Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Alternative Format

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Art and Visual Culture

Supervisor

Mahon, Patrick

2nd Supervisor

Fielding, Helen

3rd Supervisor

Duvernoy, Russell

Affiliation

King's University College

Abstract

Abstract

The presuppositions of the 'linguistic turn' have functioned as a dominant discourse in the humanities over the past few decades. The notion that access to reality is achievable only through the process of cognition, which is contingent upon language, has been the prevailing assumption in many influential social and cultural theories since the advent of post-structuralism. In contrast, the 'material turn' challenges this viewpoint by reevaluating the ontology shaped by the limiting aspects of this emphasis on language. This movement, often referred to as the 'ontological turn,' acknowledges the agency of nonhuman entities in their interactions with living and non-living matter. My research-creation project begins with a concise exploration of theoretical perspectives on ontological materiality, framing matter as a relational and generative process or a dynamic interaction. This analysis is organized around six key themes involving matter: Energy, Sensation, Affect, Body, Assemblage, and Politics.

The study also connects the theoretical discussions with art history, including Duchamp's Readymade, Conceptual Art, Minimalism, and Unmonumental Assemblage, while reinterpreting sculpture through the lens of ontological materiality. Notably, my thesis focuses on the Mono-ha movement from Japan, which emerged in the late 1960s alongside Western Minimalism. It highlights Lee Ufan's work, showcasing Mono-ha's distinct approach to materiality and its posthuman perspective. The study also reexamines contemporary installation artist Sarah Sze's complex assemblages, distinguishing them from Mono-ha's minimalist constructs while exploring one of her perspectives of 'momentary emptiness.' In the concluding chapter, a discussion of the concepts of ontological materiality are transformed into an initiative to increase affective sensitivity and awareness of virtual phenomena for both viewers and artists, as evidenced in my thesis exhibition Proce-ss-emblage: distanced-matters (2024). The exhibition, displayed in three spaces, serves as a sculptural platform to explore the relational dimensions of previously imperceptible qualitative differences.

Summary for Lay Audience

Summary for Lay Audience

This paper aims to synthesize various philosophical perspectives on the 'material turn,' distinguishing it from the prevailing social constructivist paradigm, which interprets and categorizes phenomena primarily through language, signs, discourse, and symbols. By applying these perspectives within established art historical discourses and practices, it also draws on the ideas and works of contemporary artists to propose an alternative framework for interpreting contemporary art, particularly in sculpture and installation art.

Central to this discussion is the theoretical concepts surrounding six materialities—energy, sensation, affect, body, assemblage, and politics—which are examined from an ontological standpoint. Notably, these concepts extend beyond purely visual and representational forms visible to the human eye, encompassing invisible and nonhuman entities of matter—such as resonance, vibration, tension, intensive difference, atmosphere, vigour, momentum, and force. Such a framework can offer a fresh scaffolding for reinterpreting established art historical discourses surrounding Readymade, Conceptual Art, Minimalism, and Unmonumental Sculpture, as well as the works of contemporary artists.

Ultimately, this theoretical, art-historical, and artistic investigation of ontological materiality aims to cultivate a greater affective sensitivity and awareness of the material dimension within my research-creation project while opening up aesthetic opportunities to explore how ontological materiality can be sculpturally embodied and meaningfully interpreted.

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