Interpretive Art and Archaeology

Cutting Edge of the Contemporary: KNUST, Accra, and the Ghanaian Contemporary Art Movement

The relationship between nature and contemporary visual art has been a source of critical interest since conceptualist earthworks projects by Smithson and others in the sixties, and the formalist terms of conversation that emerged then have dominated the way we talk about environmental art. On the other extreme, activist art makes explicit political and pedagogical appeals for ecological causes. However, a third case of environmental artists that make public encounter a powerful aspect and catalyst of real changes in understanding our relationship to nature – exemplified here by Andy Goldsworthy and David Nash – work in a mode that creates an aesthetics and rhetoric of relation between artist, work, and public. There has yet to be a unified and sustained vocabulary with which to talk about this work, but two contemporary theorists of aesthetics, Nicolas Bourriaud and Ariella Azoulay, each provide fruitful beginnings for a new vocabulary of this body of contemporary environmental art. Bourriaud’s controversial term “relational aesthetics” – a call to art that works as a space of reconfiguring social relations — and what Ariella Azoulay calls a “civil contract” way of seeing both provide an entry into describing this work. Combining these ideas, the resulting concept of “civil relationality” can then be applied to this “third case” of environmental art, used to recuperate Bourriaud’s much-criticized ideas, and expanded to larger currents in contemporary art.

Reviewed by: The Arcades: Contemporary Art and Walter Benjamin by Jewish Museum Laura Morowitz The Arcades: Contemporary Art and Walter Benjamin. The Jewish Museum, New York. March 17–August 6, 2017. For Walter Benjamin, art was a revolutionary tool. He wrote about the poetry of Baudelaire, the photographs of Atget, the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. In surrealism, the contemporary art of his day, he recognized both the spell of the dream and the potential for revolutionary transformation. In turn, artists have been deeply inspired, sometimes directly, sometimes via cultural transmission, by the mesmerizing reflections of Benjamin. A show of contemporary art informed by Benjamin’s writings could illuminate both the works themselves and the continuing relevance of Benjamin’s ideas. The show, The Arcades: Contemporary Art and Walter Benjamin, does not. On display at the Jewish Museum in the spring of 2017 and featuring the work of thirty-seven artists, the exhibition focused on Benjamin’s magnum opus, The Arcades Project (Das Passagen-Werk.) It is less a book then a sprawling, frustrating, heartbreaking, poetic, brilliant, and often abstruse series of quotations, observations, and reflections. It remained unfinished, its structure emulating the fragmentation of twentieth-century capitalism and the unfinished business of social revolution. Whether Benjamin ever intended to finish it will remain unknown, since he took his own life by swallowing morphine in despair at not being allowed to cross the Spanish border while fleeing the Nazis.1 The Arcades Project was Benjamin’s attempt to understand and articulate both the promise and failure of modernity. It does so through illuminating the disparate elements of nineteenth-century Paris, then the most technically advanced city of its time. The work is less a history than an archaeology of its subject. For Benjamin, the meaning of the city could best be understood through the debris and effluvia it had left behind, tiny glimmers of which were still visible beneath the surface. Modernity’s promise and failure were embodied in every element of Paris: its arcades, bridges, advertisements, poetry, social order, leisure habits, and material culture. The glass and iron arcades were indoor streets designed for window-shopping, strolling, and the pleasures of the flâneur. Like the objects of an archive, these things from the past [End Page 875] could now only be glimpsed in tantalizing fragments. Benjamin structured these topics in a loose array of quotations, revelations, and images, which he called convolutes. Within them he charted a revolutionary city’s thrall to the narcotic of capitalism. The curator of the exhibition, Jens Hoffman, deserves much credit for tackling such a fascinating and complex topic. It is hardly easy to fit The Arcades Project into any framework at all. The show is well conceived and the organization well planned. The problem with the show lies in its excision of Benjamin’s writing and in the selection of the works themselves, which fail to capture Benjamin’s spirit. The exhibit is divided cleanly into two parts. It opens, in a cleverly designed space meant to evoke the iron-framed arches of the Arcades, with an homage to Benjamin. After a cursory description of The Arcades Project, which focuses largely on the categories of the convolutes and on Benjamin’s role as historian of Paris, the visitor is invited to look at facsimiles of important documents of his life: his childhood studies in Hebrew, his entry card to the Bibliothèque Nationale, his final letter to Theodor Adorno (addressed to “mein lieber Teddie”). The visitor then enters a section devoted to contemporary art. Each of the works is displayed with two accompanying text boards, one a brief description or commentary on the convolute to which the work relates, the other a set of appropriated quotations chosen and put together by the poet Kenneth Goldsmith. The aim is to parallel the collage-like structure (or anti-structure) of Benjamin’s work, but chosen from a host of twentieth-century figures. Some of them, such as the “poem” for “Convolute X Marx” consists of quotations from Marshall Berman’s All that is Solid Melts into Air and works as a perfect compliment. 2 So, too, the reflections on boredom...

