To Be a Box or Not to Be a Box: The Multiple Meanings of the Metaphor in Antoni Tàpies

Abstract

The reality that surrounds us throws us continuous messages that are perceived by our senses. In this perception, sight is configured as a principal sense capable of obtaining many of these messages and generating, from these perceptions, numerous thoughts, feelings and emotions. In this way, the routine of I see-thought-question- is established. The education of the gaze then becomes a matter of first order to favor the understanding of our world. Art, as a form of reality, or as an adaptation of reality, can be used as a tool to promote a different way of looking, it can be a discipline that can help to understand our reality. The following article studies the metaphor as a possible resource for the awareness of reality. An example of a metaphor, its possibility of inquiry, and discovery of meaning is the artwork Composicio amb cistella made in 1996 by Antonio Tàpies, which is part of the collection of the University of Navarra Museum. The Catalan artist uses metaphor in this sculpture trying to deceive the eye that looks at it, in an attempt to encourage participation and reflexive activation of visitors to the Museum. The conceptualization of the sculpture is specifically studied, in a synthetic way, through a philosophical approach on the aesthetic and the metaphor contributed by José Ortega y Gasset. The aim is to get support from aesthetic- philosophical which helps explore the possibilities of the metaphor as an aesthetic resource for the awareness of reality.