Art Theory Research Articles

Krajiny současného umění. K historicitě interpretace „historického“ akčního umění

The text deals with the possibilities of updating action and environmental art, based on the tradition of the 1960s. On the basis of poststructuralist theories, the theory of representation and anachronistic or ahistorical approach in contemporary aesthetics and art theory, it points out the possibilities of grasping the works of already classical Czech and Slovak authors and their interpretation within the contemporary discourse.

Folk arts and crafts of Ugra: problems of terminological interpretation

The purpose of the study is to analyze the concepts of "folk arts and crafts" and their comparison with folk and decorative arts. The use of materials on the culture of the Ob Ugrians allows us to define the boundaries of these phenomena, which are interpreted differently in legal, educational and cultural contexts. The concepts of "folk arts and crafts" and "folk art" have similarities in that they both relate to traditional forms of culture that were created and passed down from generation to generation by the people. The concept of "decorative and applied art" includes various objects of art that are created for the purpose of decorating clothes, dishes, and interiors. The equivalence of these concepts lies in the fact that this activity of creating handmade products has unique artistic qualities. The materials for the study were the works of Soviet and Russian art historians and ethnographers. The author relies on the fundamental research of the art historian M.A. Nekrasova on the theory of folk art. Special attention is paid to the works of northern historians specializing in the traditional art of the Ob Ugrians. The article analyzes the conceptual framework in federal and regional legislation. Having studied various forms of artistic creativity – folk crafts and folk art, we have identified their specific features, which were formed under the influence of historical, socio-economic, cultural changes. Adherence to tradition is an important feature of the folk culture of the indigenous peoples of the North, which allows us to preserve its unique characteristics. Folk arts and crafts of the Ob Ugrians today continue to develop and adapt to modern realities, while maintaining their identity. Folk art and crafts have a special system of meanings, which are determined by their history, functioning, and specific expression, including in modern reality. The folk art of the Ob Ugrians has its own trajectory of development within the settlement of these peoples. At the same time, all traditional culture has deep roots in the ethnic environment and is transmitted through mechanisms related to ethnic identity and social translation.

Identities in the “posthuman” condition: locality of war and global world

“Posthuman” is considered now to be one of the most important concepts in contemporary political philosophy, cultural studies, theory of literature and art, sociology of the body and identity, etc., which keeps in focus a detailed discourse regarding the knowledge of the “posthumanity” condition (R. Braidotti, N. Gane, N.K. Hayles, F. Fukuyama, and others). This concept is no longer necessarily confined to the image of a “cyborg” as an ironic political fiction that skillfully reinvents social reality and everyday life in the context of eroding boundaries between nature and culture, or a metaphor that remains symbolically significant due to the ethical impulse and social commitment of its author (D. Haraway). Even a fragmentary involvement in the “posthuman” discourse cannot but encourage reflection on the structure of our common identity as people in the modern global world of high technology and local wars, complex interactions between science and technology, commodification of the natural world, as well as politics and international priorities; this cannot but promote rethinking the imperatives of anthropocentrism. In the case of identities, whether individual or collective, we are talking about partial, contradictory and always open constructions, about their impossibility of relying upon a single essentialist foundation, which can be skillfully intercepted by ideological and political rhetoric but not recognize obvious social and cultural differences; however, such a foundation is unlikely to lose the image of possible unifications in future, effective attraction and solidarity-driven identifications. Depending on the degree of subjects’ involvement in the transitional states of interaction between nature and culture, identities are fragmented and “denaturalized” in various ways; and it is precisely these transitional states, flows that cross borders, whether they are defined metaphorically or instrumentally, that become, first of all, the objects of control strategies, not without activating the mechanisms of informatics of domination, ignoring local knowledge in a military context, which takes into account the status of partial explanation but does not insist on the total substantiation of statements, conclusions and perspectives.

