Daniel Martin and Dr. Marty Tomszak — Apophatic Art Practice and Research

Souls Moved by Intelligent Energies: Practice-Led Iconic Research and the Apophatic Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

To answer this call for project proposals on contemporary apophatic art practice and research, the following paper, guided reflection, and image-making collaboratively created by these two scholars-artists will explore On the Divine Names as a site of discovery for creating non-mimetic visual communication. In an attempt to question, suggest, and explore rather than create, capture, or explain, Pseudo-Dionysius’ work will be the apophatic trigger that allows a transdisciplinary approach to creating media that speaks from silence not just as a sensory explainer of his assumptions but as a procedural act of apophasis itself. For a theologian and a multi-modal designer to come together and “speak” through differing images, linguistic frameworks, and research methodologies to undertake such an exploration is a microcosm of the apophatic approach in its essence and pairs with the goals of the editorial team’s project well.

To facilitate the goals of this project, the Practice-led Iconic Research Models outlined by Michael Renner and Arno Schubbach will provide parameters for functional praxis associated apophatic thought as related to image making and understanding. In analysis reminiscent of Pseudo-Dionysus himself, Renner shares that “the role of images is to provide evidence perceived by the visual sense. We can say that a method of practice-led iconic research goes beyond language-based hermeneutics and provides an approach, in which the relationship of the sensuous and the conceptual – the ‘supersensuous’ – is in balance.” (Renner 2018). This oscillation between disciplines, between certainty and unknowing, between signifier and signified is both an outline for the process and an open call to explore beyond its parameters.

Daniel (Dan) Martin is a graphic designer and assistant professor who teaches web design, typography, and design foundations at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. His research interests include graphic design and design education, typography, interactive design, editorial design, and digital humanities. Dan graduated with an MFA in Design from the University of Minnesota in 2020. Prior to entering academia, Dan worked for the University of Chicago Press for roughly ten years, producing journals in a wide variety of disciplines including astrophysics, history, law, religion, semiotics, and many others. This past career in publishing greatly informs his work in art and design to this day; he maintains an evolving practice and has exhibited his work across the nation. His design clients range from local to international and include the International Society for Music Education and the United States Soccer Federation, as well as local social justice and art-oriented non-profit organizations. Dan lives with his wife and dog in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Dr. Marty Tomszak is currently a Lecturer of Religious Studies at Valparaiso University where he teaches courses in religious studies, theology, and liberationist ethics. He was also recently the recipient of a Visiting Researcher Grant at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven which served as a springboard for his most recent monograph Time, Silence, and Yeast: A Song of Appreciation for Trappist Communities and Their Beer (Cascade Books).

Marty completed his PhD at Loyola University of Chicago in the Integrative Studies in Ethics and Theology program with a concentration in systematic theology. His first monograph, Political Theology Based in Community: Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker Movement, and Overcoming Otherness, focused on the potential practical implications the radical Catholic lay apostolate of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin might have on the realm of post-structuralist political theology and their impact on the institutional Church in the twenty-first century.

The intersection between theology, continental philosophy, and radical community not only influence his research interests but shape the way in which he intertwines theory and praxis in his day-to-day life as he serves as director of the Fire for Food Drive, an initiative aimed at overcoming food insecurity in Chicago in Partnership with the Chicago Fire Soccer Club; engages with Chicagoland’s Catholic Worker communities via experiential learning models in his courses; is active in Mutual Aid initiatives on Chicago’s North Side; and can occasionally be found serving behind the bar at Off Color Brewing.