HUNTING IN THE DARK

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means “image writing”, and comes from the Greek εἰκών “image” and γράφειν “to write”. A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition. Still in art history, an iconography may also mean a particular depiction of a subject in terms of the content of the image, such as the number of figures used, their placing and gestures. The term is also used in many academic fields other than art history, for example semiotics and media studies, and in general usage, for the content of images, the typical depiction in images of a subject, and related senses. Sometimes distinctions have been made between Iconology and Iconography, although the definitions and so the distinction made varies.

via Iconography – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Prologue: A Typical Iconoclash

 

 

(Figure 1)

This image comes from a video. What does it mean? Hooligans dressed in red, with helmets and axes are smashing the reinforced window that is protecting a precious work of art. They are madly hitting the glass that splinters in every direction while loud screams of horror at their action are heard from the crowd beneath them that, no matter how furious it is, remains unable to stop the looting. Another sad case of vandalism captured by a camera of video-surveillance? No. Brave Italian firemen a few years ago risking their lives, in the cathedral of Turin, , to save the precious Shroud from a devastating fire that triggers the screams of horror from the impotent crowd that has assembled behind them. In their red uniforms, with their protective helmets, they try to smash with axes the heavily reinforced glass case that has been built around the venerable linen to protect it – not from vandalism – but from the mad passion of worshippers and pilgrims who would have stopped at nothing to tear it to pieces and obtain priceless relics. The case is so well protected against worshippers that it cannot be brought to safety away from the raging fire without this apparently violent act of glass breaking. Iconoclasm is when we know what is happening in the act of breaking and what the motivations for what appears as a clear project of destruction are; iconoclash, on the other hand, is when one does not know, one hesitates, one is troubled by an action for which there is no way to know, without further enquiry, whether it is destructive or constructive. This exhibition is about iconoclash, not iconoclasm.

via What Is Iconoclash? Or Is There a World Beyond the Image Wars?.

This paper addresses what is arguably one of the most fundamental questions in the debate on depiction: What is a Picture? It offers a critical discussion of traditional theories of pictorial representation, such as the Resemblance Theory, Conventionalism, and the Illusion Theory. The paper also examines the crucial notions of ‘seeing as’ and ‘seeing in’ and concludes by presenting some of the more recent accounts of depiction including theories proposed by Kendall Walton, Dominic Lopes, Robert Hopkins and John Hyman.

via Wat is een afbeelding? Een inleiding tot de hedendaagse afbeeldingstheorieën | Esthetica.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qml505hxp_c

 

In cooperation with the Museum Ludwig Cologne and the MADRE Naples, Kunsthaus Graz is putting on a major retrospective of Franz West. The exhibition involves close co-operation with the artist and his studio and archives. Works from all creative periods and a wide range of media and techniques show the complexity and individuality of his work – graphics, posters, “Passstücke”, furniture, installations and joint projects with other artists. Many of the works exhibited come from private collections, and have rarely been exhibited. Franz West will also erect an outside sculpture in the immediate environment of the Kunsthaus Graz.

via this is tomorrow – Franz West: Auto-Theatre.