Speculative Art Histories

Following the recent ‘speculative turn’ in Continental philosophy, the aim of this volume is to propose a ‘counter-discourse’ of speculative approaches to art history. How could today’s materialist, realist, pragmatist, vitalist or object-oriented speculations offer alternatives to the mere complementarity of philosophy of art and art history, often based on mutual recognition and critical limitation rather than imaginative crossovers? What new intermedial methodologies for art and art historical writing do they provide? Or vice versa, how can the encounter with art induce new forms of philosophy? How do speculative concepts of time, past and contingency challenge typically modern engagements with art’s ‘history’? Is there, for example, an unexpected contemporary relevance for pre-modern, e.g. or mannerist or gothic ideas of art? Is it possible for art history to experience a work of art in its novelty beyond its historical facticity? And what is the speculative potential of works of art themselves? Does the speculative open up new ways of extending art into fields of biology, mathematics or the digital? What is the ‘thing’ or ‘object’ of art, whether inanimate or animate? What does it mean to have an ‘idea’? And finally, what remains of ‘beauty’ and ‘expressivity’, after decades of critical mistrust and embarrassed deconstruction?

Author(s):  
Dana Arnold

‘What is art history?’ discusses the term art history and draws distinctions between it and art appreciation and art criticism. It also considers the range of artefacts included in the discipline and how these have changed over time. The work of art is our primary evidence, and it is our interaction between this evidence and methods of enquiry that forms art history. Art appreciation and criticism are also linked to connoisseurship. Although art is a visual subject, we learn about it through reading and we convey our ideas about it mostly in writing. The social and cultural issues articulated by art history are examined through an analysis of four very different works of art.


2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Б. Хасен ◽  
Ә. Даниял

Аңдатпа. Мақалада метафора және метонимия ұғымдары енгізілген, сонымен қатар әдебиеттанушы ғалымдардың зерттеуіне жан-жақты талдау жасалынған, біз оқуды жеңілдету үшін Ахмет Байтұрсыновтың нұсқаларын қолдану дұрыс болады деген ойды зерттеу арқылы жеткізгіміз келеді. Ұлттық әдебиеттану ғылымы қазір қолданып жүрген негізгі терминдер мен категориялар, сондай-ақ, ұғымдардың қазақша өте дәл, ықшам, оңтайлы баламаларының басым көпшілігі тұңғыш рет осы зерттеуде жасалғанын ашып айтатын уақыт жетті. Бұл ретте, Ахмет Байтұрсынов - тіл терминдерін жасауда қандай кемеңгер, данышпан болса, әдебиеттану, өнертану, фольклортану терминдерін жасауда да сондай кемеңгер, данышпан. Бастысы, ол ұсынған термин мәселесінде бірде бір грек, латын не болмаса орыс сөзін қолданбайды. Барлығын қазақы дүниетанымнан, әрбір сөздің өз түбірінен, өз төркінен алып, соны термин етіп түсіндіреді. Бұл да оқушының өзіндік туа бітті жаратылысына лайық, ақылына қонымды тәсіл. Осы тұрғыда «Әдебиет танытқыш» – әдебиетті танытудың шынайы тәсілдерін қолданған. Сондықтан оқырман жүрегінің төрінен орын алып отыр. Кез келген көркем шығарма жаратылыстың сырлы сыпаттарын көркем тілмен баян етеді. Біз әдебиетті тануда, талдауда көркем туындылардан сол сырлы сыпаттарды іздейміз. Ал материалдан тыс теориялар мен анықтамалар ойлап тауып, соларды материалға теліп талдау – барып тұрған сауатсыздық. Өкініштісі, біздің мектептерде сол сауатсыздық салтанат құрып тұр. Әсіресе, әдебиетті оқытуда. Мақалда осы артықшылықтар талдап көрсетілген. Түйін сөздер: метонимия, метафора.   *** Аннотация. В статье вводятся понятия метафоры и метонимии, а также, проведен всесторонний анализ на исследование литературоведов, путем исследования хотим доносить мысль, что будет правильно использовать варианты Ахмета Байтурсунова для легкости обучения. Настало время раскрыть, что основные термины и категории, используемые в отечественной науке литературоведения, а также подавляющее большинство очень точных, кратких, оптимальных альтернатив казахским понятиям были впервые разработаны в этом исследовании. В то же время Ахмет Байтурсынов столь же гениален и гениален в разработке языковых терминов, как и в создании терминов литературной критики, искусствоведения, фольклора. Главное, что он не использует греческие, латинские или русские слова в предложенном термине. Он берет все из казахского мировоззрения, каждое слово из своего корня, своего собственного значения и интерпретирует его как термин. Это тоже разумный подход, достойный врожденного характера студента. В связи с этим «Әдебиет танытқыш» - использовались реальные методы подачи литературы. Вот почему это в сердце читателя. Любое произведение искусства выражает таинственные свойства природы в художественном языке. При распознавании и анализе литературы мы ищем эти таинственные качества в произведениях искусства. И изобретать теории и определения вне материала и анализировать их в материале - постоянная неграмотность. К сожалению, эта неграмотность широко распространена в наших школах. Особенно в изучении литературы. В статье анализируются эти преимущества. Ключевые слова: метонимия, метафора.   *** Abstract. The article introduces the concepts of metaphor and metonymy, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the study of literary critics, through research we want to convey the idea that it will be correct to use the options of Akhmet Baitursunov for ease of learning. It is time to discover that the basic terms and categories used in the domestic science of literary criticism, as well as the vast majority of very accurate, concise, optimal alternatives to Kazakh concepts, were first developed in this study. At the same time, Akhmet Baitursynov is just as brilliant and brilliant in developing language terms as in creating terms of literary criticism, art history, and folklore. The main thing is that he does not use Greek, Latin or Russian words in the proposed term. He takes everything from the Kazakh worldview, each word from its root, its own meaning and interprets it as a term. This is also a reasonable approach, worthy of the inborn character of the student. In this regard, “ Әдебиет танытқыш ” - real methods of presenting literature were used. That is why it is in the heart of the reader. Any work of art expresses the mysterious properties of nature in an artistic language. In the recognition and analysis of literature, we look for these mysterious qualities in works of art. And to invent theories and definitions outside the material and analyze them in the material is constant illiteracy. Unfortunately, this illiteracy is widespread in our schools. Especially in the study of literature. The article analyzes these benefits. Keywords: metonymy, metaphor.


