Realistic distortions, subject specific style, and the relative representational range of drawing and photography Oskar Kokoschka on Karl Kraus (and vice-versa) (original) (raw)
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e IRENE]. WINTER I n the wider arena of the waves) in which the arts and the sciences generate appropriate tenus and concepts to be used as instruments in analytical operations, the term/concept "style" occupies a rather special place: applicable both to the ways in which the operations are undertaken' and [0 describable characteristics of the objects of analysis. In the present chapter. I wish [0 pursue, on the one hand, the lack of discreet boundaries between "style" as it is manifest in a work and subject rnatter-chence. Content and meaning-and, on the other hand, the henneneuric problems raised by attempts to correlate style and meaning through "stylistic analysis" as operationalized in art history. I have chosen my tenus carefully to mirror the language used for certain mathematteal operations, as I believe the analogy holds well, and in the hope it will raise questions of methodology common to both the sciences and the humanities. To the extent * The general issues dealt with in this paper were presented in a College An Assoctanon panel in 1957. Ahhou~h the case studies used have not changed since then. I am most grateful for this opporrumrv to reformulate the rmHem. I would also like to thank a number of graduate students. now colleagues, ..... ho ever the yean have rut their /:,,,><1 minJ.' to nuanced delinitions of style; many will see echoes of themselves in what is presented here. In r.lnicuhr.1 would cite
It is difficult, if not impossible, to give a short answer to the question of what style is but how ever one may stress its critical or useful implications, style always concerns the mode of something other than itself, be it a mode of beeing or a mode of acting or representing. This mode is a way of composingating something in a specific manner so that the way something is presented determines how it can be perceived. Style always concerns the way through which we perform something, be this an action or an experience, a depiction or narration, a way of thinking or of perceiving. This "How" of (per-)forming depends on emotions, worldviews, basic interpretations, and other framing/parergonal (?) preconditions. But under these conditions, this How can only become visible through a kind of manifestion, incorporation or representation. The differences in the way of performing, formulating and articulating are what makes two actions or two attitudes different. The particular manner of a depiction makes the depiction what it is. (Es sind die Modi der Darstellung, die das Dargestellte erst zu dem werden lassen, was es ist.)
Critical Inquiry, 2023
On 7 December 1911, Heinrich Wölfflin gave a lecture to the Prussian Academy of Sciences on the problem of style in the visual arts. This lecture, 1 in which Wölfflin's thoughts on the most universal and fundamental art-historical problem were presented in a manner that is systematic and conclusive (at least until the promised, more comprehensive publication), is of such methodological importance that it seems inexplicable and unwarranted that neither art history nor aesthetics has yet taken a position on the views expressed there. The following attempts to make up for this situation. 2
The shape of the pictorial in contemporary photography
Image [&] Narrative, 2009
Certain contemporary photographs, most prominently by Jeff Wall, are considered to bring to life the absorptive tradition of painting. Taking that finding as its starting point, this paper scrutinizes work by another photographer today, Allan Sekula. Although Sekula"s images visibly engage similar absorptive motives, his work is not championed by the defendants of the current revival of the tableau tradition. But nor does it testify to the ambition to do so. From a discussion of dramatic and compositional elements in images by Wall and Sekula, the essay finds that their work is marked by either a classical or a vernacular pictorial style. Stylistic differences account for diverging opinions concerning art"s function. Classical or neo-realist style stands for an ambition to create a pleasurable and peaceful moment to spend with the image presented as a singular artwork. Vernacular or critical realist style does not eschew caricature nor is it averse to provoking a physically strenuous experience of multi-image installations. These issues are traced back to paragon debates that emerged at the very origins of modern art itself, in the late 16 th Century. Résumé: Plusieurs photographies contemporaines, exemplairement celles de Jeff Wall, nourrissent l"ambition de redonner vie à la tradition de l"absorption picturale. C"est à la lumière de cette tendance que le présent article examine le travail d"un autre photographe d"aujourd"hui, Allan Sekula. Malgré la présence de nombreux thèmes empruntés à la tradition de l"absorption picturale, le travail de Sekula est plutôt ignoré par les défenseurs de la tradition du tableau. L"appartenance de l"artiste à cette tradition est du reste tout sauf évidente. Analysant les éléments de mise en scène et de composition dans des images de Wall et Sekula, l"article démontre que leur oeuvre se définit par un style pictural qui est ou bien classique (Wall) ou bien populaire (Sekula). Ces différences renvoient à des conceptions antagonistes sur la fonction de l"art. Le style classique ou néoréaliste cherche à susciter le plaisir du spectateur, seul face à l"oeuvre, présentée comme image isolée. Le style populaire ou critique ne recule pas devant la caricature, ni devant la confrontation souvent rude avec des installations multiimages. L"article se termine par une relecture de ces positions contemporaines à la lumière des débats sur les mérites respectifs des arts initiés au début de l"art moderne, c"est-à-dire à la fin du 16 e siècle.
