Art history in the wake of post-structuralism has relied heavily on theories of subjectivity. Rec... more Art history in the wake of post-structuralism has relied heavily on theories of subjectivity. Recent philosophical tendencies, characterized as "Actor-Network Theory," "Thing Theory," "Object-Oriented Ontology," "Speculative Realism," and "Vibrant Materialism," have profoundly challenged the centrality of subjectivity in the humanities and, arguably, the perspectives that theories of the subject from the psychoanalytic to the Foucauldian have afforded (on the operations of power, the production of difference, and the constitution of the social, for instance). At least four moves characterize these discourses: • Attempting to think the reality of objects beyond human meanings and uses. This other reality is often rooted in "thingness" or an animate materiality. • Asserting that humans and objects form networks or assemblages across which agency and even consciousness are distributed. • Shifting from epistemology, in all of its relation to critique, to ontology, where the being of things is valued alongside that of persons. • Situating modernity in geological time with the concept of the "Anthropocene," an era defined by the destructive ecological effects of human industry. Many artists and curators, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the United States, appear deeply influenced by this shift. Is it possible, or desirable, to decenter the human in discourse on art in particular? What is gained in the attempt, and what-or who-disappears from view? Is human difference-gender, race, power of all kinds-elided? What are the risks in assigning agency to objects; does it absolve us of responsibility, or offer a new platform for politics? We wonder if it is possible to reconcile the different positions we've outlined, many of which seem to contradict one another, in order to theorize a new materialism or objectivity. If it isn't, what is at stake in those irreconcilable differences? Which, if any, are the productive materialisms for making and thinking about art today? Please comment from the perspective of your own work on the significance and effects of these developments.
Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not t... more Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not type of challenging means. You could not forlorn going bearing in mind books amassing or library or borrowing from your associates to entrance them. This is an very easy means to specifically acquire guide by on-line. This online declaration thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas can be one of the options to accompany you with having supplementary time.
Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not t... more Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not type of challenging means. You could not forlorn going bearing in mind books amassing or library or borrowing from your associates to entrance them. This is an very easy means to specifically acquire guide by on-line. This online declaration thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas can be one of the options to accompany you with having supplementary time.
Recent philosophical tendencies of “Actor-Network Theory,” “Object-Oriented Ontology,” and “Specu... more Recent philosophical tendencies of “Actor-Network Theory,” “Object-Oriented Ontology,” and “Speculative Realism” have profoundly challenged the centrality of subjectivity in the humanities, and many artists and curators, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the United States, appear deeply influenced by this shift from epistemology to ontology. October editors asked artists, historians, and philosophers invested in these projects—from Graham Harman and Alexander R. Galloway to Armen Avanessian and Patricia Falguières to Ed Atkins and Amie Siegel—to explore what the rewards and risks of assigning agency to objects may be, and how, or if, such new materialisms can be productive for making and thinking about art today.
John Knight must be considered one of the most influential and yet elusive figures in site-specif... more John Knight must be considered one of the most influential and yet elusive figures in site-specific art and institutional critique. The artist, who lives in Los Angeles but always works in situ, produces his works exclusively on commission; at a far remove from criteria of stylistic consistency his works employ morphologies and materials that can hardly be assigned to traditional aesthetic registers or conventions of medium-specificity His approach is instead defined by the use of readymades that already carry hybrid associations by virtue of their use-value as well as their symbolic meanings, commercially or politically charged imagery and aspects of architectural and urban design in which iconic significance is a salient feature. Yet Knight’s anti-idealist practice not only illustrates that an engagement with these parameters is imperative in postmodern art in general; his projects subject these phenomena structuring the order of visibility that shapes our everyday lives to a critical revision of their authoritative ambitions at the respective sites of their production and exhibition.
Art history in the wake of post-structuralism has relied heavily on theories of subjectivity. Rec... more Art history in the wake of post-structuralism has relied heavily on theories of subjectivity. Recent philosophical tendencies, characterized as "Actor-Network Theory," "Thing Theory," "Object-Oriented Ontology," "Speculative Realism," and "Vibrant Materialism," have profoundly challenged the centrality of subjectivity in the humanities and, arguably, the perspectives that theories of the subject from the psychoanalytic to the Foucauldian have afforded (on the operations of power, the production of difference, and the constitution of the social, for instance). At least four moves characterize these discourses: • Attempting to think the reality of objects beyond human meanings and uses. This other reality is often rooted in "thingness" or an animate materiality. • Asserting that humans and objects form networks or assemblages across which agency and even consciousness are distributed. • Shifting from epistemology, in all of its relation to critique, to ontology, where the being of things is valued alongside that of persons. • Situating modernity in geological time with the concept of the "Anthropocene," an era defined by the destructive ecological effects of human industry. Many artists and curators, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the United States, appear deeply influenced by this shift. Is it possible, or desirable, to decenter the human in discourse on art in particular? What is gained in the attempt, and what-or who-disappears from view? Is human difference-gender, race, power of all kinds-elided? What are the risks in assigning agency to objects; does it absolve us of responsibility, or offer a new platform for politics? We wonder if it is possible to reconcile the different positions we've outlined, many of which seem to contradict one another, in order to theorize a new materialism or objectivity. If it isn't, what is at stake in those irreconcilable differences? Which, if any, are the productive materialisms for making and thinking about art today? Please comment from the perspective of your own work on the significance and effects of these developments.
Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not t... more Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not type of challenging means. You could not forlorn going bearing in mind books amassing or library or borrowing from your associates to entrance them. This is an very easy means to specifically acquire guide by on-line. This online declaration thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas can be one of the options to accompany you with having supplementary time.
Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not t... more Getting the books thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas now is not type of challenging means. You could not forlorn going bearing in mind books amassing or library or borrowing from your associates to entrance them. This is an very easy means to specifically acquire guide by on-line. This online declaration thinking through painting reflexivity and agency beyond the canvas can be one of the options to accompany you with having supplementary time.
Recent philosophical tendencies of “Actor-Network Theory,” “Object-Oriented Ontology,” and “Specu... more Recent philosophical tendencies of “Actor-Network Theory,” “Object-Oriented Ontology,” and “Speculative Realism” have profoundly challenged the centrality of subjectivity in the humanities, and many artists and curators, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the United States, appear deeply influenced by this shift from epistemology to ontology. October editors asked artists, historians, and philosophers invested in these projects—from Graham Harman and Alexander R. Galloway to Armen Avanessian and Patricia Falguières to Ed Atkins and Amie Siegel—to explore what the rewards and risks of assigning agency to objects may be, and how, or if, such new materialisms can be productive for making and thinking about art today.
John Knight must be considered one of the most influential and yet elusive figures in site-specif... more John Knight must be considered one of the most influential and yet elusive figures in site-specific art and institutional critique. The artist, who lives in Los Angeles but always works in situ, produces his works exclusively on commission; at a far remove from criteria of stylistic consistency his works employ morphologies and materials that can hardly be assigned to traditional aesthetic registers or conventions of medium-specificity His approach is instead defined by the use of readymades that already carry hybrid associations by virtue of their use-value as well as their symbolic meanings, commercially or politically charged imagery and aspects of architectural and urban design in which iconic significance is a salient feature. Yet Knight’s anti-idealist practice not only illustrates that an engagement with these parameters is imperative in postmodern art in general; his projects subject these phenomena structuring the order of visibility that shapes our everyday lives to a critical revision of their authoritative ambitions at the respective sites of their production and exhibition.
Uploads
Books by André Rottmann
Papers by André Rottmann