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1: Socrates (Plato) Denied Art

Critique of Mimesis
For Plato, the 'Idea' (Essence/Truth) was the true reality, and the visible, tangible world was merely its 'shadow.' Artistic works, which are imitations of this visible world, were considered the 'shadow of a shadow'—doubly removed from the Truth.

Disturbance of Emotion
Drama and poetry evoke tears and excitement, but these appeal not to the 'Reason' of the soul, but to its 'Desire' and 'Passion.' This was seen as disrupting the soul's order and hindering the path to Truth.

Educational Concerns
Homer's gods are portrayed as jealous, angry, and violent. Exposing children to these narratives was considered detrimental to moral education, planting bad examples instead.

Conditional Affirmation
However, it wasn't a complete denial. Art that harmonized with philosophy was accepted. For example, music expressing mathematical proportion and harmony, and orderly art that nurtured reason, were deemed useful to the state.

In essence, the Platonic position is: "While art, if left unchecked, can mislead people, it can become beneficial under the guidance of philosophy." The Republic presents a complex structure where, on the one hand, poets and dramatists are banished, yet "art subservient to philosophy" is tolerated.

2: The Duality of Ambiguity in Modern Art

The Arbitrariness of Institutions and the Market
In Plato’s time, when he urged the banishment of bards, art was still directly linked to communal education and ethical formation. Today, however, 'market,' 'institutions,' 'museums,' and 'critics' can manipulate value. This ambiguity becomes the breeding ground for that manipulation. A systemic mechanism has developed that allows us to avoid asking the question, "What is art?"
If a piece is acquired by a museum, it is deemed to have 'value.'
If a critic provides the language, it is regarded as having 'meaning.'
If a price is set in the market, it is 'justified.'
This process exploits the ambiguity of art to create a structure that 'manipulates value.'

The Justification of Deception
What Plato feared was the 'substitution of appearance for truth.' Some modern art embodies this very structure. It is claimed that "even if you don't understand the meaning, the very incomprehensibility is artistic." In Socratic terms, this risks falling once again into the 'double shadow,' pulling the soul away from Truth.
The danger Plato criticized—mistaking a shadow for reality—is today reproduced as the perversion of 'incomprehensibility = profundity.' When a lack of understanding is treated as the essence of the work, we cease to question. A structure that blocks the 'Question' sustains the deception.

Art as an Indulgence/Exemption
There's a subtle but critical difference between "Art justifies freedom of expression" and "Art is exempt from scrutiny." The former is vital for critical engagement in society; the latter preempts criticism. This is an attitude that severs 'philosophical dialogue.'
"Because it's art," as a basis for freedom, leads to social critique and the cultivation of sensibility.
"Because it's art," as an excuse for exemption, stifles dialogue and verification.
Here lies the precarious aspect of art's ambiguity.

The Necessity of Continuous Questioning
Socrates practiced 'knowing his own ignorance' and never ceased questioning. Even in the modern era, continuously asking "What is art?" is the philosophical attitude necessary to prevent ambiguity from being co-opted by chaos or authority. Socrates showed that the 'act of persistent questioning' is philosophy. The ambiguity of contemporary art hinges on whether we can transform it into: "Because it is ambiguous, it is precisely what we must question." The value of art is not fixed; it is only preserved when it lives as a 'site for sustained inquiry.'

Ambiguity, therefore, has two faces:
If exploited by institutions or the market: 'A breeding ground for deception.'
If engaged with a philosophical attitude: 'A catalyst that keeps the inquiry open.'

The Danger of Exploitation by the Market and Authority

The Market Dynamic: The 'Dictatorship of Exchange Value'
Art ought to possess use value / intrinsic value—such as 'deepening of experience' or 'approximation of truth'—but when absorbed by the market, 'price' becomes the sole metric. This is precisely the act that, in Plato's terms, expands the 'distance from the Idea.' Mistaking a gold-plated shadow for the 'real thing' is the very structure he feared.

