How is an artwork formed? Or, maybe more importantly, where does the creation of the art piece occur?
Is the consideration of the artwork only internal? Housed exclusively inside of its meaning? Is the material or conceptual items within an artwork the sole means to locate what a piece is, and anything outside of these interior aspects are totally extraneous?
Or is the art piece constructed by the context of meanings originating outside of itself? Does the art object gain its coherence from surroundings circulating around it; in social acceptances, communal negotiations, institutional histories, individual decisions, and, even, personal feelings?
Or is there a mechanism of construction of the artwork which implies an interchange between the internal coherence of the art piece, and the external social/individual constructions applied to the art object? If a continual interplay of internal and external communication is how the artwork formulates itself, does this mean that the frame and core of the artwork is both internally and externally determined?
This lecture will explore the historical trajectory from Modernism through Postmodernism to Post-postmodernism regarding the question of the location of the artwork, and how the enquiry of the boundary/essence of the art object has been investigated in each era.
This lineage of thought will be considered within each period’s context, with focus on shifting ideas of the art piece regarding the material, the social, the institutional, the ideological and the individual.
Monday Lectures is a public platform combining invited guest lecturers and professors and researchers of the faculty at KMD. Monday Lectures aim to create a diverse programme of lectures exploring a wide range of disciplines and research topics. Lectures typically take place Mondays 10:00 at the Knut Knaus Auditorium and are free and open to all.
Image credit: 'Shibboleth’ by Doris Salcedo in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, 2007 by David Levene/Eyevine.