Photography and sculpture are traditionally conceived as antithetical arts: forms of expression that base on diverging ontological principles (allograph vs autograph art), that process contrasting forms and techniques (two-dimensionality vs three-dimensionality) and develop different language terms (art of time vs art of space). Nevertheless, since the middle of the Nineteenth Century and in synergism with cultural, technical and design acquisitions of the first years of the Twentieth Century (from the panorama to cinema, from the halls of Universal Exhibitions to urban architecture), photography tended to the tri-dimensional character of sculpture (futuristic stereoscopy and dynamic photography) as well as sculpture integrated snapshot in its design elaboration processes (the device of photo-sculpture designed by Francois Willéme during 1860). Said searches, though being a minority and marginal, show a hybrid and interdisciplinary idea of the relationship between photography and sculpture that has broken out in our time both at industrial level (the development in informatics concerning modeling and digital performance used in mainstream cinema and in videogames) and in art. Contemporary art generates a new visual culture in the image of the body around the new thoughts about the notion of corporeality. Starting from the break done from Body Art, the icons and culture of bodies are modified, the latter becoming mutant bodies born from the – often extreme – contamination of experiences in expression, means and technology. So, many artists jointly use the language of photography and of sculpture mainly in statuary and photographic portraits of the last decades. Some artists investigate their relationship in a decidedly citationist and meta-linguistic dimension (Seward Johnson, Spencer Tunick, and Erwin Wurm), while other ones explore the connection between the organic and artificial characters (David LaChapelle, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Chris Cunningham, Damien Hirst, Simon Costin, and Simone Rachele). On the contrary, many authors trust in digital manipulation (Philip Toledano) and in the development of technological mixed media devices (Fabio D’Orta, Gregory Barsamian, and Donato Sansone). Made in marble, flesh, silicone or titanium, polaroid or digital prints, the bodies of statues and photographic portraits of the last decades share a common imaginary that crosses visual, aesthetic and technological experiences and cultures of contemporary art and relaunches their hybrid characteristics and theoretical and epistemiological excesses.
Ravesi, G. (2018). Lo sguardo di Medusa. Corpi, scultura, fotografia. In E.M. Lorenzo Marmo (a cura di), Fotografia e culture visuali del XXI secolo (pp. 107-113). Roma : Roma Tre Press.
Lo sguardo di Medusa. Corpi, scultura, fotografia
Ravesi Giacomo
2018-01-01
Abstract
Photography and sculpture are traditionally conceived as antithetical arts: forms of expression that base on diverging ontological principles (allograph vs autograph art), that process contrasting forms and techniques (two-dimensionality vs three-dimensionality) and develop different language terms (art of time vs art of space). Nevertheless, since the middle of the Nineteenth Century and in synergism with cultural, technical and design acquisitions of the first years of the Twentieth Century (from the panorama to cinema, from the halls of Universal Exhibitions to urban architecture), photography tended to the tri-dimensional character of sculpture (futuristic stereoscopy and dynamic photography) as well as sculpture integrated snapshot in its design elaboration processes (the device of photo-sculpture designed by Francois Willéme during 1860). Said searches, though being a minority and marginal, show a hybrid and interdisciplinary idea of the relationship between photography and sculpture that has broken out in our time both at industrial level (the development in informatics concerning modeling and digital performance used in mainstream cinema and in videogames) and in art. Contemporary art generates a new visual culture in the image of the body around the new thoughts about the notion of corporeality. Starting from the break done from Body Art, the icons and culture of bodies are modified, the latter becoming mutant bodies born from the – often extreme – contamination of experiences in expression, means and technology. So, many artists jointly use the language of photography and of sculpture mainly in statuary and photographic portraits of the last decades. Some artists investigate their relationship in a decidedly citationist and meta-linguistic dimension (Seward Johnson, Spencer Tunick, and Erwin Wurm), while other ones explore the connection between the organic and artificial characters (David LaChapelle, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Chris Cunningham, Damien Hirst, Simon Costin, and Simone Rachele). On the contrary, many authors trust in digital manipulation (Philip Toledano) and in the development of technological mixed media devices (Fabio D’Orta, Gregory Barsamian, and Donato Sansone). Made in marble, flesh, silicone or titanium, polaroid or digital prints, the bodies of statues and photographic portraits of the last decades share a common imaginary that crosses visual, aesthetic and technological experiences and cultures of contemporary art and relaunches their hybrid characteristics and theoretical and epistemiological excesses.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