The Manipulation of Authority: 'Outsourced Judgment'
Museums and critics resemble the ancient Oracle of Delphi. People bow before the declaration, "This is art," and cease to doubt. What occurs here is the 'outsourcing of thought.' The spectator is robbed of the subjectivity to judge art for themselves, abandoning the effort and entrusting their thinking to, "The authority said so." Subjectivity is lost, and art transforms into an 'engine of thought cessation.'

The Essence of the Danger: The 'Monopoly of Ambiguity'
Ambiguity itself is a 'margin for creation' and inherently possesses the power to open up freedom. When this margin is monopolized by the market or authority, it becomes a tool for domination instead of liberation. The danger is not that 'the ambiguity of art is inherently perilous,' but that 'we are deprived of the opportunity to question that ambiguity ourselves.'

The Act of Reclaiming Ambiguity
The danger is not the ambiguity itself, but the deprivation of the chance to question it oneself. For example, by asking:
"Is this truly art?"
"Why is it valuable?"
"What criteria could exist outside the market or authority?"
Repeating these questions is the act of making ambiguity creative again, realizing Socratic 'knowing one's own ignorance' in the modern context.

3: Art as the Manifestation of Pure Experience

The Artwork: A 'Crystal of Pure Experience'
For the creator, the artwork is the precipitate of 'a moment that arrives beyond thought.' It is a shape taken by 'experience prior to linguistic formulation.' It engraves the 'instant before it is assimilated into the framework of consciousness.' Essentially, it is not a 'commodity,' but the 'trace where lived experience solidifies.' It is like 'time etched in stone,' where fleeting moments crystallize and remain. In Platonic terms, it is not the 'double shadow,' but something closer to the 'trace of a moment touching the Idea.'

The Experience: The 'Waking of Pure Experience'
For the spectator, the work is not an external object, but a 'catalyst that awakens the dormant sensation deep within the self.' When facing a painting or music, one is not "seeing the work" but "one's own inner self awakening." The crystallization of another's experience strikes something sleeping inside oneself. This is an 'event beyond mediation,' immeasurable by the market or institutions.

The Powerlessness of the Market and Authority
The market and institutions can only manipulate 'price,' 'category,' and 'label.' They have no power to intervene in the manifestation of pure experience. Experience only arises in the 'relationship between people' or the 'dialogue between the self and the self.' The fundamental value of art lies in 'art as experience,' a place where no authority or market can enter.

Dual Mode of Existence
Art always has two aspects:
'Art as an object,' which circulates through institutions and the market.
'Art as an event,' which awakens pure experience.
The former can be exploited, but the latter cannot be taken away. The latter is the 'last stronghold' and, Platonically speaking, holds the power to guide the soul toward Truth.

4: The Stance of Introspection and the Freedom of Art

Liberation from External Standards
With introspection, the focus shifts from 'externally imposed criteria of value' to 'one's own sensibility.' Price and critical reviews recede into the background, and the experience itself takes center stage. This allows art to emerge not as a 'consumable object' but as 'experience itself.'

The Margin to Receive Pure Experience
The attitude of encountering the work simply 'as it is,' without rushing to interpretation or assigning meaning. This resonates with Nishida Kitaro's notion of 'direct experience before the separation of subject and object.' The act of 'seeing' or 'hearing' opens up to a direct experience preceding its division into thought or evaluation. The presence of this margin transforms the work from 'something to be explained' to 'something that simply manifests.'

Appreciation as Dialogue
When one engages with a work introspectively, appreciation becomes a 'dialogue,' not 'consumption.' The work is the crystallization of the creator's experience, which resonates within the spectator and is resurrected as a 'new experience.' This back-and-forth is the core of 'artistic experience.' It is distinct from mere 'possession' or 'consumption.'

Introspection as Catalyst
As long as introspection exists, art reclaims its freedom beyond external authority and market logic. The market and institutions can manipulate the 'object,' but they cannot touch the 'deepening of experience.' The freedom of art is not 'guaranteed externally' but 'opened up by an internal attitude.' In this sense, protecting art is synonymous with 'cultivating a culture of introspection.'

