1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

19 is specific to an a r t cu ltu re and which correc ts what those discourses define as errors of choice, like Bateson's Learning' I. We can simply t r e a t th is control as a code un til some rich e r descrip tion appears. When th is se t of choices is o the red by t r a n s f e r r a l of exogenous discourses, a corrective is made to the s e t of a l t e r n a t i v e s from which choice is made or in how the sequence of experience is pun c tu a t ed , like Bateson's Learning: II. The o the ring of Euramerican d iscourses a f t e r th e ir use to o the r au toch thonous discourses is equ iva len t to a co rrec tive change in the system of s e ts of a l t e rn a t iv e s , like Bateson's Learning- III. This pe rspec tive allows und e r s tand ing of modernity in a r t as a type of lea rn ing which maps spaces be tween discourses, and makes t h e i r h ighe r controls, the d e ep - s e a t e d s tru c tu r e of th e ir codification systems, ava ilab le to unde rs tand ing . The fecund ity of Japane se discourses may be t h a t these allowed implicit und e r s tand ing of the s y s tem a tic ity of such of codes from ou tside the aporia, but because of the h is to r ic a l dens ity of t h e i r demand and the contingency of an independen t s t a t e in the la te 1 9 th cen tu ry , the se discourses could opera te from a pos ition of power on them. It is doubtful whe ther any o the r Asian experience of the modern in art could be achieved from such a position un til a f t e r World War II. Historical contingence not cu ltu ra l essence does more to exp la in why modernity in art in Japan is more an exception th an comparative model in und e r s tand ing o the r Asian art cu ltu res . S ty listic Motivation______ If this brief su rvey has tr ied to ind ica te any th ing it is how in tr ac tab le the c u l t u r e - c e n t r e d or na tion a l cons truc tion of art discourses remains. Moreover, the hab it of though t to read in te llig ib le b inary s tru c tu r e s from the surface of the world and our ideas about it is a great