New Theories = Nove teorije https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/nove-teorije <p>Časopis New Theories = Nove teorije želi se na drugačiji način posvetiti vizualnoj umjetnosti i kulturi nego što je to učinila disciplina povijesti umjetnosti tijekom svoje slavne prošlosti. Nove teorije tretirat će umjetnost i njezine raznolike fenomene prvenstveno kao objekte promišljanja i intelektualne radoznalosti.</p> Akademija za umjetnost i kulturu u Osijeku hr-HR New Theories = Nove teorije 2718-3297 Can art provide knowledge? https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/nove-teorije/article/view/30228 <p>The question of the relationship between art and knowledge and whether and<br />in what sense art can be regarded as a form of knowledge has been addressed<br />from different perspectives but it still does not have secure grounds in<br />contemporary aesthetics. The argument involves rather skeptical attitudes<br />– from Plato to Kant and throughout the dominance of positivist tradition in<br />Western philosophy in the first half of the 20th century – as well as cognitivist<br />approaches, such as James O. Young’s view of art as a source of knowledge,<br />which has the capacity to provide both propositional and practical knowledge.<br />The “linguistic turn” in contemporary thought and the ensued iconization<br />of language in western culture led to the identification of cognitive potential<br />with discourse, resulting in inequitable disregard of sensory awareness<br />and turning the human experiences and cognition into the product of language.<br />The submission of iconicity to semantics and reducing the pictorial<br />to interpretable text without sensory significance led to the questioning of<br />the cognitive aspect of visuality.<br />The hermeneutical perspective, drawing upon Michael Polanyi’s view of<br />all knowledge as established in relation to tacit thought, considers art as<br />embodying tacit knowledge and emphasizes the importance of the inherent<br />inexhaustibility of meaning in art that can contribute to the inquiry. Recognizing<br />that knowledge is not always reducible to language, such perspective<br />liberates knowledge from the dominance of the propositional and provides<br />further insights for the phenomenology of art as a creative practice.</p> <p>No doubt that the ways of representation in arts are fundamentally different<br />from those in the sciences and both realms contribute to knowledge in radically<br />different ways. However, while the ways to explicate how art can enhance<br />the faculty of judgment and practical knowledge might be relatively obvious in<br />literary works, the question of how visual works can provide the same kinds<br />of knowledge is more ambiguous. Consequently, the question of epistemic<br />potential of visual representation is even more challenging.<br />Image as a system constructed according to the immanent laws with its own<br />iconic sense - which determines its difference from reality as well as from<br />discourse – challenges perception, because a conceptual, abstract tendency<br />of perception is incompatible with a sensual particularity of the image<br />(Boehm). At the same time, it allows a multiplicity of experience made possible<br />by simultaneity inherent in the image provided that we understand the<br />act of seeing as comprising simultaneity and consecutiveness as well as the<br />unconscious, pre-conceptual processes. It is the expressive potential of the<br />pictorial and the specificity of art as an experiential and perceptual modality<br />embodying representational meanings that distinguishes it as a distinctive<br />form of knowledge. In an endeavor to defy the approach of semiotics and the<br />epistemology of science that insist on amodality of knowledge and its dependence<br />on discursive context, this paper rejects the reducibility of knowledge<br />to language and embraces the approach that advocates „disestablishing the<br />view of cognition as dominantly and aggressively linguistic“ (Stafford).</p> Natia Ebanoidze Copyright (c) 2024 New Theories = Nove teorije https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 2024-03-05 2024-03-05 5 1 Nostalgia – between fiction and (hyper)reality https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/nove-teorije/article/view/30236 Dario Vuger Copyright (c) 2024 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 2024-03-05 2024-03-05 5 1 4 29 The Notion of ‘Image’ and Eurocentrism https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/nove-teorije/article/view/30229 <p>The enormous variety of forms and uses of phenomena called ‘image’<br>has so far prevented the formation of a universally accepted concept of<br>the image. It is even questionable whether a unified concept of the image<br>encompassing all relevant phenomena is possible or whether the ‘image’<br>is not rather a historically changeable collective name of phenomena<br>grouped by family resemblances. the image seems to occur in almost all<br>cultures; for this reason alone, any study of the image should be differentiated<br>not only historically, but also interculturally. But this is not always<br>the case; therefore in this essay a certain Eurocentric bias in Western<br>concepts of the ‘image’ is critically discussed. Firstly, it will be presented<br>how ‘image’ is defined in certain mainstream discussions of image studies.