Images in (Con)Text. Intermedial and Intersemiotic Paradigms of Representation in the Old Media

<p>The rise and constant development of new media have made us more aware of the overwhelming presence of images. This is a striking characteristic of the era that W. J. T. Mitchell referred to as the Pictorial Turn and Gottfried Boehme as Ikonische Wende. Yet the questions of meaning creation and interpretation across media, modalities, and sign systems have not been fully studied and explained in the domain of the old media. The theorisation of mixed media has contributed to reviving scholarly debates on the image-word relation, demonstrating the ideologically loaded discourses that underlie conceptual oppositions such as nature/convention, space/time, iconic/symbolic, epistemic/rhetoric. In light of theoretical reflections on visuality proposed by scholars across different disciplines, this study sets out to frame intermediality and multimodality within the word-image paradigms. In doing so, it seeks to demonstrate that a ‘dialectic of the dialogic reason’, as intermedial and multimodal frameworks entail, is more useful for critical analysis than a dialectic of stark oppositions. Indeed, an either/or logic underlies the age-old word-image paragone itself: the very rhetoric, in other words, of the epistemic turns (such as the Pictorial Turn), and the ontological monism that governs Western traditions. In particular, this study examines the word-image relation from four different perspectives: 1) as a dialectics built on hegemonic discourses and specific regimes of representation. 2) as situated between media and semiotic modalities in the old media and thus as essentially intermedial and multimodal; 3) as a translation process; 4) as a semiotic relation that requires complementary notions – such as Bakhtin’s dialogue, the hyphos, the rhizome – to be appreciated in full; These perspectives intertwine and complement each other, illuminating the complexity of the ways in which words and images interact: an interaction that cannot be reduced to total correspondence (ut pictura poësis) or total disagreement (paragone). Methodologically, this argument is developed in three stages. First, I analyse intermediality and multimodality from the perspective of media studies, using the semiotic theories of Charles S. Peirce and others. Second, I demonstrate that intermedial and multimodal creation is in its essence a logically abductive process, as formulated by Peirce. This process illustrates how intermedial and multimodal creation are fundamentally rhizomatic, to revisit Deleuze and Guattari’s definition. Third, I examine the intersemiotic recoding from one sign system to another as an act of translation. Since the dialectic unfolding in any act of translation is fundamentally dialogic and open to alterity, it follows that intermediality and multimodality play a pivotal role in disrupting the parameters of ontological monism that scholars have traditionally used to evaluate the word-image relation. Finally, this study provides a deeper as well as a wider insight into word-image debates by proposing additional conceptual frameworks for and definitions of multimodality, intermediality and mediality of culture. Indeed, the interconnectedness of all semiospheres – as particularly emphasised by the notion of mediality of culture – means that the image-word relation must be examined both within and outside the traditional literary field of analysis. In view of this, I have integrated definitions from literary criticism, Visual Culture Studies, media theory, theological and postmodern semiotics, art history and aesthetic theory. The three exempla examined illustrate the problem of ontological monism in the word-image relation, advocating for a dialogic approach to the essentially rhizomatic processes of intermedial and multimodal translation. In Chapter 1, I introduce the paragone between the visual and the verbal as interpreted in postmodern literary works, which allow me to articulate the slow transition from the Linguistic Turn to the Pictorial Turn. Antonio Tabucchi’s Il gioco del rovescio and Daniele Del Giudice’s Nel museo di Reims are quintessential examples of the ambiguous translation of the visual into the verbal, which underlies the epistemology dismantling the ut pictura poësis model of representation. The irreducibility of the word-image relation to paradigms of correspondence and the distance between source and target text do not compromise the possibility of dialogue and translation: mimetic translation is still achievable. In Chapter 2, I focus on how the poetics of representation of Antonio Tabucchi and Fra Angelico interact and intersect in the creative meaning making space I refer to as ‘intermedial difference’. In Chapter 3, I develop the notion of intermedial difference further through the study of the artist as a double (or multi-) talent, and the peculiar convergence of genres in the form of the ex voto. The intermedial encounter between the eclectic and innovative Dino Buzzati and the avant-gardist Yves Klein illuminates two aspects. First, the role of abductive creation; second, the need for a dialogic approach that includes elements of Otherness. In turn, these analyses warrant the reassessment of interpretive categories dominated by the logic of ontological monism and the paradigm of identity in representation. In conclusion, this study of intermediality and multimodality in the old media contributes to shedding light on the word-image relation from an epistemological perspective. More specifically, it widens and deeps the ways in which the dialectic of alterity versus identity can be understood and interpreted within word-image paradigms. Moreover, this interdisciplinary research radically reframes the role of intermedial and multimodal creation as catalyst for the introduction of elements of otherness – which are not only indispensable to open up new ways of meaning creation but also, and above all, to continuously (and creatively) unsettle monist and purist epistemologies – and offers a new, integrated methodological framework to accommodate and celebrate the hybridity of all cultural formations.</p>

