Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice A Conversation on Framing and Reframing

Abstract

In this conversation, Mieke Bal retraces the perimeter of her analytically based art practice and her practice-based theoretical work, taking advantage of the operational concept of frame but also of the many actions it generates – such as framing, unframing, de-framing, and re-framing. She considers the act of framing, understood as a first gesture of interpretation, much more useful than the noun itself for our understanding of the effects and meanings of art. Framing as an action can also potentially subvert the traditional, linear, and chronological views of time, bringing into question unilateral thinking. From this perspective, re-framing does not mean doing something again but doing something different – that is, something new – while unframing, instead of a refusal of the act of framing, is to put chaos into an artwork.