<br>Secondly it will be shown that there are Eurocentric blind spots in these<br>discourses. The range of objects considered as images are restricted and<br>thereby especially non-European types of images are excluded. Three of<br>them will be mentioned: the tattoo, the mask and calligraphy and what<br>their difference to hegemonic western notions of the image as separated<br>from the body, to-be-looked-<br>at and non-performative entails. Tattooing,<br>calligraphy, the mask and much more could become the subject of research<br>projects and courses. The problem with such research and teaching<br>that reaches beyond the European horizon is twofold: First, simply not<br>everything can be done; researchers and teachers must reduce the variety<br>of possible objects. This cannot and should not lead to the exclusion of</p> <p>non-European phenomena, but not everything can be included – complete<br>inclusion is impossible. Therefore, only a local coordination process<br>on what can be taught in modules such as ‘Interculturality’ or ‘Global<br>Media Culture’ can be done. The paper ends with some short notes<br>on the institutional and image-pedagogical consequences of this critique.</p> Jens Schröter Copyright (c) 2024 New Theories = Nove teorije https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 2024-03-05 2024-03-05 5 1 Charles Darwin and Visual Culture https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/nove-teorije/article/view/30231 <p>The importance of Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species (1859),<br>cannot be overstated, both in terms of (the history of) evolutionary biology<br>and culture-wise. The book and the theory of evolution by natural selection<br>presented therein eliminates the need for an explanation of a superior power<br>in all that is related to the diversity of biological species, and thus provides a<br>scientific and materialistic theory for “creation”. The book and its author have<br>become pivotal in secular culture, and the focus of attacks by various religious<br>groups. With about 500 illustrated covers of a book whose importance goes<br>beyond the scientific field to which it belongs, it is interesting to study how<br>the ideas appearing in Origin of Species are illustrated in its many editions,<br>whether there are recurring motifs in the illustrations, and if so, what their<br>meanings are. The abundance of illustrated covers of Origin provides virtually<br>controlled conditions for a study of the unique way in which concepts<br>transfer to the public. Such an investigation must begin by examining the link<br>between text and cover image. Accordingly, my aim is to map and classify the<br>Origin motifs that appear on the covers of the various editions, and how they<br>are brought to bear, toward determining which are being transferred In my<br>paper, I draw on two related concepts first introduced by W.J.T. Mitchell in his<br>book Picture Theory: the “imagetext”, defined as a composite of picture and</p> <p>text that operates as a single unit. When the text and picture do not function<br>in harmony– when something else intervenes between them – the result is<br>an image/text. These interactions between words and images (imagetext vs.<br>image/text) not only help to analyze representations, but trace their relationships<br>to issues of power, value, and human interests. Herein I present and<br>discuss recurring motifs among the illustrated covers of the various editions<br>of Origin of Species, for example: motifs related to the Beagle’s voyage; living<br>nature; a focus on the author – Charles Darwin – rather than on his ideas;<br>ascent of man (appears only on commercial editions); and unique metaphors.</p> Sara Schwartz Copyright (c) 2024 New Theories = Nove teorije https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 2024-03-05 2024-03-05 5 1 Seven proposals for visual reading of contemporary Osijek art https://hrcak.srce.hr/ojs/index.php/nove-teorije/article/view/30234 Blaženka Perica Copyright (c) 2024 New Theories = Nove teorije https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 2024-03-05 2024-03-05 5 1