Modernist Soyut Sanatın Epistemolojik Sınırlarında Bir Soyutlama Örneği Olarak Hilma af Klint

Öz

Bu çalışma, modernist soyut sanat kuramının epistemolojik sınırlarının Hilma af Klint'in (1862–1944) sanat tarihi kanonu içindeki tartışmalı konumunu nasıl belirlediğini ve sanatçının spiritüel, metafizik ve botanik çıkışlı soyutlama anlayışının hangi bilgi biçimlerini ürettiğini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Nitel araştırma desenine dayanan bu çalışmada birincil kaynak olarak Hilma af Klint Vakfı arşivi, sanatçının defterleri ile MoMA, Moderna Museet ve Guggenheim'ın kurumsal yayınları; ikincil kaynak olarak ise modernist sanat kuramına ilişkin temel metinler ve güncel akademik literatür kullanılmıştır. Amaçlı örnekleme yoluyla seçilen Doğa Çalışmaları, Çiçekler Yosunlar ve Likenler, Atom ve On En Büyük serilerinden belirli örnekler ikonografik çözümleme ve epistemolojik bağlamlandırma yöntemleriyle incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın bulguları, af Klint etrafındaki tartışmanın kronolojik bir öncüllük meselesinden önce modernist kanonun rasyonel, seküler ve özerk bilgi biçimlerini meşru, spiritüel ve kolektif olanı ise marjinal saymasından kaynaklandığını ortaya koymaktadır. Sanatçının pratiği, görünür ile görünmezi, bilimsel gözlemi ve spiritüel araştırmayı tek bir düzlemde buluşturan çok katmanlı bir bilgi üretme biçimi olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bu pratik; iklim krizi, antroposen tartışmaları ve feminist epistemolojinin sanat üretiminde belirleyici hale geldiği günümüz bağlamında disiplinlerarası bir referans noktası olarak güncelliğini korumaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Hilma af Klint
• Soyut Sanat
• Spiritüalizm
• Modernizm
• Bitki Temsili

Hilma af Klint as an Example of Abstraction at the Epistemological Boundaries of Modernist Abstract Art

Öz

This study aims to examine how the epistemological limits of modernist abstraction theory have shaped Hilma af Klint’s controversial position within the canon of art history and, what forms of knowledge are produced through her understanding of abstraction rooted in spiritual, metaphysical, and botanical sources. Based on a qualitative research design, the study utilises the archives of the Hilma af Klint Foundation, artist’s notebooks, and institutional publications of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Moderna Museet, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as primary sources; foundational texts on modernist art theory and current academic literature are employed as secondary sources. Selected examples from the series Nature Studies, Flowers, Mosses and Lichens, Atom, and The Ten Largest, chosen through purposive sampling, are analysed through iconographic analysis and epistemological contextualisation methods. The findings of the research reveal that the debate surrounding af Klint stems not merely from a question of chronological precedence but also, from the modernist canon’s tendency to legitimise rational, secular, and autonomous forms of knowledge while marginalising the spiritual and collective. The artist’s practice is defined as a multilayered mode of knowledge production that brings together the visible and the invisible, scientific observation, and spiritual inquiry on a single plane. In the contemporary context where the climate crisis, Anthropocene debates, and feminist epistemology have become increasingly decisive in artistic production, this practice continues to maintain its relevance as an interdisciplinary point of reference.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Hilma af Klint
• Abstract Art
• Spiritualism
• Modernism
• Plant Representation

Kaynakça

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