Documental Surface: Mirror of Visual Superficies in Contemporary Art - Essay Example

Research Proposal SEUNG JAE SHIN Documental Surface: Mirror of Visual Superficies in Contemporary Art Abstract The objective of this research is to investigate the method of how these images which are expressed in the arts work will go through and are formed with what kind of meaning process, how these images reflect the various contemporary phenomenon, and ultimately to clarify what kind of issue will be able to present in two-dimensional artwork. I believe today's medium possess a kind of 'documental surface' which are connected with the inner value of contents and have interested in how these phenomenon applied to artwork, especially two-dimensional artwork. I also noted these phenomenons suggest visual information like certain event, fact and value in a certain way of each medium. This research will be required philosophy of art and aesthetics inside artwork as well as the scholastic discussion, which relate with visual perception, cognitive science and cognitive psychology outside artwork, and some experiments composed of ongoing low-relief canvas work and others, which can provide diverse features of surface. Through this methodology, It will be questioned what is the position of artwork and medium as a visual signifying process and how this 'documental surface' can be reflected into the two-dimensional artwork. Introduction Art has been a focal point for a variety of cultures since the history of time. It is an expression of how a race or a group of people perceive themselves in relation with the world around them. In this context, an important premise remains the fact that art is born from within and from influences that come from the outside. This paper is based on the fact that western culture has had an immense influence on the way art is perceived. A bench in a park well reveals the relation between simple visual response and recognition. Although this is actually made of stone, with a texture, color, pattern and other characteristics of real wood, it can be perceived as a wooden chair. Therefore, in some points of view, perceiving something as a wooden is taking the 'documental surface' 1 connected to internal value of wood. This pattern of accepting process converted with visual and perceptible feature generally and flexibly at the same time. Similarly, they indicate how artworks have been applying to the limitation, which has similarity between making and recognizing artwork. Recently noticeable thing is that certain interactional participation is distinguishing in this kind of visual specialty. These positions can be exemplified by the following premises. Conventionalizing information such as image, event and phenomena visually is natural formulation, and it appears characteristic connected to the conventional process and method. Additionally, these information are accepted by diverse medium which can observe something instead of direct eye and can be explained better by 'external characteristics' 2 of media itself. Lastly, these two features- conventionalization of information and surface feature of media compositely participate in making artwork and conversely interact as well. Background of Study It is said that the way something is built has a large bearing on how it is perceived. In the case of art, the use of mass media has accentuated the play of technology to the extent that the very way that an art form is conceptualised depends on the factors that are a part of the culture surrounding it. Since 1985, the play of mass media has begun on a note that has created the scope to create art beyond what has been seen in the conventional sense. The rise of technology has been accentuated by the west. Technology has come from the west and is associated with the west. Thus, an important premise here is that most of world sees western culture as an amalgamation of technology along with an ethic that is associated with the same. (Brown, 2005; P 2 - 6) Communication forms in the form of electronic, print and other media has had a major role in deciding how western culture is perceived to begin with. (Brown, 2005; P 4). Thus, art has been accepted in context of these communication forms that dominate the various resources in the world. Technological innovations are a matter of providing newer and better insights into the way various elements around us are perceived. This has had a large bearing on the way western culture is perceived to start with. This in turn, affects the fact that we associate art with western culture as well. This associative mode has a bearing on the relationship between western cultural values and the way art is perceived. This had been predicted by Marshall Mcluhan in terms of the global village concept. What had started out as a speculation on the part of Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s, regarding the fact that the world was being transformed into a "global village" in the face of TV and new telecommunication technologies, has become a debate of much greater dimensions. His prediction has gone past mere "telecommunication technologies", to an arena where a new wave of digital technologies personified by the Internet and its offshoots, are proving to be as much a force for diversity as they are for similitude. Structural Implications In this paper, the effect of western cultural values has been studied as an influence on art forms. This has been done through the definition of individualism in two structures. These are, a