The Dual Function of Art

The Artwork as a Crystal of Pure Experience
The intuitive moment or raw instant of the creator takes form. It remains as an imprinted trace of time.

Art as an Experience that Nurtures Introspection
It calls forth a margin in the spectator where they 'feel before they think,' and from that, silence, dialogue, and reinterpretation are nurtured.

Art, as a 'Power that Cultivates'
Catalyst for Self-Deepening: It awakens inner stillness and cultivates the self.
Catalyst for Opening Community: It creates a space for shared introspection, independent of the market or authority.
Catalyst for Reinterpreting the Everyday: It provides eyes to see the ordinary landscape again as a 'pure experience.'

From 'Artwork' to 'Soil'
Art is not merely an object; it cultivates the individual, relationships, and contact with the world. It emerges as the 'soil' of a nurturing field. The essence of art is not 'the spectator possessing the work,' but the 'process through which humans are cultivated through the medium of the work.'

5: Encounter with Art (Kaikō)

The Inevitability of Encounter
Encounters cannot be controlled, but they are bound to happen as long as we are alive. Art gains meaning within this 'unavoidable contingency.'

Encounter as a 'Site of Generation'
The artwork is not a 'finished product,' but something generated at the moment of encounter. Art is not a thing, but 'an event that arises between the work and the spectator.' This site is always incomplete and continuously generating.

Resonance and Margin
Art creates a resonance where differences harmoniously coexist, not an 'institutionalized unity.' A margin always remains in this resonance. Because of this margin, the resonance is free, not coercive.

The Duality of Encounter (Encounter is a 'Realization/Noticing')
Encounter is only realized when 'meeting' and 'realization/noticing' are connected. A meeting passes unnoticed without realization. Realization merely drifts without an object. Art is born in the instant where these two intersect.

The Repetitive Nature of Realization
A landscape once noticed takes on a different expression the next time, no longer being 'just the everyday.' Realization renews the world and makes introspection habitual. Art is also a device that creates this 'rhythm of renewal.' The accumulation of this renewal fosters the 'habit of introspection.'

Encounter and Invisible Time
The moment of realization is ephemeral. However, its echo persists as introspection. Encounter is an event that bridges the 'instant' and the 'duration.'

Art is a presence that cultivates the sensory readiness to enable encounter, while simultaneously bringing the encounter itself to life.

'Synchronization' (Shinkuro)

Discrepancy and Echo
Synchronization is an instant of alignment, but a 'slight discrepancy' or 'afterglow' may remain. This lingering echo leads people to introspection and sustains them beyond the moment in time.

The Intersecting of Necessity and Contingency
The work is born with a 'form of necessity,' but the recipient's encounter is 'contingency.' Synchronization occurs only when the two intersect. Art is the bridge between necessity and contingency.

Communal Synchronization
When multiple people feel a similar synchronization at the same moment, not just in an individual experience, a 'site of resonance' arises. This is a fleeting 'time of co-vibration,' distinct from a rigid community.

Art as Multilayered Synchronization

Repetition and Transformation
Encountering the same work again reveals different layers. Because the spectator themselves has changed, a new synchronization is generated. This 'transformation brought about by repetition' is the sustainable power of art.

Memory as Sedimentation
The accumulated layers precipitate as memory, suddenly recalled in daily life. It connects with accidental realizations in the everyday, cultivating even newer layers.

Social Depth
When individual layers intersect with the layers of others, a 'depth unattainable alone' is born. This is not the rigid unity of a community but a fluid, gentle 'layer of resonance.'

Art as the 'Generation of a Site'
To generate these layers, the artwork itself functions as a 'site.' Art is something that creates a temporal and relational 'site' even more than a physical 'object.'

Art is a generative site that, starting from an ephemeral encounter (synchronization), nurtures a multilayered depth through repetition, memory, and resonance. It is here that art's unique, fundamental value, which cannot be manipulated by the market or authority, resides.

