Aims and Scope of Leonardo = But et Portee de Leonardo

Leonardo, Vol. 1, pp. 1-2. Pergamon Press 1968. Printed in Great Britain AIMS AND SCOPE OF LEONARD0 BUT ET PORT€€ D€ L€ONARDO Although visual or plastic fineart is one of the oldest fields of human endeavor, there are no journals of international origin that are by and for the artists themselves. Therearenumerousjournalsfor aestheticians , for historians of art and for the general public. This situation, as regards the failure of artists to write on aspects of their own work, is partly due to the highly individual character of artistic expression, but also because a strong opinion has held sway that artists should leave verbal description and analysis of their works to other professions. When we look at the basic and applied scienceswe find that workers in these fields, who are no more skilled than artists with the written word, are expected to write about original aspects of their work. These writings are of benefit to their colleagues, and help to expand and improve man’s understanding of nature and to advance the use of this understanding for man’s purposes. There are overtones of secrecyin both the arts and the applied sciences for the protection, principally, of technical discoveries and improvements. However , in the sciences it is generally conceded that a ‘secret’ is good for a matter of months or, at most, a few years. The evils of ‘secrecy’ are especially apparent from the point of view of education, which is based on the transmission to the young of each generation what their predecessors have learned. Needless re-discovery and repetition of errors can only be minimized by the free disclosure and exchange of information and experience gained by the practitioners of art and of science. It was with these thoughts in mind that I approached Mr. Robert Maxwell, Chairman of Pergamon Press Ltd., at Oxford, with a proposal for the creation of Leonardo, an international journal of the contemporary artist. Leonardo is intended to be primarily a channel of communication between artists. The editors of the journal will consider for publication manuscripts by artists from any country dealing with their work in any branch of visual fineart (including works of a static or kinetic type in two or three dimensions). Articles will be subjected to a review procedure before they are accepted. They will be printed in English or in French, and each article will have an abstract in English and in French. Short notes, without abstracts, will also be published. Les arts plastiques ou visuels reprtsentent l’un des plus anciens domaines de l’effort humain, mais il n’existe pas cependant de revue internationale faite par les artistes eux-mCmes et pour les artistes. I1 ne manque pas bien sGr de revues destintes aux sptcialistesde I’esthttique, aux historiensd’art ou au grand public. Mais si l’artiste lui, s’abstient d’tcrire sur les probltmes que pose sa propre crtation, pourquoi? C‘est d’une part en raison du caracttre hautement individuel de I’expression artistique, d’autre part h cause du prtjugt bien ttabli selon lequel l’artiste doit laisser A des experts le soin de disserter de son oeuvre. Au vrai, si nous considtrons les sciences fondamentales et appliqutes, nous constatons que ceux qui s’en occupent, sans Ctre plus habiles que les artistes A manier la plume, sont supposts traiter par Ccrit des aspects originaux de leurs travaux. Ce qu’ilsredigent est fort utile h leurs confrtres, permet de rCpandre et d’enricher la connaissance que l’homme a de la nature, et d’amplifier l’emploi de cette comprthension au mieux des inttrCts de l’homme. Une aura de secret nimbe h la fois les arts et les sciences appliqutes, surtout lorsqu’il s’agit de prtserver les dtcouvertes et les perfectionnements techniques. On admet toutefois que dans le domaine scientifique le ‘secret’ ne dure gdre plus de quelques mois, au plus quelques anntes. Les mtfaits du ‘secret’ sont particuli6rement flagrants quand il s’agit de l’enseignement, dont I’esprit consiste de generation en gtneration z i transmettre aux jeunes ce que leurs aints ont appris. I1 ne peut Ctre mis un terme aux vaines redtcouvertes et A la rtpttition...