Rivista di Estetica ha il piacere di presentare la nuova collana I quaderni. Le arti contemporanee

 

 

 

LA COLLANA

Le arti si trasformano, l’orizzonte delle teorie si espande. Oltre a rinnovare i modi di produzione e condivisione delle opere, le arti ci invitano anche a ripensare le nostre possibilità esplicative. Aggiornare le ricerche, rimettere in discussione temi e problemi alla luce dei rinnovamenti, formulare nuove proposte teoriche sono infatti necessità sempre più incalzanti provenienti direttamente dalla produttività artistica. I quaderni di Rivista di Estetica le affrontano proponendo approfondimenti dedicati alle singole arti, a specifici temi che le caratterizzano, alle poetiche e alle caratteristiche delle pratiche artistiche, alle proposte teoriche che provano a spiegarle, alle modalità di cura esposizione e condivisione delle arti nella realtà sociale. Ciascun quaderno mira a offrire strumenti teorici che possano contribuire all’ampliamento delle ricerche all’insegna della interdisciplinarità e di un attento sguardo rivolto anche alle produzioni più recenti dell’epoca contemporanea.

 

#Le arti nelle pratiche, le arti nelle teorie

 

 

I SOGGETTI DI STUDIO

I volumi offrono studi per l’approfondimento delle arti e delle pratiche artistiche contemporanee: danza, cinema, letteratura, pittura, videoarte, installazioni, fotografia, scultura, fumetti, teatro, Slam Poetry, musica, arti concettuali, architettura, design…

 

LE AREE DI INDAGINE

Ciascun volume può offrire approfondimenti nei seguenti ambiti di ricerca:

• Poetiche di singole artiste e artisti
• Pratiche artistiche contemporanee
• Estetica e arti contemporanee
• Pratiche e politiche della curatela
• Teorie critiche sulle arti contemporanee
• Fasi storiche delle arti contemporanee
• Filosofie delle arti

 

VOLUMI

 

Davide Dal Sasso (a cura di), Il pittore con le bombolette. Andrea Ravo Mattoni e l’arte pubblica

Elisabetta Modena, Marco Scotti (a cura di), The Artist Project: Theories and Practices of the Contemporary Art Project 1968-2020

Lorenzo Bartalesi, Andrea Mecacci (a cura di), Fetishism Today

 

CALL FOR PAPERS

 

Title: Fetishism Today

Guest editors: Lorenzo Bartalesi (Scuola Normale Superiore), Andrea Mecacci (Università degli studi di Firenze)

Deadline for submission: 30 April 2024

Abstract:

Modernity has interpreted itself through the category of fetishism, this is a well-established theoretical issue, but what remains today of this category so pervasive that it is hardly ever questioned? Should we consider it, as suggested by Jean Pouillon, in the same way as other phantasmatic categories such as hysteria or totemism?

Fetishism has crossed modernity along three well-defined axes, sometimes intertwined, sometimes incommunicable. The anthropological interpretation of fetishism that arose with the encounter of cultures other than the Western one. From de Brosses to Comte to the recent studies of William Pietz, fetishism is resolved in the idea of “fetish”, thus problematically approaching the practices of animistic rituality. Born in the debates of colonial culture, the concept of fetishism expands to become the uncontested paradigm of the capitalist universe. Marx’s notion of “commodity fetishism” marks the fortune of the concept of fetishism, but also its first limitation. It will be the turn of the third perspective, the Freudian one, to extend the fetish to a conflictual condition of modern and contemporary sexuality, linking the spheres of desire to those of objective materiality.

A historical category of modernity, fetishism seems to escape a defined temporality and forces us to come to terms with its contemporary relevance: a phenomenon that places cultures outside of History for Hegel, a psycho-social dimension observable in the modern bourgeoisie for Marx and Freud, a necessary starting point of human evolution for Comte.

This Issue of I Quaderni aims to reframe the subject of fetishism, making a new start from a provocation given by Luis Buñuel in 1925: there is still a complex and profound psychology yet to be investigated, it is the psychology of the inanimate. Among the areas the volume will explore are as much the implications on the cultural level as those on the arts and their contemporary directions: e.g. visual arts, literature, film, new media art, social media, fashion, erotic imaginary, pornography.