KARYA KEMALEDIZINE SEBAGAI REPRESENTASI KRITIK KEBERAGAMAAN MASYARAKAT ISLAM INDONESIA DALAM MEDAN SENI RUPA KONTEMPORER INDONESIA

Artistic expression is a manifestation of cultural phenomena specific to an era and region. That is evident in Islamic visual arts, which present innovative forms with contemporary content. This research focuses on the works of Kemalezedine, who, through the lens of iconography and sociology of art theories, reveals religious and social criticism in the context of the Indonesian Muslim community. His works intensely highlight and criticize the phenomenon of Arabism, often appearing in understanding, spiritual practices, and identity politics in Indonesia. Criticism and discourse exploration in the creation of Kemalezedine's works are closely related to his creative process, formed while participating in the Neo Pitamaha and NU Abstract communities. His "Bloodline series" (2019) marks the pinnacle of religious criticism among the Indonesian Muslim community, especially the fundamentalists. This work questions the laws of symbolic depiction in Islamic visual arts and also sheds light on socio-cultural and identity politics issues rooted in Indonesia. With a critical and analytical approach, Kemalezedine's work serves not only as a medium of artistic expression but also as a deep social reflection medium, reflecting the dynamics and challenges faced by the contemporary Muslim community in Indonesia.

Contemporary Media Art Performance under the Visual Threshold of Interpretation

Purpose - Introduce contemporary media art, study the virtual representation forms of contemporary media art, and deeply explore the artistic meanings expressed by their forms of expression.
 Design/Methodology/Approach - Based on the characteristics of artistic expression such as innovation and interactivity, this article applies the three elements of understanding, interpretation, and application in hermeneutics theory to interpret multimedia art works.
 Findings - This article analyzes contemporary media art works from three dimensions of hermeneutics: understanding, interpretation, and application. The conclusion is that artists express their desire for balance and wisdom, their perception of the world's spiritual state through multimedia forms, and also enable readers to associate and make independent judgments about the works, thereby exploring their own spiritual world and perceptual experience. At the same time, participants themselves are also creating meaning, interpreting value, completing perception, determining intention, and jointly explaining the humanistic value and responsibility of the work with the artist.
 Research Implications - The study of cultural communication at the visual level plays an important role in the development of social information. Multimedia image visual art has been integrated into daily aesthetic life in the form of popular culture, becoming the most important carrier for exploring artistic life. This article combines theory and practice, using typical art cases for specific analysis, in order to better apply contemporary multimedia art theory to artistic creation, and provide fresh materials and beneficial attempts for the research of digital media art application theory.

Theoretical Legacy of Oleksandr Bogomazov: The Artist’s Notes in The Portrait Problem

The publication of Oleksandr Bohomazov’s theoretical text “On Portrait” (1915– 1916) is part of the large manuscript Thoughts About Art which was written by the artist as a continuation of the theoretical work Painting and Elements (1914). Theoretical studies were an important part of his artistic work. In his paintings and graphics, Bohomazov develops a number of his own techniques that make it possible not only to convey the dynamic states of the depicted objects, but also to create the impression of intense dynamic tension and reproduce the feeling of movement. The main emphasis in the works is on the viewer’s psychological perception of the feeling of this movement. Thus, his later theoretical explorations moved towards the visualization of the natural energy of objects, which was embodied in the new text, Thoughts About Art (1915– 1916). Using the analytical approach to painting, Oleksandr Bohomazov formulates his artistic theory as an evolution of painting elements. Since the portrait genre played a vital role in the artist’s creative practice, it is important to study the part of his theoretical texts aimed at understanding the goals and pictorial tasks that the artist is faced with during the creation of a portrait.

Interpreting Avian Imagery in Minangkabau Patterns: Insights from fiqh and Sufism perspectives

The ongoing study investigates the anomaly in decorative patterns within Minangkabau art. These ornamental designs, characterised by abstraction rather than naturalism, bear connections to Islamic thought and Sufism within Minangkabau culture in West Sumatra. This examination focuses on specific, selected decorative patterns and is considered part of the philosophy of Islamic art. The appropriate methodology involves field research encompassing hundreds of Minangkabau artefacts featuring these ornamental designs. The process of analysis includes looking into the connection between Islamic thought and specific examples of patterns used in Minangkabau art. This includes an inquiry into how the ornaments exclusively represent the characteristics of actual birds.

