Doctoral Research Group Representation Visuality Knowledge

Tables in painting demonstrate traditions of meeting and gathering, of community and subject formation, and of artistic design, transforming those traditions into images on the canvas. Tables provide a space for different structures, which are arranged on them, put in relation to each other, and call into question prevailing assumptions. Tables' limited space focuses the observer's eye on the objects visible on their surface, and creates scope and space for the imagination. Tables are transitional objects; an interface at which the aesthetic, the social and the reflective dimensions of the image meet. They are also at the borderline, poised between contradictory functions and representations. 

The doctoral project concentrates on dining tables in occupied interiors and in the open air: tables that are part of social table scenes. Research into tables in painting has to date focused on still life and to a lesser extent on picnic scenes. Building on this basis, this project looks explicitly at life table scenes.
Dining tables in art give complex snapshot of moments at which an artistic process takes the place of actual cultural practice. Moments in which inner values and sensitivities take on a tangible outer form; in which three dimensions become two, and which thus highlight the production and reception aesthetics of tables. For dining tables, it is the social and mental environment of a meal that defines the order at the table. Set standards and value systems such as the pattern of meals, service, the order of dishes and table decorations, and table manners, distinctions drawn between the sexes and social orders, are expressed in the company at the table. As a social and material object, the table therefore takes on a stabilising, differentiating, regulating and standardising role. The table is thus a mobile, material upholder of an intangible order; an order which the table concretizes, and which is expressed in relation to the company at the table. Despite this significant function, the table is itself an inconspicuous object. It usually fades into the background behind the action, disappearing from view. As an image on the canvas, the table is a "picture within the picture". It is an unobtrusive part of a whole, and yet also emerges from the overall structure as a meaningful detail. The underlying question explored in this project is therefore what happens when tables in art become visible; when they emerge from the picture and become the focus of the observer's eye. The project combines an examination of forms of representation, reflection on their production and an exploration of the social environment at the time at which they emerged. The project examines the period from the end of the 19th century to the start of the 20th century: at this time, tables were becoming increasingly significant as independent and productive instances and, in the context of the emerging middle classes, reflected a new era of middle-class consumption.
This art research project applies methods from representation theory, the aesthetics of production, the history and theory of knowledge, the aesthetics of reception, cultural studies and visual and media studies.

This stu­dy is si­tua­ted at the cross­roads of art his­to­ry, di­gi­tal tech­no­lo­gy and phi­lo­so­phy, as it con­siders the work of three young ar­tists who have been si­gni­fi­cant­ly in­flu­en­ced by the di­gi­tal. Ame­ri­can and Bri­tish ar­tists Ali­sa Ba­rem­boym, Ali­ce Chan­ner and Josh Kli­ne use di­gi­tal tech­no­lo­gies as me­ans of ar­tis­tic pro­duc­tion, as ma­te­ri­al re­sour­ces and as prompts for re­flec­tions on tech­no­lo­gy’s im­pact on the hu­man body. In clo­se dia­lo­gue with the ar­tists’ works (some of them pre­sent in Tate’s collec­tion), and sub­stan­tia­ted by theo­re­ti­cal ac­counts, it is the goal of this sys­te­ma­tic and his­to­ri­cal re­se­arch to ex­ami­ne the im­pact of the di­gi­tal on ar­tis­tic ma­te­ri­als and body re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ons.

The stu­dy re­vol­ves around three cen­tral the­mes re­la­ted to the art works’ gen­re, con­cep­tua­li­sa­ti­ons of form and dis­cur­si­ve en­vi­ron­ment. The first chap­ter ar­gues that the work of Ba­rem­boym, Chan­ner and Kli­ne points towards an em­bo­di­ment of the di­gi­tal, which is un­ders­tood as both im­ma­te­ri­al and at the same time so­lid­ly ma­te­ri­al. Wi­t­hin the dis­cour­se of sculp­tu­re, the­se ar­tists thus prompt us to re-con­cep­tua­li­se the re­la­ti­ons­hip bet­ween the di­gi­tal and phy­si­cal, bet­ween ma­te­ria­li­ty and im­ma­te­ria­li­ty. Re­wor­king his­to­ri­cal de­ba­tes about form­less­ness, the ab­ject and the post-hu­man, the se­cond chap­ter de­ve­lops a dif­fe­ren­tia­ted un­der­stan­ding of how the ar­tists’ (im)ma­te­ri­als and re­pre­sen­ta­ti­ons of cor­po­rea­li­ty are al­te­red by the in­cre­a­sing di­gi­ti­sa­ti­on sin­ce the late 1960s. Turning to de­ba­tes about Post-In­ter­net Art, New Ma­te­ria­lism and Spe­cu­la­ti­ve Rea­lism, the third chap­ter dis­cus­ses the op­por­tu­nities and chal­len­ges of­fe­red by the art works’ dis­cur­si­ve frame.

