Defining Metaphysical

The below is my write up on metaphysics and metaphysical art which will be in the book Nunziante that I am designing at work.

Defining Metaphysical
“a division of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being… a study of what is outside objective experience.” - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Primarily concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of being and the world, metaphysics studies principles of reality that exceed those of any one science. The subject of metaphysics was an essential part of education and academic studies from before the time of Aristotle who also studied its theories. The notions behind metaphysics were considered equal to that of other formal studies such as music and poetry, medicine, math, and physical science. Metaphysicians are challenged to explain the conventional thinking by which people comprehend their being in areas such as space, time, and existence.

"…there is much more mystery in the shadow of a man walking on a sunny day, than in all religions of the world". – Giorgio de Chirico

Metaphysical art is an Italian art movement created by Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà in which paintings with dream-like qualities explore the imagined inner life of familiar objects when represented out of their explanatory contents. Carrà and de Chirico’s use of typical subjects and objects, such as classical statues and buildings, were made unordinary by their strategic juxtaposition with one another; irrationalism became ordinary.

This movement was a significant stepping-stone for the later Dada and Surrealism movements.

“Every time an artist decides to have a relationship with the world (not to faithfully reproduce what they see, but to interpret and reinvent it exaggeration rationality until they reach its exact opposite) he or she always take on a metaphysical attitude.” – Sgarbi Vittorio