Artistic Tasks Research Articles

Directing the Photography: Combining Cinematic Rules, Indirect Light Controls and Lighting‐by‐Example

The placement of lights in a 3D scene is a technical and artistic task that requires time and trained skills. Most 3D modelling tools only provide a direct control of light sources, through the manipulation of parameters such as size, location, flux (the perceived power of light) or opening angle (the light frustum). Approaches have been relying on automated or semi-automated techniques to relieve users from such low-level manipulations at the expense of an important computational cost. In this paper, guided by discussions with experts in scene and object lighting, we propose an indirect control of area light sources. We first formalize the classical 3-point lighting design principle (key-light, fill-lights and back/rim-lights) in a parametric model. Given a key-light placed in the scene, we then provide a computational approach to (i) automatically compute the position and size of fill-lights and back/rim-lights by analyzing the geometry of 3D character, and (ii) automatically compute the flux and size of key, fill and back/rim lights, given a sample reference image in a computationally efficient way. Results demonstrate the benefits of the approach on the quick lighting of 3D characters, and further demonstrate the feasibility of interactive control of multiple lights through image features.

The system formation of professional accordionist’s skills on the example of V. Vlasov «Album for children and youth»

The system formation of professional accordionist’s skills on the example of V. Vlasov «Album for children and youth»

”The image” of the violin in the creative work of A. Corelli (on the example of the concerto grosso genre)

Statement of the problem. The violin style of A. Corelli, a composer-violinist who laid the foundation for the development of the violin art in Europe, represents a special “image of the instrument” that entered the professional-academic arena during the Baroque era. The research of A. Corelli’s violin style belongs to the field of organology, which is dedicated to the integrated study of instruments as the “organs” of musicians’ thinking. The close relationship, connection of the individual who is playing music with his/her instrument is not only one of the little developed theoretical problems, but also the basis of the practice for performing music, as well as learning this art. Analysis of recent publications on the topic. The available sources on the creative work of A. Corelli (written by K. Kuznetsov, I. Yampolsky, L. Ginzburg, N. Harnoncourt) contain either general information or individual observations on the image of the violin in the Baroque era. It is necessary to point out the significance of the general theory of the violin style (E. Nazaikinsky, V. Medushevsky, V. Kholopova, Y. Bentya) for the development of scientific ideas about the "image of the violin". The purpose of the article is to identify the special features of the “image” of the violin in the style of A. Corelli on the material of Concerti grossi op.6. The presentation of the main material. At the time of the creation of Concerts op.6 by A. Corelli, in Italy there was a violin school, which was distinguished by an exceptional variety of playing techniques. It was here that the historical process of replacing the viol with the violin was finally completed. The violin becomes the leading instrument in the instrumental genres of the 17th century music – suite, trio-sonata, solo sonata, and by the end of the century – concerto grosso. The path of movement to A. Corelli’s universal, generalized-reduced violin style ran along the line “ensemble feature – concert feature – solo feature”. The creation of the academic style of the violin playing logic is the merit of the Bologna school. The main thrust of the violin style of Bologna masters (Torelli, Antonia, Bassani, Vitali, and later Corelli and Vivaldi) is the combination of “church” and “chamber” models of the violin playing. For instrumental sound in an ensemble or orchestra, a “canon” and certain limitations in the technique of the playing are necessary, allowing establishing the balance of the parts of instruments and instrumental groups. The “invention” (inventio) in the violin playing, characteristic of the Italian school of the first half of the 17th century, was aimed at identifying the whole complex of the possible techniques of playing this instrument. The violin plating logic in Concertі grossi by A. Corelli is subordinated to the combination of two artistic and aesthetic tasks arising from two styles of concert making – the “church” one and the “chamber” one. Hence the choice of the appropriate techniques for playing. The “church” style, despite its democratization inherent in the Italian violin school, acquired the functions of a public concert for a mass audience and was distinguished by greater severity and regulation of the complex of the violin playing techniques. This stemmed from the genre style (“concert in the church”), where polyphonic presentation prevailed in the fast parts, the “tempo” names of the parts were used, and the organ in the numbered bass part was used. The “chamber” style opened up wider possibilities for the violin and the creation of an expressive technical complex associated with the genre (“dance” parts), replacing the organ in basso continuo with the harpsichord (cembalo), other stringed and plucked instruments (lute, theorbo), low string-and-bow instruments (gamba, cello, double bass), which gave a mono-articulate character to the general sounding. Playing shades of "lively speech" on the violin is a characteristic feature of A. Corelli’s violin style, reflected in the instrumental-playing complex through phrasing, attention to details and to micro-intonation. Conclusions. In describing the historical and artistic situation, in the context of which the style of the “great citizen of Bologna” was formed, its innovations have been outlined. The signs of the turning epoch have been indicated – they are the transition from the Renaissance polyphony and the “church” style to the secular homophony, with the instruments of the violin family singled out as the main ones. The particular attention has been paid to the principles of the violin intonation in the form of a speech playing (sprechendes Spiel) and dance motor skills, which together formed the semantics of A. Corelli’s violin style in the genres of concerto grosso, trio sonatas, solo sonata with bass. The main features of A. Corelli’s violin style, which became determinant for compositional decisions in the field of thematic, texture, and harmony, have been revealed.