Sumerian figure, the Greek Apollo, the Gothic Jamb figure. These figured have been used from the book titled Art and Mass Media. These figures have been studied as the structural implications of the affect of western cultural values on the way we see art. This is a part of the associative mode that is an important premise in this paper. Individualism is an important part of western culture. This is apparent in the fact that technology is an important part of the way people in the west lead their lives. This gives rise to a sense of independence in everyday living which in turn supports the feeling of individualism in the way people lead their lives. This individualism has been connected with the three figures that are being studied. As discussed above, building and perceiving are inter related concepts. This has been discussed as 'making' and 'matching' in Art and Mass Media. (Brown, 2005; P 4). This concept of 'making' and 'matching' is an important concept in the space within which a structure is conceptualised. This is apparent in the first figure - the standing male figure from ancient Sumer. The space and form within which the art form has been created shows that there is a disparity between 'making' and 'matching' which shows a departure from an adherence to norms within art and signifies the use of individualism instead. This is also apparent in the standing figure of the sculpture from ancient Greece where the very fact that the head is angles away from the glare of a person viewing the sculpture, shows individualism at its height. Both the sculptures are studies in individualism. While the first one demonstrates this through the use of well defined and coloured eyes, it also shows individualism in the way the figures have places their palms which is a way of showing that the subjects have kept a major part of their personalities private - much like the lifestyles led in the west which have given rise to the present cultural values present there. The first and the second figure show similarities in the organisation of detail. The contemporary world if seen from the context of the two structures above can be seen as the organisation of detail which promotes individualism. This organisation of detail has been viewed in the western world and its sphere of cultural values as the amalgamation and effective use of various communicative modes like electronic and print media. This new environment has led to the construction of an elevated human awareness within which art forms are perceived. Here, there is an important play of bipolar opposition in the form of the Oriental perception of art form and the perception through western cultural values. (Brown, 2005) The contemporary period can be considered to possess a number of artists that can be considered of substance and grace in the corresponding field. This particular era in history was marked by the uprising of various trends in arts and the foray of women and other unlikely sections of the society into the world of art. Mary Kelly is one of the artists of the contemporary period. She is known to be a feminist and fighting an important advocacy through her works. Feminism became a strong benchmark for the society in that particular period, which can be seen through the various art forms and literature created at that time. Unlike the modern times, feminism was not reflected in policy changes as yet and was still confined to mere forms of expression. This was one of the key features of Mary Kelly's life. This play of femisnism also depicts the relationship between theory and practice as reflected in the work by Mary Kelly. This paper will also seek to study the interpretive role of architecture through a focus on a modern day structure. By modern day structure, the author refers to the technical definition of the same which fits like a glove for those buildings that have seen completion only after the year 1985. The paper has been divided into two distinct sections in the course of discussion. The first is the impact of interpretive theories when applied to studying and defining architecture. The second part is the application of the same to a structure called the Guggenheim Museum, in Spain's Bilbao. This structure was created by Frank Gehry in 1997. This structure is an epitome of modern architecture and the use of fine art in context of functional engineering to bring about maximum satisfaction for the creator and maximum interaction from the people visiting such a structure. (Forster, 1998; P 7 to 11) Gehry's Guggenheim Frank Gehry is a notable architect of the modern era with structures like the Pritzker Pavilion Park in Chicago, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and many others to his credit. Gehry's structures have gained prominence as they reflect his keen eye for a deconstructive form of design and play of elements in his architecture. One of his most notable structures remains the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. (Forster, 1998; P 9) Gehry has demonstrated the use of interpretive strategies in his style of architecture, which makes his structures a good subject for discussion. For example, the use of waste resources as the main structural elements shows his inclinational towards the semiotic and political aspect of interpretive strategies. This garners maximum user participation in his structures besides giving rise to a distinct language in the interpretation of the balance between fine art and engineering in his structuralism. Also, the play of phenomenological