Beksi Existentialism Essay

What cannot be reflected in person is reflected through illustration. The Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński knew this well, often painting his fantastical visions onto hardboard canvas like he was "photographing [his] dreams" (Jurecki). His intention was not to promote a particular ideology, a political stance, or any other subliminal message, but to simply create something for what it is. The most important thing, he said, was "how it would be painted," not the end result. Even then, many people insisted on demanding specific explanations for why he placed a figure where he did, why he drew it in the position he did, and why he painted it with the colors he did (Dmochowski). The only interpretations he accepted were those that did so through …show more content…
There is no set definition, and many people who are considered existentialists do not adapt such a label for themselves. However, existentialism in general places heavy emphasis on the individual. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s Jean-Philippe Deranty, "human freedom grounds the very possibility of knowledge in its deepest form, i.e., the capacity of human beings to reveal something about reality.” In other words, our innate freedom paves the way to discovering more about the reality of things around us because we have the liberty to explore and influence such an environment. In fact, many existentialists insist that nature is meaningless and has no reason for existing, and it is up to us, as humans, to [make] our own reason, and thus give purpose to our otherwise meaningless lives. Rodgers and Thompson, authors of Understand Existentialism, state that "the general view of existentialist philosophers is that life is not presented to us already packaged with meaning and purpose, but it is what we make of it." (VII) Beksiński held this belief intimately, never conforming to what others believe, but rather remaining steadfast to the values he assigned