Images in (Con)Text. Intermedial and Intersemiotic Paradigms of Representation in the Old Media

<p>The rise and constant development of new media have made us more aware of the overwhelming presence of images. This is a striking characteristic of the era that W. J. T. Mitchell referred to as the Pictorial Turn and Gottfried Boehme as Ikonische Wende. Yet the questions of meaning creation and interpretation across media, modalities, and sign systems have not been fully studied and explained in the domain of the old media. The theorisation of mixed media has contributed to reviving scholarly debates on the image-word relation, demonstrating the ideologically loaded discourses that underlie conceptual oppositions such as nature/convention, space/time, iconic/symbolic, epistemic/rhetoric. In light of theoretical reflections on visuality proposed by scholars across different disciplines, this study sets out to frame intermediality and multimodality within the word-image paradigms. In doing so, it seeks to demonstrate that a ‘dialectic of the dialogic reason’, as intermedial and multimodal frameworks entail, is more useful for critical analysis than a dialectic of stark oppositions. Indeed, an either/or logic underlies the age-old word-image paragone itself: the very rhetoric, in other words, of the epistemic turns (such as the Pictorial Turn), and the ontological monism that governs Western traditions. In particular, this study examines the word-image relation from four different perspectives: 1) as a dialectics built on hegemonic discourses and specific regimes of representation. 2) as situated between media and semiotic modalities in the old media and thus as essentially intermedial and multimodal; 3) as a translation process; 4) as a semiotic relation that requires complementary notions – such as Bakhtin’s dialogue, the hyphos, the rhizome – to be appreciated in full; These perspectives intertwine and complement each other, illuminating the complexity of the ways in which words and images interact: an interaction that cannot be reduced to total correspondence (ut pictura poësis) or total disagreement (paragone). Methodologically, this argument is developed in three stages. First, I analyse intermediality and multimodality from the perspective of media studies, using the semiotic theories of Charles S. Peirce and others. Second, I demonstrate that intermedial and multimodal creation is in its essence a logically abductive process, as formulated by Peirce. This process illustrates how intermedial and multimodal creation are fundamentally rhizomatic, to revisit Deleuze and Guattari’s definition. Third, I examine the intersemiotic recoding from one sign system to another as an act of translation. Since the dialectic unfolding in any act of translation is fundamentally dialogic and open to alterity, it follows that intermediality and multimodality play a pivotal role in disrupting the parameters of ontological monism that scholars have traditionally used to evaluate the word-image relation. Finally, this study provides a deeper as well as a wider insight into word-image debates by proposing additional conceptual frameworks for and definitions of multimodality, intermediality and mediality of culture. Indeed, the interconnectedness of all semiospheres – as particularly emphasised by the notion of mediality of culture – means that the image-word relation must be examined both within and outside the traditional literary field of analysis. In view of this, I have integrated definitions from literary criticism, Visual Culture Studies, media theory, theological and postmodern semiotics, art history and aesthetic theory. The three exempla examined illustrate the problem of ontological monism in the word-image relation, advocating for a dialogic approach to the essentially rhizomatic processes of intermedial and multimodal translation. In Chapter 1, I introduce the paragone between the visual and the verbal as interpreted in postmodern literary works, which allow me to articulate the slow transition from the Linguistic Turn to the Pictorial Turn. Antonio Tabucchi’s Il gioco del rovescio and Daniele Del Giudice’s Nel museo di Reims are quintessential examples of the ambiguous translation of the visual into the verbal, which underlies the epistemology dismantling the ut pictura poësis model of representation. The irreducibility of the word-image relation to paradigms of correspondence and the distance between source and target text do not compromise the possibility of dialogue and translation: mimetic translation is still achievable. In Chapter 2, I focus on how the poetics of representation of Antonio Tabucchi and Fra Angelico interact and intersect in the creative meaning making space I refer to as ‘intermedial difference’. In Chapter 3, I develop the notion of intermedial difference further through the study of the artist as a double (or multi-) talent, and the peculiar convergence of genres in the form of the ex voto. The intermedial encounter between the eclectic and innovative Dino Buzzati and the avant-gardist Yves Klein illuminates two aspects. First, the role of abductive creation; second, the need for a dialogic approach that includes elements of Otherness. In turn, these analyses warrant the reassessment of interpretive categories dominated by the logic of ontological monism and the paradigm of identity in representation. In conclusion, this study of intermediality and multimodality in the old media contributes to shedding light on the word-image relation from an epistemological perspective. More specifically, it widens and deeps the ways in which the dialectic of alterity versus identity can be understood and interpreted within word-image paradigms. Moreover, this interdisciplinary research radically reframes the role of intermedial and multimodal creation as catalyst for the introduction of elements of otherness – which are not only indispensable to open up new ways of meaning creation but also, and above all, to continuously (and creatively) unsettle monist and purist epistemologies – and offers a new, integrated methodological framework to accommodate and celebrate the hybridity of all cultural formations.</p>

