In the following exercises, you are invited to think about the romantic movement and relate that to your own experiences.
One of the things we did not cover in the study materials is the (original) meaning of the term. Originally, the word "romantic" did not mean "love story" or "connected to romance" in the modern sense.
Investigate briefly where the term comes from and who coined it; also think about the question why it was not just called "modern" at the time.
Next, find an image or artwork (preferably not too well0-known) from the period (say 1780 - 1810) and describe why you would call it romantic, rather than "classical". Do not use the terms 'emotion', 'beauty', or 'nature' without being very clear what you mean by it and why you mention it.
Go to a (semi-)public place you visit regularly, like a train station, supermarket, garden or parking lot. Position yourself at a nice spot that you can observe but are not all too observable. Now spend at least five minutes there without distraction: no music, no telephone use, no reading material – just observe. Use all your senses while observing: what does the place look like, how does it smell, can you feel your feet touching the ground, ...?
After these five minutes, describe one specific detail that stood out and the relation you had with that particular detail. You can use text, photographs, drawings or whatever to make this clear. Also describe the role technology had in the coming about of this relationship.
Can you relate the results of this exercise with Fichte's concept of 'Ich' ('I'), that was discussed in the presentation?
The philosopher Friedrich Schlegel famously valued the fragment as a form precisely because reality itself was unfinished. Write three short pieces of text on the subjects below. In these text, do not explain and do not conclude.
Please note that you need to do this writing with pen and paper.
One of the key terms of the Romanticist, that we also did not cover in the materials of this week, is 'the sublime'. Investigate briefly what this conveys and why it is important in this movement.
Next, find a work (image, painting, installation, book, movie, ...) that really touches you. Describe the emotional (or physical) response that you have with this work and explain whether the technology used in creating this work creates a distance or a connection. Why would this matter for the Romanticist?
In your own artistic practice, do you resist efficiency, optimisation, or control? Please give a concrete example.
Make a small work (poem, drawing, piece of music) that portrays the difference in world view between the Romanticist and the other three world views we have discussed so far.