Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.31664/zu.2018.102.04
Contemporary Art and the Media after 9/11
Irfan Hošić
orcid.org/0000-0002-6623-2993
; University of Bihać, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
The collapse of the Twin Towers in 2001 and its direct transmission around the globe introduced a new paradigm in warfare conducted through the media. The time span between the first and the second attack on WTC was a suitable moment for the cameramen and photographers to install their equipment and make it possible for the viewers to watch the second airplane crushing into the towers live. The disturbing images travelled around the world in no time, and their character shifted from documentary to symbolical. The resulting hypertrophy of meaning led to an image production encoded with the explicit content of violence and trauma. The newly created media setting generated new viewing mentalities and new visual literacy. Art produced in the period since September 11, 2001 has been an indicator of the new social order, which endows images with the brutal power of reality.
The aim of this paper is to present some examples from the contemporary artistic production—primarily works of Hans Peter Feldmann, Doug Ashford, Francis Alÿs, Thomas Hirschorn, and Munir Fatmi—and to perform an analysis of the way in which the contemporary art practices deal with the issues imposed by the post-September eruption of images. The works of the said artists have thereby been used as primary sources in articulating a perspective that will lead to a better understanding of the new role of the media.
Keywords
terrorism; violence; art; image; media; television; New York; WTC
Hrčak ID:
203843
URI
Publication date:
1.7.2018.
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