The system formation of professional accordionist’s skills on the example of V. Vlasov «Album for children and youth»

The system formation of professional accordionist’s skills on the example of V. Vlasov «Album for children and youth»

”The image” of the violin in the creative work of A. Corelli (on the example of the concerto grosso genre)

Statement of the problem. The violin style of A. Corelli, a composer-violinist who laid the foundation for the development of the violin art in Europe, represents a special “image of the instrument” that entered the professional-academic arena during the Baroque era. The research of A. Corelli’s violin style belongs to the field of organology, which is dedicated to the integrated study of instruments as the “organs” of musicians’ thinking. The close relationship, connection of the individual who is playing music with his/her instrument is not only one of the little developed theoretical problems, but also the basis of the practice for performing music, as well as learning this art. Analysis of recent publications on the topic. The available sources on the creative work of A. Corelli (written by K. Kuznetsov, I. Yampolsky, L. Ginzburg, N. Harnoncourt) contain either general information or individual observations on the image of the violin in the Baroque era. It is necessary to point out the significance of the general theory of the violin style (E. Nazaikinsky, V. Medushevsky, V. Kholopova, Y. Bentya) for the development of scientific ideas about the "image of the violin". The purpose of the article is to identify the special features of the “image” of the violin in the style of A. Corelli on the material of Concerti grossi op.6. The presentation of the main material. At the time of the creation of Concerts op.6 by A. Corelli, in Italy there was a violin school, which was distinguished by an exceptional variety of playing techniques. It was here that the historical process of replacing the viol with the violin was finally completed. The violin becomes the leading instrument in the instrumental genres of the 17th century music – suite, trio-sonata, solo sonata, and by the end of the century – concerto grosso. The path of movement to A. Corelli’s universal, generalized-reduced violin style ran along the line “ensemble feature – concert feature – solo feature”. The creation of the academic style of the violin playing logic is the merit of the Bologna school. The main thrust of the violin style of Bologna masters (Torelli, Antonia, Bassani, Vitali, and later Corelli and Vivaldi) is the combination of “church” and “chamber” models of the violin playing. For instrumental sound in an ensemble or orchestra, a “canon” and certain limitations in the technique of the playing are necessary, allowing establishing the balance of the parts of instruments and instrumental groups. The “invention” (inventio) in the violin playing, characteristic of the Italian school of the first half of the 17th century, was aimed at identifying the whole complex of the possible techniques of playing this instrument. The violin plating logic in Concertі grossi by A. Corelli is subordinated to the combination of two artistic and aesthetic tasks arising from two styles of concert making – the “church” one and the “chamber” one. Hence the choice of the appropriate techniques for playing. The “church” style, despite its democratization inherent in the Italian violin school, acquired the functions of a public concert for a mass audience and was distinguished by greater severity and regulation of the complex of the violin playing techniques. This stemmed from the genre style (“concert in the church”), where polyphonic presentation prevailed in the fast parts, the “tempo” names of the parts were used, and the organ in the numbered bass part was used. The “chamber” style opened up wider possibilities for the violin and the creation of an expressive technical complex associated with the genre (“dance” parts), replacing the organ in basso continuo with the harpsichord (cembalo), other stringed and plucked instruments (lute, theorbo), low string-and-bow instruments (gamba, cello, double bass), which gave a mono-articulate character to the general sounding. Playing shades of "lively speech" on the violin is a characteristic feature of A. Corelli’s violin style, reflected in the instrumental-playing complex through phrasing, attention to details and to micro-intonation. Conclusions. In describing the historical and artistic situation, in the context of which the style of the “great citizen of Bologna” was formed, its innovations have been outlined. The signs of the turning epoch have been indicated – they are the transition from the Renaissance polyphony and the “church” style to the secular homophony, with the instruments of the violin family singled out as the main ones. The particular attention has been paid to the principles of the violin intonation in the form of a speech playing (sprechendes Spiel) and dance motor skills, which together formed the semantics of A. Corelli’s violin style in the genres of concerto grosso, trio sonatas, solo sonata with bass. The main features of A. Corelli’s violin style, which became determinant for compositional decisions in the field of thematic, texture, and harmony, have been revealed.