The aim of this three­fold stu­dy is to theo­ri­se how the di­gi­tal and the phy­si­cal, the ma­te­ri­al and im­ma­te­ri­al, are bound to­ge­ther in the ar­tists’ work and how they trans­form exis­ting no­ti­ons of ma­te­ria­li­ty and cor­po­rea­li­ty wi­t­hin con­tem­pora­ry art pro­duc­tion. How do the three ar­tists’ con­cep­tua­li­sa­ti­ons of (im)ma­te­ria­li­ty and cor­po­rea­li­ty al­ter and in­cor­po­ra­te dis­cour­ses on sculp­tu­re, im­ma­te­ria­li­ty and the in­for­me? The stu­dy thus cont­ri­bu­tes to an un­der­stan­ding of the ‘tech­no­lo­gi­cal con­di­ti­on’ (Hörl 2011) of our pre­sent.

This doctoral project, which covers aspects of both art history and the sociology of art, explores received discourses in art from the field of "institutional critique", which have over recent years been increasingly historicized. Despite the in-depth artistic, curatorial and theoretical discourse ranging from the legitimacy and meaningfulness of institutional critique and its actual implications above and beyond the intentions of its protagonists, to institutionalisation and ultimately relevance to discourse, we have not to date seen a more detailed presentation, analysis and critique of the genesis of that discourse. "The institution of institutional critique" (WT) aims systematically to explore what role relevant contributions from the fields of art criticism and art history and not least texts written by artists have played and continue to play in the historicization, valorisation and consecration of artistic production now labelled "institutional critique". Following Pierre Bourdieu, it is assumed that major changes in the field of art that are also expressed in discursive strategies and terms only occur in connection with external changes and conflicts. Instead of following a genealogical or global approach, the thesis therefore focuses on significant periods.

Dramaturgy is a widespread and oft-used term. In general, it assumes that each and every ritual or theatrical action is based on and preceded by specific conceptual reflections. The term is therefore to be assigned to the sphere of production. In some modern productions, however, the level of audience participation is such that the audience is to be considered as a co-producer of the event (and of its dramaturgy). In these cases, dramaturgy does not emerge until the moment of reception, and almost exclusively at that moment. It is participative, ephemeral and highly performative. There has been little theoretical exploration of these dramaturgical processes, and the methods for analysing and describing those processes are limited.

The doctoral project "Relational dramaturgy" seeks to respond to this need in four stages:
1) Firstly, by exploring the structure and functions of relational dramaturgy using relevant, real-life case studies from the field of performing arts.
2) Secondly, by analysing and discussing existing theories on dramaturgy, relational aesthetics, participatory art, social art, etc. and examining those theories on the basis of relevant, real-life case studies (performances, urban spaces, organisations, …).
3) Thirdly, by exploring the forms of relational dramaturgy in phenomena, events and organisations, primarily those that are part of everyday life or the urban environment rather than the cultural context.
4) Fourthly, by seeking to develop a theory of relational dramaturgy on the basis of the preceding research. This theory is to be applicable in both artistic and non-artistic spheres.

Sin­ce late 1980s Ma­ria Eich­horn has de­vi­sed a body of work which ad­dress the po­li­ti­cal, eco­no­mic and cul­tu­ral con­text spe­ci­fic to each si­tua­ti­on whe­re she has been in­vi­ted to ex­hi­bit. With re­fe­rence to the tra­di­ti­on of con­cep­tu­al art and in­sti­tu­tio­nal cri­tique, the pre­sent re­se­arch fo­cu­ses es­pe­cial­ly on the use of do­cu­ments and fi­nan­ci­al tools in her work. Ana­ly­zing the le­gal prac­tices and the eco­no­mic struc­tu­res ty­pi­cal of ca­pi­ta­list eco­no­my which the ar­tist em­ploys in her pro­jects, the stu­dy aims at in­ves­ti­ga­ting what kind of cri­tique Eich­horn per­forms on the frame of the art in­sti­tu­ti­on and the pre­sent eco­no­my of ar­tis­tic pro­duc­tion.