Art History ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colum Hourihane

Iconography is the description, classification, and interpretation of the subject matter of a work of art. Derived from the Greek words eikon, meaning image or icon, and graphia, meaning description, writing, or sketch, the word iconography is one of the least understood, most abused, and most flexible terms in the English language. Since iconography concerns itself with the subject matter and meaning of images in a very wide sense, it is nearly impossible to define its boundaries, and the term is now used to refer to areas outside of art history. This article deals exclusively with the Western world and does not refer to recent initiatives in the field in areas such as Asian, Buddhist, Chinese, or Native American iconography. Even though the term iconology was first referred to in the late medieval period and was brought into currency by scholars such as Aby Warburg and Erwin Panofsky at the start of the 20th century, it is usually seen as a separate area of research and will not be discussed here in detail. Recent work in the field of iconology has been significantly based on an anthropological approach to the work of art and has been spearheaded by such scholars as Hans Belting, Horst Bredekamp, Jean-Claude Schmitt, and others. The boundaries between iconography and iconology have become less clear over the centuries, and it is now frequently impossible to say where one begins and the other ends. In its truest meaning, iconology is the study of the work of art in its broadest context. Iconographical studies have now been applied to material that was previously considered outside of its remit. Instead of looking at traditional subjects such as animals or kingship it has now been applied to concepts such as light, sound, or narrative. This has been brought about because of the more holistic approach applied to studying works of art and our need to encompass elements outside of the work itself that also interact with it. As an intellectual activity, iconography starts with describing or reading an image, finding words that describe the content of that image, documenting what is seen, and trying to understand it. The verbal means we use to describe the visual range, from elaborate, evocative descriptions to short succinct words or codes; and many such standards exist. In the second half of the 19th century, photography began to reproduce works of art in quantity, and this impacted significantly on the development of art history and iconography as academic disciplines. The need to organize image collections into accessible and manageable subdivisions led to the creation of formalized and structured iconographic standards. One of the pioneering centers for the study of iconography is the Index of Medieval Art at Princeton University, which was founded in 1917 and still continues to support and direct research in the field as it has done for close to a century. From the 1940s onward, inspired by the Index and by library systems such as Dewey’s Decimal Classification, Henri van de Waal created the Iconclass system for the classification of iconographic subject matter, now a de facto standard used in many countries. Nowadays, the huge number of digital images has reinforced the need to use some form of subject access. Pattern recognition and automatic image annotation are only two of the directions in which researchers are working. The author would like to acknowledge Hans Brandhorst for his contribution to the article as well as colleagues in the Index of Medieval Art.