Los actos performativos y la construcción de los acontecimientos en la performance

El objetivo de este artículo es vincular teorías filosóficas sobre “los enunciados performativos” a las obras de arte Leap into the Void de Yves Klein y Action Pants: Genital Panic de VALIE EXPORT, para analizar formas divergentes en que son accionados los acontecimientos en la performance. De acuerdo con las teorías sobre los enunciados performativos propuestas por John Austin y Jacques Derrida, es posible establecer el poder que tiene el artista para definir lo real por medio de sus discursos visuales y dialécticos, cuando la acción se estructura a partir de una documentación previamente construida, que consigue ser real y legítima ante la institución del arte. Tal y como se evidencia en las obras de Klein y EXPORT a través del difuso tránsito de una performance simulada y una performance realizada en un “agora”.

Patrones de interferencia. Experimentos ópticos y táctiles de inmersión espacial, de la psicogeografía a los hologramas

El ímpetu de este proyecto es obtener una perspectiva histórica de algunas teorías filosóficas conflictivas sobre la percepción y representación del espacio, y rastrear un método démodé de representación, que ha permanecido en uso en algunos contextos. La investigación se centra en la tensión entre dos experiencias sensoriales: la táctil y la óptica. Es un entretejido de narrativas críticas para examinar los modos de percibir el espacio en el contexto de unas prácticas artísticas y arquitectónicas. Partiendo del entendimiento más óptico del espacio y materializado en algunos ejemplos como el «Proun Room» de El Lissitzky, «The Void» de Yves Klein y la visualidad tectónica de Lebbeus Woods como punto de partida; este artículo se centra en las teorías de percepción espacial más táctil de los ‘Situacionistas’ y ‘Surrealistas’, con sus técnicas de mapeo dérivé, su historia/memoria mediada del espacio urbano y su enfoque del capitalismo y los sistemas de control. Todo ello se interpreta por último a través de la lente de la práctica óptica de la holografía, y su éxito (y fracaso) como herramienta y formato de representación.

