The works of Cy Twombly : non-linear language and non-linear consciousness
This thesis aims to achieve the first evaluation of Cy Twombly's (1928-) position in the discourses of Modernism and Postmodernism. As Twombly has been viewed as an 'inimitable' and independent artist, it is necessary to question the extent to which his works adhere to, or transgress, the terminologically restrictive monolithic metalanguages of late Modernism and Postmodernism. To inquire therefore into the relationship between the independent formulation of ideas and the plurality of a dominant cultural form. Twombly's aesthetic devices of intertextuality and appropriation, subject themes of mythology and history, and dislocation of categories, arises at an early period in his work, prior to the eclecticism of Postmodern art. This has presented difficulties for critical theory in interpreting Twombly's oeuvre within a linear, developmental history of art. One central aim is to identify the context therefore from which such aesthetic and extra-aesthetic concerns arose. This analysis will require examining Black Mountain College's synchronic and isomorphic education under the directorship of Charles Olson, for grounds of the artist's pre-postmodern interests. The education in the intellectual life of early Modernism, in particular Mallarméan and Poundian theory and practice, and the significance of early 20th century critical language debates in general, locates Twombly's work in the pluralistic cultural phenomena of early Modernism, opening a seam therefore between the monolithic paradigms of late Modernism and Postmodernism. A wider archaeological context is examined, within which Twombly's choice of classical mythology, history and war, appropriation and intertextuality bears relevance to paradigm shifts in 20th century thought, for example, the artist's radical questioning of the significance of mythology for 20th century notions of identity. The thesis highlights the interdisciplinary relationships within the artist's work, in particular Twombly's deconstruction of both language and pre-determined cerebral languages of mathematics and geometry. These deconstructions are relevant to contemporary researches in various disciplines, e.g. the mathematics of topology, and non-Euclidean quantum physics.
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