Paragraph ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-358
Author(s):  
Brigid Doherty

This article analyses a footnote to the third version of the ‘Work of Art’ essay in which Walter Benjamin presents an account of ‘a certain oscillation’ between ‘cult value’ and ‘exhibition value’ as typical of the reception of all works of art. Benjamin's example in that footnote is the Sistine Madonna (1512–13), a painting by Raphael in the Dresden Gemäldegalerie that has played an important part in German aesthetics since Winckelmann. Benjamin's footnote on the Sistine Madonna, along with his critique of Hegel's aesthetics in that context, demand to be understood in relation to his remarks on Dada elsewhere in the artwork essay, and to his claim that technological reproducibility leads to the ‘actualization’ of the original reproduced. In that connection, the article concludes with an analysis of Kurt Schwitters's 1921 montage picture Knave Child Madonna with Horse.


Author(s):  
James O. Young

A long-standing debate in philosophy of art concerns the question of whether art is a source of knowledge. The debate can be traced back to Plato 1941 and Aristotle 1987 (cited under Historical Contributions). Some philosophers have maintained that artworks are valuable solely as a source of pleasure or pleasing emotions. These philosophers include formalists, who believe that audience members value the experience of artistic form as a source of intellectual pleasure or aesthetic emotion. Other philosophers have maintained that works of art have content, and that audience members can acquire knowledge by experiencing (viewing, hearing, or reading) these works. Philosophers who believe that a work of art can be a source of knowledge differ about the ways in which art makes knowledge possible. In this article, those who defend the view that art is a source of knowledge will be called cognitivists. Those who maintain that art is not a source of knowledge, or not a significant source of knowledge, will be called anticognitivists.


2018 ◽  
pp. 17-37
Author(s):  
Rozalia Słodczyk

The article focuses on the issue of describing a work of art in an essay. The paper presents ekphrasis and underlines the efficiency of an inter-artistic analysis in studying the phenomenon of ekphrasis. An interpretation offragments of Zagajewski’s and Pollakówna’s essays starts with presenting two works of art, The Music Lesson and Girl Interrupted at Her Music by Vermeer, from the perspective of art history. It is followed by a discussion of the verbal accounts of the paintings by Zagajewski and Pollakówna. Their contents and poetics are examined with special emphasis placed on the nature of the suggested description as it may focus on either the subject or the viewer, the representation itself or its connotations. Accordingly, it is suggested that the corresponding modes of ekphrasis should be labelled ‘denotational’ and ‘connotational’. In his description, Zagajewski resorts to an example of connotational ekphrasis whereas Pollakówna’s textual relation is a fine example of mixing the denotational and connotational facets of ekphrasis. The article presents specifi realizations of ekphrasis and the characteristic modes of perceiving works of art and describing them. It also shows how the observer’s subjective perspective and idiomatic style of expression manifest themselves.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Juhan Maiste