Just as contemporary art absorbs objects and cultural phenomena that are not yet art into its orbit, so too has rock and pop music become increasingly omnivorous at its definitional borders. Core to these analogous developments is the mythologization of the figure of the "band" as a creative agent and "world-maker." Although a band might produce material artifacts and sensorial affects, its perceived existence is predicated upon a consensually recognized, although not uniformly projected, immaterial fiction somewhere in space and time. There are, at least hypothetically, an unlimited range of objects and concepts that a work of art or rock band might draw into its network of relations. Somehow, both a work of contemporary art and a band are capable of maintaining a sufficient degree of referential identity and unity, which, despite potential changes and evolutions, remain recognizably consistent across multiple material forms. The apparently permeable nature of these definitional boundaries brings us to analogize contemporary postconceptual art with the absorptive world-making capacity of bands, which we refer to as "bandness."

Contemporary Archaeology has become more active globally since the mid 20th century. As of 2010, archeological investigation into contemporary archaeology material culture has rapidly grown in South Korea as well. However, in South Korea, contemporary data that are only under the surface were investigated, and except for Seoul, a very small part of the regions in South Korea was investigated. Under these circumstances, this study was conducted to establish the concept of Contemporary Archeology in accordance with the domestic situation of South Korea and to settle it in the academic world. Subdivisions of Contemporary Archeology include Industrial Archaeology, Digital Archaeology, Media Archaeology, Battlefield Archaeology, Conflict Archaeology, Religious Archaeology, Settlement Archaeology, and so forth. The beginning of Contemporary Archaeology is based on the data formed since the opening of the port in 1876, and its periodization can be set up depending on the historical events or rapid changes in material culture. The spacial scope of Contemporary Archaeology should not be limited to the Korean peninsula, but its surrounding areas should also be reviewed based on the cases related to the Korean peninsula. Contemporary Archaeology significantly differs from other general prehistoric and historical archeology in research methods or research processes. Especially, since the current typology, dating methods, the use of artifacts and remains, and intercultural relations have been the ones typically considered as archeology in most of East Asia, it may not seem like archeology research to research just the other parts of the study than the ones mentioned above. Due to this situation, a clear direction is needed when it comes to Contemporary Archaeology. Some of the suggestions are as follows: (1) research on industrialization process, (2) investigation and research on Japanese Colonial Rule, (3) problems in system improvement, (4) research on investigation methods, (5) approach as to contemporary archeology in religion, battlefield, media, etc. (6) research on exhibition and preservation, and (7) the release of archaeological data for interdisciplinary research. In conclusion, through these attempts, domestic academia of South Korea will be aware of Contemporary Archaeology in a deeper level, and the concept of Contemporary Archaeology will be settled in the domestic academia after the establishment of the concept in Contemporary Archaeology.

This article explores the phenomenon of nostalgia for the Soviet era found in contemporary Russian society and manifested both in contemporary art, such as in the installations of Il'ja Kabakov, Sergej Volkov, and Jevgenij Fiks, and in modern literature, especially in the prose of Andrej Astvacaturov. Such regret for a bygone past primarily mourns not the apparatus of the Soviet state, but the routine and the quality of familiar daily life. Insights from the fields of visual studies and trauma studies undergird this exploration of the relationship between a work of art's visual composition and its representation of toska, memory, and material culture in the Soviet era. By juxtaposing artwork with literary prose, we reveal the significant role had by 'reflective' toska-nostalgia (as defined by Svetlana Boym, 2001) in the formation of post-Soviet identity.

The concept of contemporary art does not emphasize the boundary between art and non-art. It will constantly include non-art objects into the category of art. Contemporary art has thoughts and souls. It focuses on human psychology, society, history and other broad fields. Contemporary artists are often people who are rich in philosophical thinking. They should learn to observe the world in depth and express their thoughts on the world with their works. Since the 20th century, with the awakening of People’s self-consciousness and political consciousness, artists’ exploration and application of body symbols constantly express their reflection and introspection on society, there is also a change in the way of understanding and constructing one’s own identity. The identity issues such as feminism and ethnic minorities have triggered a series of social movements. This article will take the body expression in modern and contemporary art as the incision, and will carry on the research from the following two aspects: 1) taking the body’s plasticity, empathy and sociality as the representatives, the paper analyzes the language characteristics behind the body’s expression; 2) This paper discusses the body as a critical weapon from the perspective of its discourse power, attitude, power and as a tool of identity construction. And through a number of body-related works of art research, analysis of its expression in the context of modern and contemporary art direction. Is a work of art an “organism”? In order to answer this question, we must first clarify the concept of “organism”, which usually refers to living individuals. The Modern Chinese Dictionary simplifies it to “human beings and animals”. The more popular definition in psychology is “the organic matter with the ability to adapt to changes in the environment”. An interpretation closer to the artistic dimension comes from Aristotle, who believed that “poetry is an organism”. Later, Coleridge, an English poet, developed his idea, believing that “the life of a poem originates from the seed of the poet’s inspiration, which unconsciously absorbs the components of external substances acting on the human brain, thereby forming an organic entity that unites content and form, thought and emotion, concept and imagery” (Whistler, 2013). From Coleridge’s point of view, it is obvious that the work of art is an “organism”, which is born from the artist’s inspiration. It is in turn influenced by different kinds of artistic priors and the real world, and is then shaped in the entity. Contemporary art, which we are discussing today, is more “organic” in its “body language”.