THE AVANT GARDE AS EXFORM

AbstractPeter Bürger's critique of the historical avant garde (in Theory of the Avant Garde) accounts for its ineffectual nature as a political movement because of its relationship with institutions. He argues for hermeneutics to be employed as a critique of ideology, and as a facet of the understanding of the ‘historicity of aesthetic categories’. The influence of institutions on music since 1968 has served as a central part of its critique: the work concept itself seems to enshrine political ineffectiveness and the bourgeois nature of art practice that ought to be critiqued by an avant garde. In contrast, Nicolas Bourriaud's concept of the ‘exform’ re-conceives the avant garde as outside of institutions and an idea of ‘progress’ that is aligned with a dominant capitalist ideology. He frames the task of the avant-garde artist as giving energy to ‘waste’, outside of political and ideological institutions. This type of avant-garde practice functions to ‘bring precarity to mind: to keep the notion alive that intervention in the world is possible’. This article explores the exform with respect to the work of the British composer Chris Newman and the Swiss composer Annette Schmucki, and considers how Bourriaud's approach to re-thinking the avant garde might apply specifically to contemporary and experimental music in the present.

The principles of translating the motif-monogram DEsCH in the work of Edison Denisov

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive consideration of the problem of compositional-semantic functioning of the motif-monogram DeSCH in a number of selected works of Edison Denisov, namely the play «DЕSCH» for clarinet, trombone, horn and piano, sonatas for saxophone and piano and flute concerto. Methodology. The work uses a complex method, including itself historical-biographical, semiotic, comparative and analytical approaches. The scientific novelty of the study is that for the first time the works of Edison Denisov’s offerings to Dmitry Shostakovich are regarded as a holistic phenomenon and an important component of the composer’s creative legacy. The functioning of the monogram motif in Denisov’s works is presented as a systemic phenomenon in the context of the early period of creativity. Conclusions. The monogram DеSCH is used by E. Denisov in his work as an element semantically significant, which indicates the composer’s conscious/ntentional approach to it. In its application, the priority of the serial method is evident. In addition, there is a definite evolution of the functioning of DeSCH in the early works of E. Denisov. The author’s «I» by E. Denisov is not so much opposed to «alien» monograms, as to how they relate to them as different, but possible variants of the solution of a single artistic task.

СОЦИАЛЬНЫЙ ЗАКАЗ В ИСКУССТВЕ: СОДЕРЖАТЕЛЬНЫЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ И МЕТОДОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ПОДХОДЫ К ЕГО РАСКРЫТИЮ НА ПРИМЕРЕ ТВОРЧЕСТВА ХУДОЖНИКА Г. Ф. БОРУНОВА

The article is devoted to the problem of social order in fine arts. This notion is analyzed on the basis of the works of a number of theorists; at the same time its “external” and “internal” (as an “artistic task”) aspects are singled out. The author demonstrates ambiguity of social order functions, its role in the development of art. The tendencies and processes reproducing social order in various forms are considered. The author’s position in this matter is grounded, which is illustrated by the analysis of the Altai artist G. F. Borunov’s creativity.