Expresiones artísticas ineludibles ante un confinamiento

El cuerpo ha sido un referente artístico, el pilar central de muchas creaciones. El ser humano es un hibrido de lo corporal y lo espiritual. No hay cuerpo sin mente ni mente sin cuerpo. Cada artista plasma en sus obras una intencionalidad, transmite un concepto, una idea, una propuesta, refleja un malestar, una carencia o vuelca en las mismas su “yo” reflexivo y filosófico. Artistas como Yves Klein, trabajaron el cuerpo como herramienta pictórica, “Pinceles vivos”. Spencer Tunick combina la belleza corporal de las masas con los espacios públicos, jugando con lo corpóreo de la instalación y la mente del espectador.Marina Abramović, experimenta con su propio cuerpo y estudia la reacción del público.De igual Forma Helena Almeida, partiendo de su propio cuerpo trabaja con la fotografía y la pintura expandida, convirtiéndose en pionera del uso del propio cuerpo en las creaciones artísticas y en un referente para el feminismo internacional. Por otra parte, encontramos artistas que centran sus obras en la psique, como el Neoplasticismo de Mondrian, cuyo arte estuvo relacionado íntimamente con sus conocimientos y estudios filosóficos y espirituales. O el expresionismo alemán, movimiento heterogéneo que buscaban reflejar la visión interna del artista, La abstracción americana con la figura de Pollock y Rothko con su riqueza de color con límites indefinidos. Querían representar las más básicas emociones universales. O el Nuevo expresionismo de Jorge Rando, centrado en el concepto, en la Espiritualidad y el Humanismo. Todos centrados en el ser humando, tratando el cuerpo desde un punto de vista concreto. Manifestandoesa inquietud que el artista o la artista expresa en su obra lanzando continuas preguntas al espectador Hoy día estamos atravesando un hecho social desconocido, una pandemia que nos ha obligado a realizar determinadas acciones en contra de nuestra voluntad. Hemos estado confinados¿Cuál habrá sido la reacción ante esa privacidad de sentimientos, de contactos de vivencias, de libertad? ¿Cuál habrá sido la percepción del artista ante las informaciones recibidas, ante la desescalada…? Cómo ha actuado nuestros cuerpos, nuestra psique Desde un punto de vista artístico, debemos analizar cómo hemos reaccionado los artistas y las artistas ante las circunstancias vividas por dicha pandemia. Si ha servido como foco de creación o como foco de inhibición. El tiempo ganado no sustituye la fluidez mental necesaria para crear. La incertidumbre vivida, influye en lo físico y en lo psíquico. Las redes sociales se han convertido en las transmisoras sociales y por consiguiente en transmisoras artísticas. Se ha creado lo que se visualizaba desde las ventanas, se ha cantado y mostrado el arte desde los balcones. se ha abierto aún más a la difusión en redes; mostrándose desde sus propias casas, realizando grabaciones, conciertos, exposiciones ceñidas a un enlace. Como artistas, somos seres libres que necesitamos nuestro espacio, percibimos todas aquellas sensaciones inocuas al ojo y nos desencadenan impulsos para transmitirlas. Nos preguntamos si tales circunstancias afectarán al artista y por ende al arte y si cambiará el concepto o el proceso artístico. EXPRESIONES ARTÍSTICAS INELUDIBLES ANTE UN CONFINAMIENTO

Merda de artista para além da iconoclastia

O presente artigo propõe um aprofundamento da crítica de Merda de artista (1961), de Piero Manzoni. Com o intuito de nos afastarmos da hipertrofia do aspecto iconoclasta atribuído à obra por parcelas substanciais da crítica, contextualizamos a edição a partir de sua relação com outras obras do artista e com a poética de importantes intercessores, notadamente, Yves Klein e Marcel Duchamp. Questões relacionadas às articulações entre experiência estética e economia política e à clivagem entre a obra de Manzoni e o informalismo foram mobilizadas na construção de um solo a partir do qual as teses de Germano Celant sobre o artista pudessem ser tensionadas e os fundamentos culturais que perpassam a recepção de Merda de artista pudessem ser vislumbrados.