IMAGE 2: Kunstgeschichtliche Interpretation und bildwissenschaftliche Systematik
Erscheinungsdatum:
14.06.2005
Inhalte:
Klaus Sachs-Hombach: Einleitung
Benjamin Drechsel: Die Macht der Bilder als Ohnmacht der Politikwissenschaft: Ein Plädoyer für die transdisziplinäre Erforschung visueller politischer Kommunikation
Emanuel Alloa: Bildökonomie. Von den theologischen Wurzeln eines streitbaren Begriffs
Silvia Seja: Das Bild als Handlung? Zum Verhältnis der Begriffe "Bild" und "Handlung"
Helge Meyer: Die Kunst des Handelns und das Leiden - Schmerz als Bild in der Performance Art
Stefan Meier-Schuegraf: Rechtsextreme Bannerwerbung im Web. Eine medienspezifische Untersuchung neuer Propagandaformen von rechtsextremen Gruppierungen im Internet
From 24th to 26th of November 2004, the symposium (»Hermeneutics in Art History and Systematics in Image Science« took place in Magdeburg. The symposium was linked to an event for PhD students providing a chance to present and discuss their research work. The current issue of IMAGE comprises the contributions of the doctoral students’ performance selected by expert assessment.
Traditionally, visual analysis has hardly been employed in political science. If it addresses the phenomenon of the ›political picture‹ after all, political science need not start form ›zero‹, but it has to base on the methodical experiences of visually more competent disciplines. Since the relevance of a picture in terms of political science is exposed to diverse factors, political science, for instance, may benefit from the knowledge in art history, visual culture, or media science. Accordingly, the analysis of political pictures in general should be regarded as transdisciplinary.
The image sciences have increasingly become interested in the economic implications of pictures that are generally interpreted as a domain of pragmatics of the image opposed to the traditional ontology of the image. This history of the concept of ›iconomy‹ shall demonstrate that Byzantium developed a multifaceted theory of ›iconomy‹ which keeps equal distance to both the ontology of the image as well as to the politics of the image.
Pictures can on the one hand be defined in terms of functions or, on the other hand, described in terms of properties. Defining pictures functionally means assuming that pictures cannot exist independently of functions attributable to them. Linked with this is a principle of semantic actions that can be called ›pictorial acts‹ and that are determined conceptually. Describing pictures phenomenologically presupposes that pictures exist independently of functions attributable to them. Against the background of this concept of a picture, one may hypothesise that ›presentational acts‹ can be carried out with pictures being visible but without being conceptually determined.
Feeling pain is a personal physical experience, but according to Elaine Scarry, hearing about pain can be treated as synonymous with doubt. The experience of physical pain itself cannot be communicated to the outside world. Although the wounds as signs of pain are visible to the observer, they cannot convey the phenomenon, the sensation of pain, per se. In this thesis I will claim that by using performance as an art form it is possible to develop images of pain, both physical and psychological, and to communicate these images to an observer. Physical pain is often not only accepted as part of a performance but an integral, challenging component of it. Painful actions are used to produce images as well as to induce borderline states of ecstasy in the performers and to some degree in the audience. Christian Keysers’ mirror cell theory claims that there are areas of the brain that can trigger empathy when painful, gruesome images are observed. According to Keysers, the observer’s empathic feelings directly match those of the physical victim. In my work I investigate different artistic approaches that deal with images of pain such as temporally long performances (Alastair MacLennan, Marina Abramovic, et al.) as well as short and sharp images of self-inflicted wounds (Jamie McMurry, Zbiegniew Warpechowski, et al.). By analyzing the images produced by these performers and by connecting their works to theories from diverse fields such as philosophy, psychology, and medicine, I will back up my main thesis: The immediate production of images in front of a live audience enables performance art to generate a believable representation of physical and emotional pain.
The internet is the most important media for spreading radical right-wing ideology. The agitators are using every possibility online public relations provide. They distribute texts, posters and flyers or items as shirts, music and computer games on web portals and e-commerce platforms. Besides that, they use banner to attract new users. The text gives an overview of German right-wing agitation in the web and introduces the genre banner for advertising and networking among the right-wing scene.