Ontology of the Art Phenomenon in Iris Murdoch’s Fiction

This article explores the intermedial dialogue of the arts in the oeuvre of British writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch. The ontology of the phenomenon of art and its functional meaning in Murdoch’s fiction, the specifics of the relationship between the arts in her philosophical essays and dialogues are considered from the perspective of intermediality. Based on the intermedial study methodology, Murdoch’s theoretical and philosophical views on the multifunctional nature of art, the interaction of the artist and the artwork are revealed. Key techniques of interartistic discourse, including anthroponymic allusions, are considered as intermedial markers of Murdoch’s texts, identified and explored at the level of imagological transformations. People of art: artists, artistic discourse partakers, as well as recipients of art constitute a particular kind of characters in Murdoch’s novels. Accordingly, the importance of the recipient, who acts as an essential link in the receptive matrix of “author-text-recipient-artwork,” is emphasized in the ontology of an artwork. The particular meeting point of Murdoch’s characters is the artistic topos: a museum, an exhibition, an art gallery or an artist’s house. In addition, the reader of her fiction repeatedly encounters various ekphrastic codes: the ekphrases of paintings are not only present in Murdoch’s texts, but function as anthropomorphised characters, dramatis personae, have their own space (physical and mental places) and play a crucial role in the protagonists’ lives. Consequently, we find that the use of intermedial components is one of the markers of Iris Murdoch’s idiostyle, which topicalizes important aspects of the philosophy of art and brings it into the realm of ontological questions.

The Painterly Poe: Architect, Artist, Author

Abstract Many scholars have read Edgar Allan Poe as uniquely enmeshed in an interdisciplinary and intermediary web connecting the visual and practical arts. Poe’s prose is intrinsically multimodal and multisensory, a transgression of disciplinary boundaries that leads to a horrific affect. This article examines three of Poe’s short stories with attention to the figure of the artist, architect, and author within his fiction, arguing that these characters can be read as exemplars of Poe’s aesthetic philosophy laid out in “The Philosophy of Composition.” Poe pushes and explores the limits of disciplinary boundaries by showing the various conjunctions and conflations inherent to artistic practice. In his stories, Poe explores what distinguishes literature from other creative endeavors. It is his fascination with the porous nature of artistic boundaries that drives both the form and content of his tales—and it is this very liminality, this porousness, that makes them truly the harbingers of horror as a genre.

Lee Ufan's ambivalent otherness and art historiography

AbstractThis article aims to reexamine the relationship between the artist Lee Ufan and nationalist art history through his idea of “ambivalent otherness,” which he defined as both “suffering” and “power.” Traditional art history is established upon a nationalist framework that emphasizes the artists' nationality, leading to the marginalization of national others at the border. As a zainichi Korean, Lee has undergone the “suffering” of being excluded by the art world and art historiography. However, he transformed it into his source of “power” to challenge art historiography based on nationality. This study analyzes the art criticism of “Japanese Contemporary Art History” written by Minemura Toshiaki and Chiba Shigeo in the 1970s and 1980s and highlights the ruptures that the artist's in-between identity wrought on nationalist art history. This shows how both the Mono-ha movement and the artist were marginalized in the construction of “Japanese Contemporary Art History.” Furthermore, this study scrutinizes how Lee attempted to rewrite art history using Mono-ha art theory and a perspective committed to “overcoming coloniality” from the postcolonial in-between position, by reinterpreting Lee's article on Chosŏn minhwa, written amidst an aesthetic controversy across the border between Japan and Korea.

Understanding artworks from Danto’s philosophy of art: a Peircean semiotic approach

Abstract Arthur Danto’s philosophy of art contributes significantly to diverse perspectives that seek to understand the nature and significance of artistic creations, offering unique insights into the interpretation and meaning of artworks. This paper aims to examine Danto’s philosophy of art by employing the semiotic framework developed by Charles Sanders Peirce and applying it to the analysis of three famous artworks. By integrating Peirce’s semiotics with Danto’s ideas, we seek to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of art, its interpretation, and the significance it holds within the “artworld.” This exploration highlights the complementary aspects of Peirce’s semiotics and Danto’s philosophy of art, shedding light on the multifaceted realm of artistic expression.

Wollheim on art’s historicity: an intersection of theoretical art history and the philosophy of art

Abstract Art and its Objects by Richard Wollheim had a major impact on aesthetics and the philosophy of art when it was first published in 1968. Of the arguments offered in response to Wollheim’s essay, Jerrold Levinson’s intentional-historical theory of art has been one of the most enduring. Levinson was influenced by three key sections of Wollheim’s enquiry: Section 40, which considers the claim that works of art fall under a concept of art, or that we are disposed to regard certain things as works of art; and Sections 60 and 61, which deal with art as a historical phenomenon, and problems arising from its identification and interpretation. To date, these claims have been raised as points of contention in the philosophy of art. This paper takes a different perspective. Wollheim’s understanding of art’s historicity draws explicitly on the literature of theoretical art history. Via Wollheim, old art-historical problems will reappear as new philosophical questions.