By eluding a unifying definition, fetishism can be seen as the sign of an error, of a logical absurdity. Whether it is, as in Marx, the attribution of the status of a thing to what it is not or, on the contrary as in Hegel and Comte, of the status of an animate being to a thing, the alternative is between its removal as an illusion or its elevation to a constitutive dimension of our relationship with the world.

Socio-economic background, anthropological requirement, a sample of symbolic aspirations and erotic drives, what forms does fetishism take today? Is it one of the forms of the visible or the actual form of the visible, proposing itself as the center of an anthropology of figuration, to recall Philippe Descola’s formula, of the contemporary?

As the attribution of a living presence to objects, fetishism blurs the boundaries of animate and inanimate, forcing us to revisit the nature/culture grand partage and consider more closely the multiform agency of cultural artifacts. What theoretical horizons are offered by an epistemological consideration of fetishism? What role can the category of fetishism play in orienting a renewed theory of art? Beyond the classical legacy of surrealism, how has fetishism been modulated in the arts and social practices of contemporary digitization?

 

Instructions:

Articles must be written in English or Italian and should not exceed 40,000 characters.

In order to submit your paper, please register and login to:

http://labont.it/estetica/index.php/rivistadiestetica/login

Notice: when asked “What kind of file is this”, please select the relevant CFP.

 

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Title: The Artist Project. Theories and Practices of the Contemporary Art Project 1968-2020

Guest editors: Elisabetta Modena (University of Milan), Marco Scotti (Università Iuav di Venezia)

Deadline for submission: 31 January 2023

 

Abstract:

While there has been much written on the analysis of a finalized artwork, including studies of how it is exhibited, sold and preserved, there are still several areas of concern which remain largely overlooked, such as the way in which it is designed. From a theoretical point of view, we consider the artist project not really (and not only) something that concerns techniques or materials, but rather a set of methods and strategies, developed and pursued to realize an artwork. This theme of production is sustained by a long and rich tradition of studies which have exclusively dealt with specific materials or processes, such as the drawing or the unfinished work.

To address these issues, the volume aims at investigating three different perspectives.

The first is concerning art in the making; the project as a part of the creative process. The heterogeneity of the contemporary artistic production and of the types of artworks produced shows us that each artist has his or her own unique design method that could be modified from time to time depending on production requirements and specifications (client, budget, regulations, etc.). The materials and design documents can be appreciably different from artist to artist: sketches, notes, project boards, renderings, maquettes, correspondence, estimates, budgets… all these should be taken into account.

The second proposed point of view is related to the methodologies of historical research, i.e. the project as an object of study and as a tool for the reconstruction of the creative process. Moreover, in recent decades in this field, a certain amount of attention has been devoted to materials and techniques rather than to the project itself. Only recently, for example, the scientific community has proposed reflections on unrealised projects. The history of exhibitions further represents a privileged area of investigation; considering the exhibitions themselves as production opportunities.

The final approach concerns the philosophical field and is linked to a broader reflection upon artistic creation. From a theoretical point of view, the separation between conception and realization of the work of art, the distinction between autographic and allographic forms of art and questioning of the concept of originality of the artwork in relation to the everyday object have been some of the most frequently addressed themes.

This call for papers would like to focus the analysis on a chronological period ranging between 1968 – a fundamental year for the development of conceptual art – and 2020 when the Covid19 pandemic produced a paradigm shift in the design criteria moving the focus toward the digital sphere and remote working practices. Essays dedicated to a single artwork or exhibition, a single artist or significant theme will be accepted as long as they are related to the indicated chronological period and are considered coherent with the theme.

 

Instructions:

Articles must be written in English or Italian and should not exceed 40,000 characters.

In order to submit your paper, please register and login to:

http://labont.it/estetica/index.php/rivistadiestetica/login

Notice: when asked “What kind of file is this”, please select the relevant CFP.