RETRACTED: Application of internet thinking in the teaching of environmental art design

The purpose of the article is to study the artistic traditions and conceptual innovations in the works of Ukrainian artists of the XX-XXI centuries. In contemporary Ukrainian art, figurative language is produced simultaneously with the renewal of public consciousness and in certain aspects directly contributes to its formation. Figurative imagery using Ukrainian artists of this cultural period is not only the result solely of sensory experience, they also absorb the institutionalization of social experience that allows them to reflect different levels of reality. The methodology is the cultural-semiotic analysis of the forms of manifestation of visualization of modern art culture. The application of a systematic approach allowed us to study semiotic systems that contribute to the comprehensive disclosure of the problem of the semantics of modern forms of visualization. The integrative approach has enabled research in new forms of visualization of modern artistic language, which combines informational and aesthetic functions. Due to the revealed changes, traditional images are visualized with the help of a new artistic language, which does not correspond to the traditional meanings of the artistic image. The scientific novelty of the work lies in understanding the metaphysics of postmodern figurative art in contemporary Ukrainian art. A characteristic feature of the development of modern culture is the rapid social transformation, covering all areas of human activity. For the structure of art, the nature of which is due to constant change and renewal, the problem of the relationship between tradition and innovation is important. Thus, contemporary artists in their figurative, non-figurative and conceptual practices use the memory of artistic culture and artistic traditions as a mediator between the past and the present. Ukrainian art practitioners build a multiple and diverse artistic and image system based on the mechanism of interaction of traditions and innovations, involvement in the creative process of specific stylistic combinations of past and present, and reflection on cultural realities. Conclusions. Ukrainian culture is being revived in the following main directions: the process of self-consciousness and the formation of national historical memory has intensified, and the vector of development of social consciousness has been determined. Also, due to the weakening of totalitarian control, upgraded ideological and spiritual social norms. In the context of freer cultural development, artists use simple and clear images in various unusual contexts, often visualizing the determinants of the renewal of the collective consciousness. At the same time, the entry of domestic art into the world art arena meant the urgent need for rapid change in all spheres of art. This speed led to a number of complex problematic issues related to the difficult interaction of traditions and innovations, as well as folk and classical in contemporary art, determined the formation of a new series of images.

When a flotation machine, an object routinely employed at archaeological sites, was featured prominently in an art exhibition, its significance did not simply change. As well as interrupting the machine’s meaning (function), the act and event also made possible the emergence of new forms of attention, and of different means of engagement with the object. This paper explores the collaboration between archaeology and art where this occurred, the exhibition Geography of Looking in the Ar/Ge Kunst art space in the city of Bolzano in northeast Italy. The introduction of a flotation machine into the art space initiated a dialogue about the perception, interpretation and disciplinary boundaries of archaeology. Entangled in artistic discursive practice and curated as such, the flotation machine unexpectedly became more “archaeological”. The implications of this collaboration on our understanding and framing of archaeological practice elicited a new question: when is archaeology? This question foregrounds the potential of archaeology to become more democratic, inclusive and responsive, and proposes a more collective and boundary-crossing looking. The paper contributes to the growing discourse on contemporary archaeology and art, inviting further collaborations and co-creations. What role is there for archaeology approaching the contemporary, and is there a prospect for a deep and enduring looking into an alternative, otherwise world building?