Reframing art online through collective meaning-making

ABSTRACT Building on the embodied consumption literature, we draw on Merleau-Ponty’s theory of art to consider how new modes of visibility arise in interactions between individuals online. Focusing on one particular virtual and collaborative museum programme, we use ethnomethodological analysis of interactions to analyse video recordings of virtual arts conversations. The analysis explores how participants render visible their orientation to each other and to the works of art discussed in the workshop. Thus, we can see how participants produce the sense and significance of works of art in, and through ‘intercorporeal interactions’ while participating in a virtual arts programme. Observations and findings from our research have significant implications for the strategic management of virtual consumer experiences.

Empirics vs. art theory: Exploring a factor structure of pictorial expression based on contemporary artworks

ABSTRACT The RizbA scale combines psychometrics and art theory and enables a measurement of pictorial expression. This study explores its factor structure and a potential gap between theory and empirics. A sample of 275 pictorial works by artists and nonprofessionals was rated by 179 art experts. Three CFA path models were specified: models A and B based on the empirical results of previous studies, C on the theory of the initial study. Model C was additionally tested on a combined dataset. A and B did not converge, C was associated with fit indices as follows: RSMEA = .122, CFI = .712, TLI = .679, SRMR = .135, for the combined dataset: RSMEA = .086, CFI = .740, TLI = .696, SRMR = .084. Only model C partly suggests an acceptable fit. The results speak to a methodological gap between empirics and theory, that might be solved by a postdisciplinary measurement model.

The Influence of Art Philosophy on Chinese Classical Garden Landscape Design

In the modern design concept, it is necessary to pay attention to what design principles, as well as the current problems in the process of Chinese classical garden landscape design. The root cause is that modern designers do not have enough learning and understanding of art philosophy, which leads to the discussion of art philosophy. Through the analysis of ancient Chinese philosophy, the influence of Confucianism, Zen, Taoism and Buddhism on Chinese classical gardens is sorted out, and the guiding role of art philosophy in Chinese classical garden landscape design is further clarified.

Russian Philosophical and Cultural Studies at the University: Concept and Model of Institutionalization

The article presents the author’s concept of institutionalization of Russian philosophical and cultural research at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE). The peculiarities of its creation and implementation are set by the direction of development, which characterizes the process of transformation of Russian universities into world-class project-research universities. The Institute is an innovative interdisciplinary project, which comprehensively carries out both fundamental research, expert-analytical, project-educational work, and educational activities in the broad subject area of Russian humanities research. This article introduces the scientific community to the main goals and objectives of a large institutional project in the field of research on the intellectual history of Russia, modern Russian studies, philosophy of Russian history and culture, philosophy of Russian literature and art, as well as the forms and directions of work and thematic content of the planned research center. In the medium term, the projected Institute is positioned as a scientific and expert-analytical platform, forming actual knowledge about Russia and influencing the intellectual process in Russia and abroad. It acts as a significant link in the scientific and educational ecosystem of a modern university, an example of which is the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The planned theoretical result, on the one hand, is the development of new methodological approaches in the study of spiritual, cultural and intellectual heritage of Russia, on the other hand – the enrichment of the tools of philosophy and cultural studies in their interaction with the methodology of other humanities. Justifying the practical significance of the project, the author believes that such an organizational model allows combining the academic level of research in the cultural history of Russia and the history of thought with the analysis and expertise of current socio-cultural processes and value transformations taking place in Russian society.

Emotional design theory of digital art combined with perceptual machine model

Abstract The article begins by exploring the emotional design of brands in various categories and proposes a mathematical morphological visual perceptual machine model to implement emotional design. The model constructs a mathematical model capable of capturing and expressing emotional features through numerical sets. Point sets and images, and basic operations in image algebra. Finally, the influence of the applicable fields of brand digital art design, personal emotional needs, and personal experience needs on brand choice is analyzed. The entertainment industry and the Internet industry account for the largest share, each accounting for 30% and 29%, respectively. The influence of personal emotion on choosing a brand is more than 0.8, and the influence of personal experience on choosing a product is more than 0.6. The research results of this paper have certain practical and theoretical significance for the development of brand digital art design.