factors in his various structures gives rise to a source of structural expression through a strong visual impact. (Forster, 1998; P 10) The Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao has been designed strategically by Frank Gehry along the Neviron River that runs all the way to the Atlantic coast. Executed by Ferrovial, this museum is several among those that are a part of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation. Besides featuring the work of various visiting artists, the museum is a permanent showcase for famous Spanish artists and their work. (Forster, 1998; P 6) This museum is a play of curves that have been created from and to random tangents so as to help showcase one of the wonderful of God's creations - light. The play of light throughout this structure, at any time of the day is a vital part of its design and the charm which pulls visitors to it. As a city in Basque Country, Spain, Bilbao has a rich heritage of art and an even richer heritage as far as a stream of visiting artists is concerned. This structure has been developed as an architectural marvel that helps showcase the global village concept so as to tie the various parts of the world that the artists showcasing their work here, belong to. (Forster, 1998; P 7 to 11) Interpretive Theories and Strategies To begin with, it is imperative to define the exact nature and importance of these strategies in context of the Guggenheim. Interpretive strategies spring from that aspect of a field's study which seeks to define the same in context of an individual's life and link the same with various factors at a regional, international and global level. (Norberg - Schulz,1996; P 414 - 428) The role of an interpretive strategy in the case of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim is to bring out a variety of features in the structural implications of the building. These features have been further discussed below. One of the major features of an interpretive strategy lies in its ability to transform a space and transport an individual to a place beyond the structure where the building and the individual in question are in perfect tandem as far as everyday activities and a sense of drama in this everyday life is concerned. This has been termed as Hermeneutics. (Hale, 2000; P 213 - 233) On a more technical grid, the term hermeneutics adheres to the play of a person's sense of aesthetics when regarding the Guggenheim Museum. The finer point shows that the hermeneutic tradition helps create a platform where a person may experience the museum as an extension of his or her daily living. This is an important point made by the term 'modern aesthetics', which cater to more than a marriage of fine art and engineering for positive structural implications in the museum. (Hale, 2000; P 213 - 233) While on hermeneutics, it is important to realize another feature of the use of interpretive strategies in the Guggenheim. Hermeneutics caters for the act of drawing out a person who is regarding a structure. This is brought about by a careful play of fine art as well as political and ideological view within the structure. In the case of the Guggenheim Museum, this has been achieved through the use of language in terms of mere fine art to put forth a point in favour of the semiotic implications of the structure's design as conceived in the mind of the person regarding it. (Hale, 2000; P 203 - 211) In case of the Guggenheim Museum, this has also created a space within which the language is based on the architectural features. This again points to the intermingling of the technical and the artistic - i.e., fine art and engineering - within the context of a region's political and economic frame of mind. This language then helps reduce barriers and deconstruct a structure thus enabling him or her, to understand the structure in terms of a personal yardstick of aesthetics. (Hale, 2000; P 203 - 211) These features have a variety of implications for the Guggenheim and the phenomenological and semiotic aspects that will be later discussed in greater detail. To begin with, they point to the usefulness or uselessness of the structure as understood and garnered by the individual assessing the structure in his or her mind's eye. This directly points to the balance between fine art and engineering and the effects of the same as far as achievement of wholesome aesthetics is concerned. This field of wholesome aesthetics has been defined in context of hermeneutics in order to point to the collective sense of positivism garnered by the structure as far as the society surrounding it is concerned. This has a direct bearing on the political aspect of the Guggenheim Museum's structuralism. (McDonough, 1996; P 400 - 410) The usefulness and uselessness of a structure are directly tied with the political aspect of architecture. Structuralism in hermeneutics gained momentum under the growth of community based architecture that came up during the beginning of the twentieth century. This brand of architecture had a leaning towards creating "beauty for the masses". As a concept it further extended into and achieved growth in the form of modern day architecture. This furthered the cause of various branches like 'green architecture' and architecture in the social context. In this regard, the Guggenheim Museum does not thrives on the level of development within a particular region more than anything. This adds various dimensions to the political theory when applied to its structuralism. This is important for