A Picture of Blindness

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This thesis investigates invisibility as artistic medium, within the field of visual arts. In a first part, a handful of examples are analyzed, from Yves Klein’s Le Vide (1958) to Carsten Höller’s New World Race (1999), to show that no unified aesthetic or historical theorization is acceptable to justify the decision to turn to invisibility. Invisibility appears in general as an ad hoc choice, as an artistic device.The functions of this device are examined in a second part, by reviewing the previous examples. If invisibility characteristically operates a reflexive call upon the Imaginary, it also enables a self-critique of art. Both functions are justified theoretically by adopting a phenomenological framework. In a third part, the practice of two contemporary artists, Bethan Huws and Tino Sehgal, are investigated on the basis of these functions. For this, the idea of invisibility is unfolded around a notional “background”, allowing a generalization of this idea. In particular, the strategies of appropriation developed by Marcel Duchamp and Sherrie Levine are reframed as the production of an invisible contribution. Additionally, the complicit strategies of simulation adopted by Jeffrey Koons are studied, to understand within our media-saturated culture the strategies of resistance of Huws and Seghal.

[1]

  1. Goy, Sébastien (January 2012). A Picture of Blindness. Editions En Creux. ISBN 978-29541092-0-6. 
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