Az alkalmazott és autonóm rajz összefonódása a képzőművészet határterületein: Liezen-Mayer Sándor két színházi függönytervéről

Stage curtains are works in the border zone between applied art and high art, having a special place on account of their function and peculiar theme in the oeuvre of some 19th century artists. In that of Sándor Liezen-Mayer the salient places are taken by painting and literary illustration, but in indirect relationship with illustration his commissions to design stage curtains also constituted an organic part of the oeuvre. Designing the program and executing the painted stage curtains was squeezed to the periphery of 19th century painting, whereas in that-time art life it had an important place as an artistic task of great prestige since the late 18th century. With the demotion of allegoric representations into the background the huge surfaces of stage curtains began to feature compositions of a different type, which drew partly on the earlier stock of allegorical elements and partly on literary motifs. Liezen-Mayer’s contemporary and former colleague at the Academy Hans Makart produced the important pieces of the last great period of curtain decoration, which might have partly been the model for the Hungarian artist, too. Liezen-Mayer’s two curtain designs known today are from the beginning and end of his career, as if framing the oeuvre. The two designs separated by some thirty years are variants of the same allegorical scene: Apollo, the ancient god of arts is seen in an easily interpreted composition, surrounded by diverse attributes and allegorical figures as an illustration of the mythological tradition. Only plans survive of the two – colour schemes and large cartoons –; the comparison of the two provides a firm basis to trace the change in the artist’s outlook over his career.

Information creation and models of information behavior: Grounding synthesis and further research

This paper contributes to the conceptualization of information creation in the field of information behavior. To do so, it synthesizes discussions and conceptual models on information creation and related topics, such as communication, design and documentation, which to date have been disconnected. A number of models are discussed, as well as some of the strengths, weaknesses and unique contributions of each with respect to information creation. This discussion leads to a number of paths for further research, both conceptual and empirical, on information creation. In particular, one fruitful site for further research in information creation is art. Drawing on the ground-breaking work of Tidline, it is clear that art is informative, and that the activities involved in and surrounding the creation of art showcase the aspects of information creation that have been highlighted in theoretical models of information behavior. Further research should consider the information behavior involved in an artistic task from start to finish.

Desvelar lo visible. Merleau-Ponty y el aprendizaje por la pintura

Aunque no persigan una finalidad didáctica como tal, los textos sobre pintura del filósofo Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) contienen apreciaciones que bien podrían llegar a constituir una propedéutica del medio. Para tantear esta posibilidad, el artículo examina en primera instancia los componentes que según el filósofo francés caracterizan la tarea artística –cuerpo, gesto, expresión– y los emplaza a continuación en el ámbito específico de la pintura. Fijado ese marco operativo, se abordan ciertos principios de la praxis pictórica –espontaneidad, instantaneidad, simultaneidad– que, sumados al comportamiento del color y de los materiales de trabajo, determinarían en opinión de Merleau-Ponty la idiosincrasia del medio y, con ello, algunas claves de utilidad para su eventual aprendizaje.

Interiors and interiority in Vermeer: empiricism, subjectivity, modernism

Johannes Vermeer may well be the foremost painter of interiors and interiority in the history of art, yet we have not necessarily understood his achievement in either domain, or their relation within his complex development. This essay explains how Vermeer based his interiors on rooms in his house and used his family members as models, combining empiricism and subjectivity. Vermeer was exceptionally self-conscious and sophisticated about his artistic task, which we are still laboring to understand and articulate. He eschewed anecdotal narratives and presented his models as models in “studio” settings, in paintings about paintings, or art about art, a form of modernism. In contrast to the prevailing conception in scholarship of Dutch Golden Age paintings as providing didactic or moralizing messages for their pre-modern audiences, we glimpse in Vermeer’s paintings an anticipation of our own modern understanding of art. This article is published as part of a collection on interiorities.

Передумови зародження одеської піаністичної школи.