In Defense of Styling. In: Texte zur Kunst 95 (September 2014)
Von PURPLE Magazine zum Artists Space; von der Arbeit am Look zur Arbeit am Konzept; von der Erzeugung von Differenzeffekten im Jetzt und Davor zur Ausarbeitung von Genealogien, Wiederholungs-und Referenzstrukturen. Die Passage von der Mode zur Kunst markiert nicht zuletzt ein Wechsel der operativen Logiken, die diese beiden Felder jeweils Bildern zuweisen. Philipp Ekardt schreibt hier über zwei Bildserien aus der ersten und letzten Arbeitsphase der -zurzeit aufgelösten -Bernadette Corporation. Es geht unter anderem darum, wie man sich "normalen" Stil, den Mainstream, aber auch das System der Mode als Ganzes aneignet. Und wie man im Styling Praktiken entwickelt, die noch keine Namen haben.
A Defence of the Study of Visual Perception in Art
This thesis examines the use of the science of visual perception in the study of art. I argue that this application of perceptual psychology and physiology has been neglected in recent years, but contend that it is being revived by writers such as John Onians. I apply recent scientific research to demonstrate what can be learned about depiction from the science of perception. The thesis uses the science of perception to argue that there are four main interlinked components in depiction. It argues that each of these components can be better understood by using the science of vision. Chapter 1 examines one component, namely resemblance. It uses studies of the retina, centre-surround cells, and attentional processes to examine how a picture can vary in appearance from its subject matter, yet still represent it. Chapter 2 examines a second component, namely informativeness. It applies Biederman's psychological theory of recognition-by-components to argue that the depiction of volumetric forms depends on the depiction of the vertices of such objects, as well as that of linear perspective. From this the chapter argues that the notion of informativeness, as developed by Lopes, should be combined with a notion of resemblance to create a more complete theory. Chapter 3 examines a third component of depiction, namely that pictures can include, omit, and distort the features of their subjects. The psychological theory of scales, as developed by Oliva and Schyns, is used to explain certain kinds of depictions of fabrics, and the perception of Pointillist paintings. The chapter also examines the issue of to what extent perception and depiction are dependent on culture rather than genetics, and shows how a combination of scientific methodology, in the form of cross-cultural psychology, and historiography, in the form of Baxandall's 'period eye' approach, can be used to investigate this issue. Chapter 4 examines a fourth component of depiction, namely the organisation of pictures. It uses studies by Westphal-Fitch et al., and Võ and Wolfe to analyse the patterns of Waldalgesheim art, and the images in the Book of Kells. By using the science of visual perception, I arrive at the conclusion that a combination of theories of recognition, informativeness, and order, developed in Chapters 1, 2, and 4, together with theories of visual decomposition, processing, and recomposition, developed in Chapter 3, form a basis for understanding depiction.