Art as a Multiple Ensemble: Creator, Work, and Spectator

The Meaning of Independence
It's crucial that the work resonates as an independent 'performer,' not just an extension of the creator. Even the moment the creator's intention is received, it is transformed by the spectator's sensibility, giving rise to an unpredictable tone.

The Temporality of Resonance
The multiple ensemble doesn't end with a single performance; by repeatedly engaging with the work, the spectator's inner layers deepen. The ensemble exists as layers overlapping in time.

Generation as a Site
This multiple ensemble is not possible within the physical space or market framework alone; a 'site' involving the creator, the work, and the spectator is essential. Art is precisely the generation of that site.

Art is a multilayered multiple ensemble of 'Creator's Resonance × Work's Independence × Spectator's Co-vibration.' This ensemble cannot be unilaterally manipulated, born only within the contingency and realization of a 'lived event.'

The Necessary Harmony Born from 'Cultivated Habits and Sites'

Necessity Rests on Contingency
When daily sensibility, attitude, and the preparation of the site are in place, encounters and synchronizations that appear contingent manifest as 'necessary harmony.' This two-layered structure is key to explaining the power of art.

The Generativity of the Site
The shared site is not just a physical space but a 'generative site' where introspection and realization are possible. Here, the logic of the market and authority cannot intervene, and natural resonance is born.

The Importance of Temporal Accumulation
Even a faint resonance from a single encounter becomes a deep inner layer through repeated engagement. The accumulation of habits and sites enables multilayered synchronization.

Art is a 'multiple ensemble that necessarily arises' through the preparation of individual and communal habits, sites, and time, mediated by 'contingent encounter.' The essence of art lies in contingency supported by necessity, or necessity sustained by contingency.

The progression of 'Encounter,' 'Synchronization,' 'Multiple Ensemble,' and 'Necessary Harmony' are not independent concepts but rather overlap in a spiral fashion.
Encounter: Singularity, contingency, instant.
Synchronization: Contingency and necessity intersect; a moment of resonance is born.
Multiple Ensemble: Accumulates over time and intersects with the layers of others.
Necessary Harmony: Contingency, repeatedly nurtured within the cultivated site and habit, begins to resonate as 'necessity.'

The power of art transcends 'a single event' and lies in the 'process where the event is nurtured over time.' Art is not an 'object' but a sustained, generative process that transforms contingency into necessity. The inability of the market and authority to control art is rooted in this 'generativity' and 'sustainability.'

The Art Market as an Inherently Impoverished Stage

The Unification of Value
Because value can only be measured by price, brand, or authority, the multilayered resonance of encounter and synchronization cannot take the stage.

Overemphasis on Manipulability
A structure that prioritizes what is 'sellable/praiseworthy' makes the subtle intersection of contingency and necessity unlikely to occur.

Lack of Margin for Sensibility and Introspection
When the spectator enters consumption-evaluation mode, realization and introspection fail to arise, and synchronization or multiple ensembles are difficult to form.

The art market is an impoverished stage. As long as the logic of price and authority dominates, the essence of art—'contingent encounter, realization, synchronization, multilayered ensemble, and necessary harmony'—can hardly ever emerge.

6: The Significance of the Everyday as the Stage

The Intersection of Contingency and Necessity
Minor, everyday events, when connected with the attitude of introspection, transform an ephemeral encounter into the nascent stage of a necessary harmony.

The Chain of Multilayered Synchronization
The accumulation of daily realizations creates depth within the individual, nurturing layers of experience that cannot be calculated by the market.

The Cycle of Creation and Reception
The work is born from the creator's everyday life and resonates anew with the spectator's sensibility. The everyday becomes the stage connecting the cycle of creation and reception.

Art is 'a multilayered synchronous event that arises in the site of sensibility and introspection within the everyday.' The stage of the market and authority is merely an 'impoverished stage' that robs us of this natural, generative site.

Living the Everyday as Art

The Purification of Experience
Every moment of the everyday, through attention and introspection, becomes a pure experience, an 'artwork' for the individual.