In this article, the author focuses on the work called Laocoön, which was one of the most popular subjects for 18th century art writers. The first description of the work was provided by Pliny the Elder who, in the 36th volume of his Naturalis historia, calls it the best work of the art in the world – be it painting or sculpture. Pliny identifies three artists from Rhodes – Hagesandros, Polydoros and Athenedorus – as the authors of the Laocoön Group. After the sculpture was found in the vicinity of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Laocoön has repeatedly aroused the interest of art historians. Johann Joachim Winckelmann raised the sculptural group into focus during the Age of Enlightenment. And his positions, and sometimes opposition to them, form the basis of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s, Johann Gottfried Herder’s and Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s writings on the Laocoön. I am sure that their thoughts deserve also attention today, when we speak about the fundamental change in philosophy, philology, and partially also in art history. In seeking an answer to Lessing’s question, “Why does Laocoön not cry in marble but in poetry?” Can art speak? And if it can, how? The first stage of the article explores the contradictory nature of word and picture, in which regard both Lessing and Herder preferred the former. The second question that arises in the article is: What are the framework and boundaries of art writing as a method of art history for ascertaining and describing the internal nature of a work of art? And further, do words enable one to arrive at the deeper layers of a work and the reason for the act of creation? And if so, to what extent? The third and most important issue examined in the article is the two possible approaches to a work of art, and visual images more generally – the analytical and phenomenological. By relying on history, and the broadly accepted methods of the narrative, sociological, biographical, and other sciences contingent on it, the epistemological nature of art has remained outside the conceivable limits of scientific language. And as such, it has reduced the possibility of understanding pictures and finding them a place in today’s scale of assessments; of speaking not only about the external and measurable parameters, but also about works of art as unique phenomena, in which an invisible and metaphysical content exists in addition to that which is inherent to the visible and the describable. Just as much as our rudiments of rationality and logical analysis help us to understand works of art, their impact relies on a subjective readiness to receive artistic experiences, which according to Goethe, transform the Laocoön into something affectively animated in the torchlight. Art is usually revealed by in-depth sources via the contemplative reflection that follows sensory experiences. Since Longinus’s time, this has been described as sublimity, and it garnered supporters in the form of the Neo-Platonic authors of the Renaissance, whose role in 18th century aesthetics is just as significant as the art history tradition based on classical archaeological research. In the writings of Winckelmann, and those who followed him, the two poles of this approach to art are tightly merged. The author’s goal is to draw attention to ways of understanding and writing about art, besides the descriptive methods and those related to history; to those that focus on the processes related to the gnoseological side and to subconscious creation, and provide a place for words and their power to create ever newer and more expressive metaphors. One possibility for translating visual images into verbal form is to adopt the breadth of poetry and its language, which truthfully, being just as ambiguous and inexplicable as art, enables us to make the indescribable describable; via a work of art as the initial idea, and the work that informs us of this idea as a series of formed images that can be assessed as pictures that describe the spiritual image (or eidolon in Greek).


Author(s):  
Dira Herawati

Accountability report is a written description of creative experiences as an artist or a photographer of aesthetic exploration efforts on the image and the idea of a human as a basic stimulant for the creation of works of art photography. Human foot as an aesthetic object is a problem that relates to various phenomena that occur in the social sphere, culture and politics in Indonesia today. Based on these linkages, human feet would be formulated as an image that has a value, and the impression of eating alone in the creation of a work of art photography. Hence the creation of this art photography entitled The Human Foots as Aesthetic Object  Creation of Art Photography. Starting from this background, then the legs as an option object art photography, will be managed creatively and systematically through a phases of creation. The creation phases consist of: (1) the exploration of discourse, (2) artistic exploration, (3) the stage of elaboration photographic, (4) the synthesis phase, and (5) the stage of completion. Methodically, through the phases of the creative process  through which this can then be formulated in various forms of artistic image of a human foot. The various forms of artistic images generated from the foots of its creation process, can be summed up as an object of aesthetic order 160 Kaki Manusia Sebagai Objek Estetik Penciptaan Fotografi Seni in the photographic works of art. It is specifically characterized by the formation of ‘imaging the other’ behind the image seen with legs visible, as well as of the various forms of ‘new image’ as a result of an artistic exploration of the common image of legs visible. In general, the whole image of the foot in a photographic work of art has a reflective relationship with the social situation, cultures, and politics that developed in Indonesian society, by value, meaning and impression that it contains.Keywords: human foots, aestheti,; social phenomena, art photography, images


We often assume that works of visual art are meant to be seen. Yet that assumption may be a modern prejudice. The ancient world - from China to Greece, Rome to Mexico - provides many examples of statues, paintings, and other images that were not intended to be visible. Instead of being displayed, they were hidden, buried, or otherwise obscured. In this third volume in the Visual Conversations in Art & Archaeology series, leading scholars working at the intersection of archaeology and the history of art address the fundamental question of art's visibility. What conditions must be met, what has to be in place, for a work of art to be seen at all? The answer is both historical and methodological; it concerns ancient societies and modern disciplines, and encompasses material circumstances, perceptual capacities, technologies of visualization, protocols of classification, and a great deal more. The emerging field of archaeological art history is uniquely suited to address such questions. Intrinsically comparative, this approach cuts across traditional ethnic, religious, and chronological categories to confront the academic present with the historical past. The goal is to produce a new art history that is at once cosmopolitan in method and global in scope, and in doing so establish new ways of seeing - new conditions of visibility - for shared objects of study.


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