The concept of the sublime is a concept that was analysed in Ancient Greek philosophy and in the 1st century AD by Longinus the Pseudo. It was later revived in the philosophical works of Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant. While the sublime that Longinus dealt with includes the emotions in Homer's poems and classical tragedies, philosophers such as Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant further explored the concept of the sublime and dealt with it from different angles. While Burke based the sublime on pain, danger and fear, Kant saw it as a bridge between aesthetics and ethics. Romantic artists, emphasising the sublimity of nature, depicted landscapes in a frightening and awe-inspiring way. Today, technology and consumer culture have replaced nature and created a new understanding of the sublime. Contemporary art associates the sublime with human emotions and the complexity of technology rather than natural landscapes. The concept of the sublime in contemporary art has gone beyond its traditional definition and has different interpretations and expressions. While the sublime in the traditional sense is considered as an expression of natural beauty or greatness that frightens and fascinates people, in contemporary art, it has gained a more abstract and personal meaning.
Sublime, Art, Beautiful, Nature