a variety of reasons. (Jameson, 1998; P 442 - 461) In this regard, another artist will be studied for structuralism issues. Giger is synonymous with the depiction of realism in context of imagination, in the modern era. An artist par excellence he has created a new niche called surrealism. There are a variety of art forms in life through which real life situations are depicted and portrayed so as to cater to a wide audience. His art forms include paintings, movies, music and various other spheres. In context of understanding human behaviour, he has through filmmaking has embraced this aspect as the very basis of its body of knowledge. Therefore, we will make use of the ideologies of understanding human behaviour portrayed in works of this notable artist. (H R Giger Official Website) Major issue and Sub-problem The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between the visual accepting process, medium and two-dimensional work and their interaction: how each signified principal accompany with stimulation and transformation, and strengthen individual correlation, ultimately, which is to clarify what kind of issue can be presented into the art field. Namely, I would examine the reason of conventional visual pattern and the method reflected into the art field by recording, illuminating and embodying the contemporary. This intention and supposition can be approached to the following questions: 1. What is the role of visual signifying process in terms of recognizing actual being as a kind of sign 2. What kind of cognitive domination will be caused by the physical characteristics of particular medium 3. How the results of 1 and 2 are presented and expressed in recent two-dimensional artwork 4. What is the transformation of 'Documental surface' between the medium and the two-dimensional art field 5. What is the methodology to record falsification, prejudice, counterfeit and confrontation of diverse visual information representing the fact, mode and doctrine 6. What is the interaction to continue and strengthen the feature of two-dimensional artwork of this series of phenomena and challenge Practice, Literature and Method My works have been proceeding with conceptual relationship between visual information and medium as well as physical one, structural characteristic of two-dimensional artwork. I have been dealing with the images from the cognitive fallacy of perspective, ordinary things and the object whose sign is overwhelming the shape to the certain scene and phenomenon showing its falsification, prejudice, counterfeit and ideological confrontation from the recent media. Art and Mass Media by Betty Ann Brown is a volume that chronicles the rise of western culture in context of its influence on art. This has been studied from the perspective of various art forms, ancient, medieval and modern so as to demonstrate how cultures are capable of affecting art forms and rendering finer detail to the structure. (Brown, 2005; P 2 - 4). The volume has conceptualised the way art has been seen and used since 1985 with the advent of mass media and especially the Internet. This conceptualisation has reached a phase where the influx of ideas related with the use of technology and mass media has grown to such heights where it accommodates a whole new dimension of art. These visual information are expressed by line drawing using the low relief. This is, like the wooden bench of the park which it refer in advance, structural formation including actual form of bending in spite of its all-over screen covered with monotone color. It is a way to understand a cross-section of complex images, using a drawing model, which make the artwork containing the image in the screen and its superficies simultaneously, or make the artwork to display the recordable and structural feature together in the plain. In other words, the process which the information signified by visualizing and its external characteristics of medium are appeared into the one screen. The prerequisites of visual and perceptual characteristics extend to philosophical thinking within art while built on other fields such as cognitive science and psychology, which have served as essential presuppositions in my work. Many scholars in and outside of art field including German psychologist Rudolph Arnheim (19042007) pointed out that visual and perceptual peculiarities are related with thinking because, from the past, there are optical system established internal symbols to live or act instinctively; adopting utilities from retinal images, and it is understood with the combination of various conditions in the picture. 3 4 5 These connect to the fact that this kind of optional acceptance takes a similar process in recognizing artworks and actual being. This relation can be found clearly in Rosalind Krauss' analysis of the sculpture, 'Development of a bottle in space' by Umberto Boccioni. She states that the simple outlines play a conceptual role for the bottle's structure, that is to say, they serve as an intellectual symbol of the bottle's substance. 