Topic (3)

When we consider a work of art, we treat it as a cultural artifact to be interpreted. The work of art as a physical object is a curious entity: it acts as a symbolic representation of the artwork as an active entity. More and more, the interpretation of artwork tends towards their recognition as active in time. As this happens, we tend, more and more, to infer the temporal effects of physical processes from the physical marks made on the object. The interpretive process is fundamentally a placement of the artwork within a greater temporal context.

We place the artwork in time in four ways:
1. We are aware of its physical construction as an object
2. We are aware of its social construction as an artwork
3. We are aware of its personal and intentional construction by the artist
4. We are aware of its symbolic references to time

We approach all physical objects with the knowledge that their present state is entirely informed by their physical history. We see time folded onto the present through the physical history of the object that we infer from the its spatial properties. This is especially true when we attempt to unravel the construction of a sculpture or building and when we consider the unconscious layering of a painting, or the background of a photograph. This can also be what we see when we encounter the effects of aging on the object. Any effect that we do not consider intentional should be considered part of (1).

The artwork is highly dependent on a less immediate sense of the history of a work, namely its social context (2). Interpreting, or assigning a meaning, to an artwork requires a knowledge or at least a conception of the social framework surrounding it. Even considering an object to be an artwork or a part of one requires a social context. This is, of course, a moving target, both through time and across individual perspectives.

We cannot discount the intentionality of the work, especially as it is the source of most of the artistic discourse. Intentionality seems to be the motivating factor that distinguishes artwork from non-artwork, and this requires us to place the work in the biographical context of its author. Intentional marks, the involvement of the work in a biographical context, and other references to the author constitute (3).

Finally, we are often faced with symbolic time (4), both in artwork and in daily life. This is the metered and measurable progression that we see on a clock's face or in the shadows of a film over the course of a day.

My thesis will attempt to show how current work is conscious of these interpretive processes, and how it exists relative to them. I will be considering current photographers and visual artists, showing how their works can be considered objects of physical and social construction, and drawing insight into their meaning from these arguments. I will also be producing and presenting smaller projects of my own that will attempt to challenge, manipulate, and expose these components of the interpretive process. I hope to find new meaning from their reception.