Abstract
It is well known that Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) placed the concept of “play
(Spiel)” at the center of his art theory. The main concept in his art theory, however,
has changed from “play” to “execution (Vollzug)” since the 1990s. This paper examined
this change as a shift and clarified its significance by comparing “Truth and Method”
(1960) and “Word and Image: as True as Being” (1992). In “Truth and Method”, concepts
of art such as structure (Gebilde), simultaneity, and mimesis are all developed on the
basis of “play”. In “Word and Image,” on the other hand, structure and simultaneity
are reconsidered on the basis of execution derived from energeia. The simultaneity is
redefined as a way of dialogically “tarrying (Verweilen),” and the structure is subsumed
into the concept of execution as a self-formation of meaning. It means that in the
experience of art execution is an interpretation that proceeds together in an agreed
upon dialogic event between artwork and spectator called tarrying. The change in the
main concept from “play” to “execution” is not based on a shift in the basic idea, but
is the result of the reorganization of “play” into the more comprehensive concept of
“execution”.
