ABOUT TREES
By Gitte Ørskou, Manager, Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, DK (2009)

(Summary of the original text in danish)
Painters are drawn to trees. Its about defining the miniworld of the canvas with these vertical lines, showing us the path in. A dear vertical point in the vast world of horizontal lines playing the leading part in the landscape. It is said, that the renaissance defined our way of viewing things in linear perspective. Before that time the world was a place to be in - not a place to evaluate from a distance. But the gridsystem of the renaissance made linear perspective the dominant principle and put the kaleidoscopic way of seeing on stand by. Along with the interlect, the spirit, who managed to lift itself up to a higher level of understanding. For painting as artform this was a watershed, because this was the beginning of viewing the world in linear perspective. All of a sudden the human eye was in the center, not the world, not the eye of God, but the subjective viewing position.
TRACKS OF BEAUTY
By Dorthe Jørgensen, Ph.D & Dr.Phil., Department of Philosophy and History of ideas, Aarhus University
 
(Summary of the original text in danish)
Beauty is not a property of an object. Most Philosophers have agreed of it anyway and some still do. The Pythagoreans admired the harmonious proportions of the cosmos and since then many have seen harmony and beauty as one. The most common perception of beauty is based on the classical art theory which states, that beauty in art is influenced by harmonious equilibrium and organic entity. This particular form of beauty was rejected in art and art theory in the beginning of the 20th. century. A rejection that has resulted in a lack of interest in beauty. But beauty can be evaluated in other ways than in art theory, which is merely a single way of viewing beauty. Artist and thinkers of the 20th. century have insisted on another kind of beauty and thus not rejected the concept of beauty. Harmonious equilibrium is not of importance but instead experiencing beauty and they have understood beauty as an event.
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