Мета роботи – виявити історичні, об'єктивні і суб'єктивні чинники формування професійної одеської піаністичної школи. Одеська піаністична школа як комплексне явище культури України охоплює історичний період з моменту формування професійної музичної освіти і по теперішній час, включає у себе діяльність видатних художників педагогів, піаністів, випускників і продовжувачів традицій піаністичного мистецтва. У світову виконавську та педагогічну музичну культуру вписані імена носіїв традицій одеської піаністичної школи, серед яких Еміль Гілельс, Яків Зак, Марія Грінберг, Марія Старкова, Марія Рибіцька, Берта Рейнгбальд, Людмила Гінзбург та інші. Методологія. Були використані методи історіографічного дискурсу, мистецтвознавчої аксіології, параметри комплементарного підходу. Наукова новизна. У статті виявлені основні передумови становлення Одеської піаністичної школи: високий загальний рівень культурного життя міста; прагнення місцевих жителів до музичної освіти і домашнього музикування; персональний внесок видатних особистостей у музичне життя міста (М. Воронцов, А. Рубінштейн, Д. Клімов, В. Малишевський); формування професійної освіти, база якої була закладена європейськими музикантами (чехами, італійцями, німцями) - засновниками власних приватних музичних класів з консерваторським рівнем підготовки фахівців; гастрольні концерти і поїздки впливових музикантів-піаністів і композиторів Росії, Східної та Західної Європи. Висновки. Вивчення традицій виконавського мистецтва допомагає зрозуміти художні завдання, які ставлять перед виконавцем композитори через нотний текст. Збереження традицій, творчих досягнень і виразових засобів кращих представників музичного мистецтва, зосередженого в межах навчального закладу, дозволяють виявити автентичну якість саме одеської піаністичної школи, відкривати ту її сутність, що передається наступним поколінням.Ключові слова. Піаністична школа, виконавські традиції, фортепіанне мистецтво

Художня функція синтезу мистецтв в українській еміграційній прозі.

The corpus of prose works by diaspora authors has been analysed, synthesizing of different kinds of arts has been revealed in these works. The mentioned synthesis significantly increases the possibilities of suggestive effect on the reader since it can produce complex impression. To a certain extent, such “bordering” principle of the creation of artistic image is directed at the identification of the ethical and aesthetic ideal; in fact, we observe the continuation of the modernist tendencies of the XIX– XX centuries, when the Ukrainian authors opposed the Western European philosophical systems that carried the beauty beyond the axiological coordinates of the good and evil, their own deeply national understanding of the aesthetic – as the one that is inextricably linked to the ethical one. It is proved that partly modelled by the writer, the situation “man in art” becomes a means of characters formation, as in the case of Masha Yevtukhova, the character of the story of F. Odrach “Shchebetun”.In the literary work the level of synthesis of means, techniques, concepts, characteristic for other artistic spheres, is determined both by the artistic task posed by the author and by the peculiarities of his or her creative thinking – the tendency to the interaction of various aesthetic spheres, reveals itself at the level of the narrative about the theatrical play, the description of the architectural structure, folk-decorative crafts, etc., or it turns into the special transparenttone, for example, musical one.The Ukrainian diaspora prose can be tracedin the tendencyto the synthesis of arts, generating mutual enrichment of various models of artistic practice. Literary-painting skills have been shown by F. Odrach, V. Domontovych, Yu. Kosach, Vira Vovk (Selianska), Dokiia Humenna, K. Irod, Emma Andiievska, Yu. Tarnavskyi – from the direct transposition of the painting or musical composition into the literary work, to the use of artistic means and methods of emotional impact on the recipient, characteristic for these arts.

Uneasy Experiments in Radical Cultural Comparison: Gang Violence, Ethical Cultivation and Sade's Moral Universe

ABSTRACTDuring a workshop at Aarhus University, participants were asked to carry out an anthropological experiment modelled upon an artistic one. The artistic experiment involved one filmmaker presenting a series of obstructions to another, in effect setting unfamiliar and even abhorrent artistic tasks. My obstruction involved drawing upon Marquis de Sade's writings to consider urban gang violence among the African Americans I have studied. This paper represents my uneasy response. It is fashioned as series of dialogues, rather in the manner of a theatre piece. I offer an ethnographic case where a child is murdered and his older brother, Ralph (a gang member), exhorts his fellow ‘homies’ to stop the killings. Dialogues extracted from Sade's fictional debates between the virtuous and the libertines are juxtaposed against a fictional dialogue between Ralph and gang members who speak to the pleasures of violence and gang life.