The Chain of Encounter and Synchronization
The accumulation of small realizations turns life itself into a multilayered ensemble. The boundaries between creator, work, and spectator become blurred, and the everyday becomes the stage for art.

Value Independent of Market or Authority
The source of value is not external but the depth of experience and the resonance of sensation. Art cannot be measured by evaluation or price.

Art is 'the very act of living with daily sensibility and introspection, detached from special exhibition spaces or authoritative frameworks.'

The Indispensability of Living Environment and Relationships

Environment Supports Sensibility
Quiet, spacious environments, nature, and urban landscapes serve as conditions that prompt realization. Individual introspection is only richly expressed when such a site exists.

Resonance with Others
Dialogue and sharing with others reflect one's own experience and realization like a mirror, forming a multiple ensemble and necessary harmony.

The Power of Social Context
While contingency and synchronization are limited in isolated daily life, a thicker layer is generated within the community and relationships, where contingency transforms into necessity.

Art is simultaneously an internal act of the individual and a phenomenon that arises through the environment and human connections. This clarifies the total picture of art, grounded in the everyday and relationships, which is often invisible in traditional 'work-centric art theory.'

The Self-Cultivation of the Individual

The Habituation of Introspection and Realization
By paying attention to trivial daily events and refining sensibility, layers of encounter and synchronization accumulate naturally.

The Maturation of Relationships
Dialogue and resonance with others become rich naturally, not through coercion, but through the cultivation of individual sensibility.

The Artification of the Everyday
By cultivating the self, the entire everyday becomes the stage for art, and all of life becomes the site of the multiple ensemble.

Art is a phenomenon that naturally arises in the everyday through the cultivation of the individual's inner self and the maturation of relationships, not through special works or stages.

Art as Effortless Spontaneity (Mui Shizen)

The Balance of Activity and Receptivity
Efforts to refine introspection and sensibility exist, but they are pursued not with the goal of "creating art" but as an act that enriches life. Encounter and synchronization arise spontaneously.

Harmony with the Flow of the Everyday
Accidental events—such as natural light and sound, or interaction with others—become the stage itself. A space is created where pure experience manifests without being manipulated or evaluated.

Inner Cultivation and Outer Resonance
When the individual's inner self is cultivated, the everyday itself becomes the stage for the multiple ensemble. Art as effortless spontaneity is achieved when the external world and one's heart naturally resonate.

Art is 'a phenomenon that arises spontaneously within the act of living the everyday, not something that is intentionally made.'

The Poverty of the Market
A stage where art can only be measured by “price,” “brand,” and “authority.” Here, the delicate resonance of chance and necessity cannot arise.

The Stage of Daily Life
Art resides not in special exhibition spaces, but in daily life itself.
The Intersection of Chance and Necessity
Layers of Awareness
The Cycle of Creation and Reception

The Artification of Life
As the individual's inner world is cultivated and relationships with others mature, life as a whole becomes a space for art.

Art as Effortless Naturalness
Art is not created by “trying to make” it; it arises naturally from the cultivation of the inner self and harmony with the environment.

Art expands from “works” to “spaces,” and further from ‘spaces’ to “life.” Moreover, “life” itself becomes not merely individual activity, but an expansive resonance encompassing environment and others. Art is the very act of living life. It is a phenomenon of emergence arising spontaneously, beyond market measurement.

7: Art, as an 'Act of Inner Cultivation'

The Reorientation of Attention
The focus shifts from external evaluation and market criteria to inner sensation. Directing attention to the subtle scenes of the everyday is already the beginning of cultivation.

The Repetition of Realization
A single encounter or realization is momentary, but its repetition becomes a 'habit.' Habitual realization transforms the very landscape of the everyday.

The Richness of Silence
Taking time to simply feel, without rushing to assign meaning. This silence creates a margin within the self, becoming the soil that deepens pure experience.

Introspection as Transformation
Cultivation is not about 'finding an answer' but 'accumulating transformation.' The inner self becomes more flexible, capable of discovering new layers in the everyday.

