one of the Strand Bookstore in downtown Manhattan to sell off his
the twentieth century’s richest library of dialectical tomes in Jonathan Franzen's 2001 novel
intellectual conversations.Illustration by "The Corrections." Chip spent approximately four thousand
Patrick Bremer / Left: Ullstein Bild / dollars buying works by Theodor W. Adorno, Jürgen
AKG; Right: Imagno / AKG Habermas, Fredric Jameson, and others, with a selling value
of sixty-five dollars. "He turned away from their reproachful
spines," Franzen writes, "remembering how each of them had
called out in a bookstore, promising a radical critique of late-
capitalist society." Chip enters a high-end grocery store and
comes out with a pricey fillet of wild Norwegian salmon after
numerous more book-selling missions.
The Scream
Beneath a boiling sky, aflame with yellow,
Edvard Munch’s portrait of existential orange and red, an androgynous figure stands
angst is the second most famous image upon a bridge. Wearing a sinuous blue coat,
in art history – but why? Alastair Sooke which appears to flow, surreally, into a torrent
tells its story. (Image credit: The Scream of aqua, indigo and ultramarine behind him, he
1895/Edvard Munch) holds up two elongated hands on either side of
his hairless, skull-like head.
His eyes wide with shock, he unleashes a
bloodcurdling shriek. Despite distant vestiges of
normality – two figures upon the bridge, a boat
on the fjord – everything is suffused with a
sense of primal, overwhelming horror.
This, of course, is The Scream, by the Norwegian
artist Edvard Munch – the second most famous
image in art history, after Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.
 The Starry Night

Description
The Starry Night, painted by Vincent van Gogh two months
before his sad suicide, is considered his best work. Van Gogh
depicts an unnamed European village in a gloomy
wilderness with dimmed lights in this painting. Some
structures, such as the church, manage to emit just enough
light to be noticed, while others, such as the church, are
dark and unwelcoming. The real action, however, takes
place above the town, where the moon and stars illuminate
the night sky. Light streaks and brushes over the sky,
defeating the gloomy sky wherever it is confronted.
However, the stars are insufficient to illuminate the entire Analysis
sky, and huge areas of dark blue lie between the spectator, There are Five elements in the Picture THE STARRY NIGHT by
the town, and the stars. Large expanses of gloomy blue Vincent Van Gogh as
serve as a persistent reminder of the artist's melancholy and The Spiral
anxiety throughout his life. Despite the greatest efforts of The Sky
the stars above and the people below, the darkness still The Moon and The Stars
prevails. The Bell Tower and The Village
The Cypress Tree
Interpretation

The Spiral

• The spirals are undoubtedly the first feature of the image that draws our attention.
Like a storm, the enormous swirling figures swallow the artwork. It inhales the user's
gaze, making them dizzy and dazed while providing insight into Van Gogh's delicate
mind. What if, on the other hand, this spiral was simply inspired by the growing
popularity of astronomy in the nineteenth century? Van Gogh was fascinated by
astronomy and read the magazine on a daily basis.

The Sky
• The sky ripples and flows like a river, capturing the viewer's attention with its
human-like dynamism. The painting has a spiritual quality to it, as evidenced by Van
Gogh's letters to his brother at the time, in which he writes of a "severe need of
religion, so [he] goes out at night to paint the stars." As a result, the sky becomes a
vehicle for Van Gogh to comprehend and explore one of his main preoccupations:
life after death. This focus is reflected in Van Gogh's colour choices, which include
dusty mauves and blue-black tones in the sky, a choice that is repeated in other
works such as The Starry Night.
The Moon and The Stars
• Astrophysicists have determined that the moon and stars seen in Van Gogh's
sky correspond to astronomical observations made on May 25th, 1889 in Saint-
Rémy-de-Provence. When Van Gogh painted the sky in 1889, Capella was
unusually bright, which is why we see a much larger and more luminous star in
his picture. The moon, like the stars, emits a huge amount of light, which is
emphasised in the picture by the use of concentric circles. However, because
the ground is black, the light in the sky does not spread to the boundaries of
the painting.

The Bell Tower and The Village

• Van Gogh could only see a small patch of land from his apartment because of
the asylum's layout in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Unlike the stars, the artist did
not view the bell tower and village directly. Rather, he conjured them up in his
head. These two parts are at the bottom of the piece, occupying only one-third
of the total area. They've been modified to the point where they appear to be
moving, and the darkened dwellings give the painting a stained-glass aspect.
The bell tower and cathedral enable Van Gogh to emphasise the sky's
mysterious and cosmic majesty.
The Cypress Tree
• Finally, the cypress is a significant aspect in the piece, probably the most essential.
It connects the two halves of the Painting: the sky and the ground, thick, agitated,
and rising like a flame. The decision by Van Gogh to put it in the foreground was
significant. The cypress is generally connected with death, and Van Gogh believed
it was the only route to reach a life beyond this world.

Judgement

• This painting is both a representation of Van Gogh's chaotic mind and a representation of his
principal passions. It is also undeniable proof of Van Gogh's unparalleled talent and genius.
Topic Introduction
• Van Gogh had mostly abandoned his religious convictions at this time, but he had a deep affection for the
natural world, which he found refuge in. The artist wrote to his brother, "Hope is in the stars." As a result,
The Starry Night artwork is frequently understood as conveying a message of hope.
• Vincent van Gogh's magnificent starry night is widely regarded as one of his most iconic works. On a typical
evening, the picture represents a peaceful night. The sky, which comprises of these beautiful gleaming stars,
a rarity in today's modern living, has a way of mesmerising the gaze of all who gaze upon the artwork.
• The artist was known for his impressionist style of painting, and his bold use of oils and paintbrushes made
him a one-of-a-kind artist that everyone soon came to admire. The painting can be represented in a variety
of ways, and each person is more likely to interpret the meaning of the painting in their own way. Because
art is always subjective, this is the case.
The Starry Night
What would life be if we had no
courage to attempt anything?

Muth then ended his speech with a

quote from the Marching King's
Saturday performance, which talks
about never giving up and finding the
ability to accomplish anything you
set your mind to. “What would life be
if you had no courage to attempt
anything?” he said. “To dare to
dream. That's what this was.
References
• Artwork Anaylsis: Starry Night by Van Gogh - Artsper Magazine.
Artsper Magazine. (2022). Retrieved 5 May 2022, from
https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/artwork-analysis-
starry-night-by-van-gogh/.
• The Starry Night | History, Description, & Facts. Encyclopedia
Britannica. (2022). Retrieved 5 May 2022, from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Starry-Night.
• Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum. (2022). Retrieved 5 May
2022, from https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/art-and-
stories/art/vincent-van-gogh.