THE METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF IMAGE FRAGMENTATION AS THE PROBLEM OF COMPOSITION ORGANIZATION AS PART OF COMPOSITIONAL THEORY TEACHING

The article contains the basic definitions of the image fragmentation theory as part of teaching the “Basics of compositional theory” course to the Second Year students (four-year program) of the Arts Department. Some aspects of objects‟ perception, word picture‟s and compositional aim‟s formation may be found there as well. The article also attracts the reader‟s attention to the problem of the mutual contextual relationship between details and the unity. It also has a number of theoretical and practical problems and artistic tasks which can be solved by the use of compositional method of image fragmentation as part of the fragmentation theory basics‟ practical mastering. The article also includes some of the common characteristics of image fragmentation as a way of composition‟s formation on the basis of baroque graphic tradition. The article offers the methodological working practices for the composition of significance which is based on the image fragmentation basis. The methods are based on efficient verbs, the sum of logical, emotional, figurative transformations of the context and subtext of a layout, it determines how the fragment affects the one who sees it. The author has created the system for fragment‟s composition while teaching the Second Year students of the Arts Department. The process of creating the composition is regarded within the dialectic interconnections between the fragment‟s composition and composition of significance. The article also contains the practical tasks which could be fulfilled by students while designing the fragment‟s composition.

Hybrid Constitution/Melez Anayasa: An artwork as a text as an artwork

Abstract The Hybrid Constitution/Melez Anayasa defines the principles upon which a Hybrid Constitution between nature and technology is based. This is an artistic task, because nature and technology cannot inscribe their Magisteria as beings and rights inside a ‘Constitution’, but a beginning for a new utopic non-human-centred vision. The Hybrid Constitution is based on the assumption that best constitution is a mixed system, including human, nature, and low- and high-tech elements. This constitution distinguishes between human citizens, who had the right to participate in the state, and non-citizens and Others, who had the right to be represented. The otherness. The Hybrid Constitution/Melez Anayasa is an artwork presented at the Amber Festival in Istanbul in 2011 and the argument of an essay published in the AUT AUT issue 361/2014 and titled La condizione postumana.

Performance of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration on artistic tasks: A pilot study.

Several studies have addressed visuospatial and executive skills in artistic activities in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD).ObjectiveTo investigate the performance of FTLD patients compared to controls on two artistic tasks.MethodsFour FTLD patients with mean age of 57 (8.7) years and schooling of 12.2 (4.5) years plus 10 controls with mean age of 62.9 (8.6) years and schooling of 12.3 (4.6) years, were assessed using the Lowenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA) and by a three-stage artistic protocol including visual observation, copying and collage, based on a Sisley painting.ResultsFTLD patients had lower scores than controls on Visuospatial Perception, Copy, Collage, Examiner's Observation, and Total, showing distinct patterns of performance according to FTLD sub-type: semantic PPA, nonfluent PPA and bvFTD.ConclusionFTLD patients presented impairment in the visuospatial and executive skills required to perform artistic tasks. We demonstrated that the application of the instrument as a complimentary method for assessing cognitive skills in this group of patients is possible. Further studies addressing larger and more homogeneous samples of FTLD patients as well as other dementias are warranted.

