Seeing witness : visuality and the ethics of testimony
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Copy number Shelfmark Shelf mark R016066 Ned. Fotomuseum $KUNST BLOCKER.J 2009
TitleSeeing witness : visuality and the ethics of testimony
Author
Photographer
Place of publicationMinneapolis
PublisherUniversity of Minnesota Press
Year of publication2009
Paginationxxiii, 153 p.
Illustrationsb&w
Dimensions26 x 18 cm.
MaterialTekstboek
Document TypeBook
ISBN9780816654765081665476X97808166547720816654778
External document
Bibliographic NotesIncludes bibliographical references (p. 139-145) and index.
Abstract
We cite from the COVER :
"The act of bearing witness can reveal much, but what about the figure of the witness itself? As contemporary culture is increasingly dominated by surveillance, the witness—whether artist, historian, scientist, government official, or ordinary citizen—has become empowered in realms from art to politics."
"In Seeing Witness, Jane Blocker challenges the implicit authority of witnessing through the examination of a series of contemporary artworks, all of which make the act of witnessing visible, open to inspection and critique. Going beyond particular traumatic or sensational events, Blocker contemplates the politics of witnessing and argues that the witness represents a morally unique—and even problematic-position of privilege."
*
CONTENTS :
Introduction: Imagery Specialists
I. History
1. A Promise Always Disappearing: The Ethics of History in Ulay and Abramovic's The Lovers
2. Peoples of Memory: James Luna and the Production of History
3. Binding to Another's Wound: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Ross McElwee on Weddings
II. Technology
4. A Cemetery of Images: Photography and Witness in the Work of Gilles Peress and Alfredo Jaar
5. Machine Memory: Digital Witness in Dumb Type's memorandum
III. Biopower
6. This Being You Must Create: Transgenics, Witness, and Selfhood in the Work of Eduardo Kac and Christine Borland
7. The Shame of Biological Being: Microbiology and Theories of Subjectivity in a Project by Ann Hamilton and Ben Rubin
Conclusion: A Mysterious Picture of God
Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
"The act of bearing witness can reveal much, but what about the figure of the witness itself? As contemporary culture is increasingly dominated by surveillance, the witness—whether artist, historian, scientist, government official, or ordinary citizen—has become empowered in realms from art to politics."
"In Seeing Witness, Jane Blocker challenges the implicit authority of witnessing through the examination of a series of contemporary artworks, all of which make the act of witnessing visible, open to inspection and critique. Going beyond particular traumatic or sensational events, Blocker contemplates the politics of witnessing and argues that the witness represents a morally unique—and even problematic-position of privilege."
*
CONTENTS :
Introduction: Imagery Specialists
I. History
1. A Promise Always Disappearing: The Ethics of History in Ulay and Abramovic's The Lovers
2. Peoples of Memory: James Luna and the Production of History
3. Binding to Another's Wound: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Ross McElwee on Weddings
II. Technology
4. A Cemetery of Images: Photography and Witness in the Work of Gilles Peress and Alfredo Jaar
5. Machine Memory: Digital Witness in Dumb Type's memorandum
III. Biopower
6. This Being You Must Create: Transgenics, Witness, and Selfhood in the Work of Eduardo Kac and Christine Borland
7. The Shame of Biological Being: Microbiology and Theories of Subjectivity in a Project by Ann Hamilton and Ben Rubin
Conclusion: A Mysterious Picture of God
Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
| Copy number | R016066 |
| Institution name | |
| Shelf mark | $KUNST BLOCKER.J 2009 |