An Insight on the Inconsistency of the Theoretical Construction of Avant-garde Concept in 20th-Century Art

This paper analyses avant-garde art theory through the concept of originality, understood as shock. The initial hypothesis is that this theoretical construction is a misunderstanding because it neglects the body during the experience lived before the work of art. It reminds us that if we are aware of our presence, it is thanks to the fact that we are psychosomatic individuals. Even so, we tend to evaluate the work of art from philosophical reflection rather than from analysing the form that excites us. It shows how the materialisation of the work of art sought by the avant-garde should have destroyed our cognitive baggage. It concludes that it only succeeded in initiating a tendency in art towards rhetoric that reaches the present day, where theoretical constructions are the only works of art. The emptiness of this avant-garde art theory concerning the touching causes its inconsequentiality, being left without any other pretension as only art. The author relies on the fact that we understand ourselves as people through our subjection to what we see to make us understand that looking without feeling is a contradiction.

Representasi Artistik Kebudayaan Indonesia dalam Film Animasi “Raya And The Last Dragon”

Raya and The Last Dragon is one of the first animated fantasy films produced by Disney that elevates and displays the cultural identities of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos and Singapore. This animated film depicts a fantasy world called Kumadera country which is divided into five regions namely Heart, Fang, Spine, Talon and Tail. The five regions seem to describe the diverse Indonesian nation "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" which means the unity and oneness of the Indonesian nation. This animated film is packed with artistic elements of Indonesian culture including Wayang kulit, batik, keris, pencak silat, gamelan, gadang houses, food, and people's behavior. This animated film applies the artistic design of several visual elements such as location sets, decorations, props, costumes and all work units that represent Indonesian culture. This research method uses descriptive qualitative using artistic theory and Roland Barthes semiotic cultural approach. The results of this study were analyzed using artistic theory and contextual understanding of signs and meanings from Roland Barthes' semiotic theory which divides the meaning systems of denotation, connotation and myths that implement Indonesian culture.

Language Attitudes of Polish Youth in Lithuania

The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of Polish youth in Lithuania towards the Lithuanian, Russian, English, and Polish languages. The material has been drawn from qualitative research conducted through questionnaires. In order to summarize the results of the research, 147 questionnaires completed by respondents aged 16–34, who declared Polish nationality, were selected. The survey was done between February 20 and March 3, 2023, via Google Forms. Results of the 2023 attitude survey were compared with those of the 2010 sociolinguistic survey. 98.6% (n = 145) of the young respondents consider Polish to be their mother tongue or one of their mother tongues, which is 18.4% higher than the result obtained in the 2010 survey. Preferences for the most beautiful, the necessary, the most common, and the most prestigious language were compared with the preferences that were described in my article (Geben 2013). Results of the statistical analysis show that Lithuanian is the most frequently mentioned language among the most necessary languages, but English is still the language the most in need for young respondents (63.9%, n = 94). Polish retains its position as the most beautiful language for those whose mother tongue is Polish. Polish has become the most common language for young respondents (67.3%, n = 99), with Russian still in a second place in this category (47.6%, n = 70).
 The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of Polish youth in Lithuania towards the Lithuanian, Russian, English, and Polish languages. The material has been drawn from qualitative research conducted through questionnaires. In order to summarize the results of the research, 147 questionnaires completed by respondents aged 16–34, who declared Polish nationality, were selected. The survey was done between February 20 and March 3, 2023, via Google Forms. Results of the 2023 attitude survey were compared with those of the 2010 sociolinguistic survey. 98.6% (n = 145) of the young respondents consider Polish to be their mother tongue or one of their mother tongues, which is 18.4% higher than the result obtained in the 2010 survey. Preferences for the most beautiful, the necessary, the most common, and the most prestigious language were compared with the preferences that were described in my article (Geben 2013). Results of the statistical analysis show that Lithuanian is the most frequently mentioned language among the most necessary languages, but English is still the language the most in need for young respondents (63.9%, n = 94). Polish retains its position as the most beautiful language for those whose mother tongue is Polish. Polish has become the most common language for young respondents (67.3%, n = 99), with Russian still in a second place in this category (47.6%, n = 70).