A Fine Balancing Act: Adapting the Verse Novel to the Stage

Composing a verse novel is a complex process because of its dual identity – poetry and fiction. The challenge of adapting a verse novel to the stage highlights these generic negotiations by taking them to another level. The writer and collaborators (directors, composer and actors, in particular) need to go back to basics, interrogating the nature of poetry and drama in order to reconceive the work so that it becomes an effective script, satisfying on multiple levels. In this transformation the author's original conception of the creative work must alter. The process of collaboration with director, actors and associated professionals raises questions, therefore, about a range of artistic tasks, among them defining the characteristics of each genre and the meaning of fidelity. Finally, who has oversight over the project? By drawing on our experiences collaborating on a staged adaptation of Jeri Kroll's verse novel, Vanishing Point, and considering other examples of adaptation, we argue through structured responses by each practitioner that this type of unstable mode is particularly suited to dramatic transformation because it enhances poetry's orality and dramatic potential as well as drama's ability to embody conflict.To date, Vanishing Point has been adapted as four performances, including a staged reading at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts ‘Page to Stage’ Festival (5 September 2011, Washington DC) and a workshop with actors, director, composer and movement director (June 2012). Puncher and Wattman will publish the complete verse novel.A short preliminary study by Jeri Kroll appears as ‘From page to stage’: a case study of transforming a verse novel,’ in Encounters: refereed conference papers of the 17th annual AAWP conference, 2012, http://www.aawp.org.au/publications. This co-authored essay considerably expands the argument from two perspectives.

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s "Phantomnation": Cinematic Specters and Spectral Collectivity in <em>Dictée</em> and <em>Apparatus</em>

From Alchemist to DiseuseTheresa Hak Kyung Cha's mail-art piece Audience Distant Relative (1977) materializes her nascent concern with the artwork's ability to institute aleatory relations among the work, the artist, and the audience and to disarticulate their putative sense of ipseity.1 Predating Cha's more wellknown works such as Dictee and Exilee (both made in 1980), which embrace written inscriptions and postal addresses initiated by such inscriptions, the work performs a contingent reticulation of the artist, the artwork, and its recipient, which remain disjointed across incalculable distance. Placed within the multiple envelopes, the work's text addresses the audience as its and solicits each of them to become a corecipient of the letter's enigmatic materiality:I youAs I would a distant relativeAs if a distant relativeSeen heard through someone else's description.2By showing a condensed overlap of meaning between a who is distant and a that is relativized by the letter's missive movement, Cha's address questions normative notions of both relative and distance and enacts a poiesis of relation between the two heretofore estranged entities whose sensuous faculties partially and incompletely apprehend each other. Here, the work's limited capacity to see only and only the unknown audience's presence corresponds with the audience's own similarly incomplete synesthesia, which, without fully comprehending the object, disperses its significance across senses. As the following passage indicates, despite the kind of intimacy usually associated with the second-person pronoun you, the audience's relation to the work is torn between her sighting of the inscriptions and her hearing of their potential sounds: opening it / you hear the sender's voice as your eyes move over the / words. You, the receiver, seeing the sender's image / speak over the / voice.3 Audience Distant Relative thus illuminates multiple senses that are involved in one's encounter with the sensible material and foregrounds its own aesthetic transmission as a process that transforms both the transmitted matter and the audience's sentient body.In her MFA thesis Paths, Cha further defines the artist's task as one of producing an alchemical upon which the material in the world and the audience that receives it can be altered:Alchemical elements used by Alchemists could be most commonplace: water, air, fire, earth, etc. They simply exist, as space, as time exists, almost unnoticeably. . . . He enters a covenant with these with the intention not of imposing upon these materials, not so much to transform and shape them according to his will, but during the unfolding of this pact, these elements will be the ones to transform his soul. . . . The artist's is close to that of the alchemist in that is that of a medium. His/her vision belongs to altering, of material, and of perception.4At once linking and changing each term engaged in this path of artistic creation and reception-that is, the elements, the artist, and its audience-an artwork as conceived by Cha operates as amorphous receptacle in which phantom things and people . . . appear and move about.5 Correspondingly, Cha's prose also tacitly transforms the masculinist, active subject of art making (he) into the alchemist who primarily appears as the passive sufferer of the process and whose gender identification is increasingly equivocated: his/her path.Remaining attentive to such alchemical process that informs Cha's literary, cinematic, and other visual and performance works, this essay examines her phantomatic materialism that transforms both the writing of history and its historiographer in her later works such as Dictee, Exilee, and Apparatus (1980). By doing so, my reading of Cha's works first intervenes critically into some Asian Americanists' essentialist hypostatization of a single ethnic subject that speaks behind the artist's works and then suggests that, far from engaging in such forms of monoritarian interpellation, her texts and films at once welcome numerous ghosts of history and inaugurate their recipients, both of whom constantly undergo transformations and, therefore, resist all forms of capillary subjectivation. …