The Artification of Living
Inner cultivation is not synonymous with producing a work. Rather, 'how one feels and transforms each day'—life itself—becomes art.

Art resides in the 'attitude of self-cultivation' more than in the 'product of expression.' Art is not the result (the work) but the 'daily act of realization' itself.

Hierarchical Summary

1: Platonic View: The Danger and Conditional Affirmation of Art
Critique of Mimesis: Art is merely the 'shadow of a shadow' of Truth.
Emotional Disturbance: Stimulates desire and passion, disturbing reason.
Educational Concern: Potential to implant immoral models.
Conditional Affirmation: Toleration of music and orderly art that harmonize with reason.
Conclusion: Art can only be beneficial under the guidance of philosophy.

2: Ambiguity and Danger in Modern Art
Manipulation by Institutions/Market: Unification of value, overemphasis on evaluation, loss of contingency.
Justification of Deception: The notion that 'incomprehensibility is art' blocks inquiry.
Art as Exemption: The attitude of 'art is exempt' stifles philosophical dialogue.
Philosophical Inquiry: Continuous questioning, "What is art?", protects freedom and value.

3: The Fundamental Value of Art: Manifestation of Pure Experience
Work = Crystal of Experience: A trace of the moment beyond thought.
Experience = Self-Awakening: A catalyst that rouses the spectator's inner sensation.
Powerlessness of Market/Authority: Experiential value cannot be manipulated externally.
Dual Existence: Art as Object vs. Art as Event.

4: The Stance of Introspection and the Freedom of Art
Liberation from External Standards: Inner sensation takes precedence over external criteria.
Margin for Pure Experience: Direct experience precedes thought and evaluation.
Appreciation as Dialogue: The back-and-forth between the work and the spectator.
Introspection as Catalyst: The freedom of art is opened from within.

5: The Generative Process of Art
Encounter: Contingency, singularity, instant.
Synchronization: The intersection of necessity and contingency, creating resonance.
Multiple Ensemble: Layers accumulated over time, intersecting with the layers of others.
Necessary Harmony: Contingency becomes necessity through the preparation of habit, site, and time.

6: The Importance of the Everyday, Environment, and Relationships
The Everyday as Stage: The intersection of contingency and necessity, accumulation of sensibility, cycle of creation and reception.
Environment and Others: A quiet space and dialogue cultivate the inner self.
Effortless Spontaneity (Mui Shizen): Art arises spontaneously by living life in harmony with the environment, not by intentional creation.

7: Art = The Act of Inner Cultivation
Reorientation of Attention: Shifting focus from external to inner sensation.
Repetition of Realization: Habitual encounter transforms the everyday.
Richness of Silence: Creating a margin for deepening pure experience.
Introspection as Transformation: The daily process of becoming more flexible.
Artification of Living: Life itself, not the work, becomes art.

Postscript: Art as Experimental Thought

Art is not an 'object' dependent on the market or authority.
Rather, it is a 'site of experience and introspection' that arises within daily life, the environment, and relationships with others. There, contingent encounter and synchronization overlap, resonating as a multiple ensemble. Eventually, mediated by a necessary harmony, one can cultivate oneself. Life itself is quietly artified.

This realization is not unrelated to my own journey.
Looking back after nine years, entering the tenth year since Nitsubo no Me (Two-Tatami-Mat Eye) moved into the saw factory, it feels like a point of synthesis from which to view the art stage from a starting point of zero.

It is perhaps relevant that Socrates drank the poison cup, and Sen no Rikyū committed seppuku. Though in different eras and regions, both were placed in the same human predicament and chose a similar death.
Why is Laozi said to have 'departed'? What he left behind flowed like an underground stream eastward, continuing beneath Japanese culture. Nishida Kitaro, too, may have been one who noticed this water source.

Art may be a world opened only to those 'who have noticed.' While an intensely individual session, it simultaneously forms a field of resonance where countless individuals co-vibrate.
The daily life we cultivate remains the most intimate experiment for touching that resonance.