RT Article
T1 Artists as truth-seekers: Focusing on agency and seekership in the study of art and occulture
JF Approaching religion
VO 11
IS 1
SP 4
OP 27
A1 Kokkinen, Nina
LA English
PB [publisher not identified]
YR 2021
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1752976053
AB This article focuses on the concept of the seeker and considers how the analytical tool of seekership, defined and developed in the sociology of religion, could be applied to the study of art and esotericism. The theoretical argument is made more tangible with the example of the Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931), whose life story, art and writings resonate with the concept of seekership. The ways in which Gallen-Kallela writes about his interest in esotericism and the dawn of the new age appear in a new light; as part of the processes of a spiritualisation of modern art and religiosity. In addition, the article points out that the concept of seekership can offer new possibilities more generally for the study of art and esotericism. Utilising the analytical tool of seekership may be especially helpful regarding those artists who did not subscribe to any esoteric movement or doctrine, but stressed a more individual relationship with the occulture of their time. It will also provide an opportunity to outline how the connections between art and esotericism have changed over different times and places.
K1 Akseli Gallen-Kallela
K1 Esotericism
K1 fin-de-siécle art
K1 New Age
K1 Occultism
K1 Occulture
K1 Seekers
K1 seekership
K1 sociology of religion
K1 Spirituality
DO 10.30664/ar.98310