Andrew Sandberg's Fine Art

I produced a video essay on John Keats' poem When I have fears that I may cease to be . I discuss the poem's theme, Keats' poetic means and the characteristics that make this a Romantic poem.

"Design-theme" is a concept originated by Tore Boeckmann, and which he derived from the concept "plot-theme," an aspect of literature first identified by Ayn Rand, and which she defined as: The link between the theme and the events of a novel. . . It is the first step of the translation of an abstract theme into a story, without which the construction of a plot would be impossible. A “plot-theme” is the central conflict or “situation” of a story—a conflict in terms of action, corresponding to the theme and complex enough to create a purposeful progression of events. 1 Similarly, a design-theme is the link between the abstract meaning of a painting and the arrangement of the composition. In his essay, "Caspar David Friedrich and Visual Romanticism," Mr. Boeckmann defines it as: " a unity of representational content and design means that isolates thematic meaning and that can be structurally expanded. " 2  In other words, it is the central...