6 Interest thing is that this aesthetic view maintains the same way as the following cognitive scientific studies. French cognitive scientist Georges Vignaux makes this claim in his book . He explains that all the verifications of objects are accomplished by connecting constituent factors captured in the object and constituent factors as a figurative symbol.7 Moreover, It is interesting that susceptibility and values correspond to diverse external surfaces, which were had not been presented before their recent occurrences, and consequently, they are involving in artwork with an active manner. After the War, the appearance of accelerated technologies including commercial internet helped to change inartistic materials with unfamiliar qualities into artistic materials and values. The appearance of industrial paints with metallic-fluorescent colors, synthetic fiber and product such as aluminum and Plexiglas8 have now become different materials from those used by artists like Dan Flavin, Andy Warhol and Donald Judd, which means they acquired different artistic external surfaces.9 10 This means that what corresponded to the "signs" in Baudrilard's theory could be today's personal computer monitors, glossy photographs, printed magazines etc., and perhaps could become remote movies, holograms and hypertext in the future. Ongoing methodology by using low relief has expressed with reasonable attitude, on the other hands, it result more allegorical and metaphorical outcome in outward. It is, therefore, significant to find the interface between two fields of study-approaches on aesthetical and philosophical debates inside the art field and social, scientific and psychological approaches outside the art field, and this could be advanced by organizing its hypothesis and illuminating to the works. In theoretical study of linkage between inside and outside of art field, two approaches seem to be feasible: art works in particular formulation and its contents. This two pathways would give mutual affection to my recent works, which means that it is significant to observe how the artworks and artists persist in their framework and how the same substance would be expressed differently. In the first stage, the examination about artists who emphasize the external characteristics using various medium could be suggested at the beginning, then the analysis of the artworks presented as two-dimensional form could be executed. Specifically, the research could be more focused on which strategies are employed to display the fallacy of visual information in the medium. With advanced manner, it is expected to related practices led to some feedback through the response of spectators and experts in relevant field such as aesthetics, philosophy, anthroposophy and cultural studies. The proclivity, revealing the superficies usually accompany with critical debate, separately this, I believe these external characteristics of medium could be intermixed like 'Assemblage', understood and extended as stereoscopic configuration. Thus, I expect this research will prove to be significant, in discovering a mutual action in three domains-vision, medium and artworks- which are surrounded by a sort of layers, made of today's virtual images as can be seen in the work of H R Giger and Frank O Gehry. References 1. Hale, Jonathan A (2000). Building Ideas: An Introduction to Architectural Theories. John Wiley and Sons. 2. Leach, Neil (1997). Rethinking Architecture. Routledge, London. 3. Frampton, Kenneth (1992). Modern Architecture: A critical history. Thames and Hudson. 4. Eagleton, Terry (1983). "Conclusion: Political Criticism" Literary Theory: An Introduction. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 5. Foucault, Michael (1997). "Space, Knowledge and Power". Interview with Paul Rainbow. Rethinking Architecture. Routledge, London. 6. Jameson, Fredric (1985). "Architecture and the Critique of Ideology". Architecture, Criticism, Ideology. Princeton Architectural Press, New York. 7. Heidegger, Martin (1971). "Building, Dwelling, Thinking". Poetry, Language, Thought. Harper and Row, New York. 8. Kearney, Richard (1986). Modern Movements in European Philosophy. Manchester University Press, Manchester. 9. Norbeg - Schulz, Christian (1996). "The Phenomenon of Place". Theorising a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 - 1995. Princeton Architectural Press, New York. 10. Forster, Kurt W (1998). Frank O Gehry, Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa. Axel Menges Edition. 11. Brown, Betty A (2005). Art and Mass Media. Second Edition. Kendall Hunt Publishers. 12. Kelly, M. (1999). Post-Partum Document. University of California Press. 13. Knight, C. (2007). An abundance of insights. LA Times, April 29, 2007, F8-9. 14. Larson, E. (2002). About a Boy. Art in America, December 2002, pp. 98-101. 15. Miles, C. (2002). Mary Kelly at Santa Monica Museum of Art. Art Forum, March 2002, p.145. 16. H R Giger - Official Website. URL: www.hrgiger.com (Accessed during: August, 2008) 17. McLuhan, Marshall (2005). The Medium is Massage. Ginko Press. 18. Bell, Julien (2002). What is an art, tran. Won, Hyung Jun., Seoul : Hangil Art, p.80 19. Vignaux, Georges (1991). Les sciences cognitives une introduction, tran. Kim, Sun Ja., Im,Gi Dae., Park, Dong Yeol., Seoul : Mannam, p.173 to 193 20. Arenheim, Rudolph (1969). Visual Thinking, tran Kim, Jung O, Seoul: Ehwa Women's University publishing department, p.45 21. Krauss, Rosalind (1997). Passage in Modern Sculpture, tran.Yoon, Nan Ji; Seoul :Yeo kyung, p.64 22. 'Canadian artist, Michael Snow (1929) in his video performance, < Right reader> stands before Plexiglas in order to seem to be shown himself in the movie.' 23. Rush, Michael (2003) New media in late 20th -century art, trans. Sim, Chul Woong., Seoul : Si Gong Company, p.45 24. Whitney Museum of American Art (Lisa Philips, 2008),The American Century, trans. Song, Mi Sook., Seoul: Hakgojae, p.215 25. Am Jung, Dong (2007) Media Art, Seoul: Communication books, p. 53 Read More