As the world sails into the second decade of the new millennium, more and more people are beginning to realize the importance of folk art, their elegance and beauty. Contemporary art is a reflection of the seeds sown by folk art in different cultures hundreds of years ago. But apart from just being traditional, folk art has a significant socio-political dimension. In this paper, folk art stands as a representation of the mass public which expresses itself as popular culture. According to Ang, the ‘populist aesthetic’ is “based on an affirmation of the continuity of cultural forms and daily life, and on a deep- rooted desire for participation, and on emotional involvement” (274). This paper will focus on the distinctive nature and role of popular folk art- the Bangladeshi Jatra and the Japanese Kabuki, which originated from the populist aesthetic of two very different cultures. Although Bangladeshi and Japanese cultures are varied, they have some common grounds on which oral or “dialogue drama” flourished as ‘performance’ among the underprivileged masses. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12935 The Arts Faculty Journal Vol.4 July 2010-June 2011 pp.109-115

O texto apresenta a exposição O Fio Invisível. O Popular e o Divino no Imaginário de Sofia de Medeiros, patente no Museu de Arte Popular de Lisboa entre 7 de março e 30 de junho de 2019. O percurso artístico que Sofia de Medeiros tem vindo a desenvolver desde os anos 1990 conjuga uma forte componente de investigação etnográfica, da qual revela ser profunda conhecedora, e uma experiência vivida deste património de tradições culturais em diálogo com a sua prática artística que lhes dá forma. Inspirada no saber fazer e habilidades manuais oriundas do artesanato, o trabalho da artista açoriana torna inseparáveis o pensamento e a reflexão teórica das manualidades e habilidades técnicas. A artista procura tecer relações entre a arte contemporânea e a arte popular. Apresentando alguns trabalhos realizados entre 2012 e 2017 e um novo e maior conjunto de obras inéditas expressamente concebidas para três salas do Museu de Arte Popular (Sala do Minho, Sala de Trás-os-Montes e Sala dos Pórticos), a exposição propõe criar um diálogo com alguns documentos históricos, como fotografias, desenhos e objetos que pertencem às coleções tanto deste museu como também do Museu Nacional de Etnologia.

Examples of conceptual solutions to exhibitions devoted to racial identity in contemporary American art are investigated. The modern multicultural environment of the United States appreciates and explores various manifestations of identity. Trying to overcome stereotypes and myths are tied to her. Therefore, museums and departments in museums representing different cultural regions, and of course, artistic works, are so popular because in them the identity is manifested with the most significant force and with the most vivid colors. For analysis, contemporary African-American and Asian-American art presented in the framework of individual projects devoted to thematic and curatorial design is precisely racial identity in contemporary art: «30 Americans» and «Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter» As part of the analysis, individual artists are mentioned, and their works of art, filled with stereotypical images associated with identity, and their artistic searches for the identity of the personal. An exposition project on the socio-historical direction «Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation» is also being studied, designed to demonstrate influences Indian culture to contemporary American culture. The strategy offered by foreign curators cannot be fully incorporated into the realm of Ukrainian art, in the absence of racial issues as such. However, at the same time studying foreign experience can serve as an excellent example for defining national identity and a better understanding of narrow identities, which in the future can transform into exciting and meaningful art projects.

We, the Editor and Publisher of the Journal Of Experimental Nanoscience, have retracted the following article, which is part of the Special Issue titled Adaptive Nanotechnology for Environmental Sustainability: Nan Li, Shuwen Yang & Yongming Hua (2023) Exploration on inheritance and innovation of material technology and material culture in folk arts, Journal of Experimental Nanoscience, 18:1, DOI: 10.1080/17458080.2023.2170360 Following publication, concerns were raised about the peer review and decision-making processes for this special issue. After an investigation by the Taylor & Francis Publishing Ethics & Integrity team, in full cooperation with the Editor-in-Chief, it was confirmed that the article was not reviewed appropriately, in line with the Journal’s peer review standards and policy. As the stringency of the peer review process is core to the integrity of the publication process, the Editor and Publisher have decided to retract the article. The authors have been informed of this decision. We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and the COPE guidelines. The retracted articles will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but they will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.

Ecological safety is one of the most urgent problems of humanity. After analyzing previous research, whose authors have investigated environmental problems and their influence on one and their art, we can conclude that finding such influence patterns in works of art of the ХХІth century is a topic not studied enough. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of ecological problems on works of art and their characteristics, as well as finding results, that could be useful for art critics, designers, and artists. During the research, we have analyzed the works of modern designers and artists that touch on the topic of environmental problems. As a result, we have found 3 global problems that artists tend to choose for their creations: 1) global warming; 2) pollution; 3) species extinction; 4) deforestation. It was also found, that the main means of art that authors are using for talking about these problems are: 1) sculpture; 2) painting, 3) photography; 4) installations Purpose. The purpose of the article is to analyze contemporary social art projects devoted to environmental problems in the world, to elucidate the most important environmental problems reflected in the work of artists, to identify the main types of art to which their works belong, to identify the main ways of the artistic expressiveness of the composition in their works. Methodology. In this article, we have used such methods as analysis, observation, comparison, and research. Results. in the course of the scientific work we have described the depiction of the most actual ecological problems in sculptors' works and have found the main means of art that have been used in them. Scientific novelty. This research is the first one to systematize and arrange the information regarding the main ecological problems and the main means of art being used by artists to talk about them. Practical value. This work widens the scientific apparatus of art historians and researchers of works of contemporary art