Real Spaces

Real Spaces

infobox Book


author = Summers, David
name = Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism
country = United States of America
language = English
subject = Art History
genre =
publisher = Phaidon
release_date = 2003
media_type = Hardcover
isbn = ISBN 0714842443
preceded_by =

Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism is an influential non-fiction book by art historian David Summers, who aims to reconcile Western art history to artistic cultural production around the world from all time periods.

In the book, Summers creates his own art history methodology to explore spatial attributes of art and architecture and their connection to social functions throughout time. He disregards traditional formal and iconographical art historical models, aiming to explore cultural traditions from around the world within the chapters. [Elkins. ]

ynopsis and Chapter Breakdown

Introduction

Summers divides the world into "Real Space," the space we share with other people and objects and "Virtual Space," space that exists within two dimensions which people "seem to see." He explains, “Real space is the space we find ourselves sharing with other people and things; virtual space is space represented on a surface, space we ‘”seem to see.’ In fact, space can only be represented visually as virtual, but at the same time we always encounter a virtual space in a real space.” [Summers, 43.]

Facture

Facture is understood as an indication that an object has been made. Summers considers concepts of form, such as seriality, diachronicity, etc. Some are given new definitions, others are adjusted in relation to the existing literature; others do not change meaning at all. Summers relates and interconnects the concepts together in relationship to artworks such as Benvenuto Cellini’s "Salt Cellar of Francis I", of 1539-43 to other artworks like Late Neolithic Arrowheads. The conceptual themes, such as fracture, become critical tools throughout the book. [Elkins.]

Places

Places is based on that “places, as real social spaces, provide the possibility for the actual statement of relations of difference" [ Summers, 123.] The chapter discusses the concepts of difference (emphasizing its spatial qualities), centers and diasporas, shrines precincts, boundaries, paths, alignments and orientations, and the idea of a periphery and division of land outside the sanctum. For example, a Najaho Hogan [Summers, 125-127.]

The Appropriation of the Centre

The Appropriation of the Centre gathers Egyptian, Akkadian, Roman, Khmer, Chinese, and French examples to articulate the change from cultures in which rulers appropriate the center. Rulers use centre as, “the point where the world is defined, with its values of collective generation, and the combination of notional ‘cosmic’ order and vital centrality provides the political order” [Summers, 201] For example, Shi Huangdi’s capital of Xianyang. [Elkins.]


=

Images opens with a realignment of discussions on the origins of images, proposing that "images are fashioned in order to make present in social spaces what for some reason is not present" [Summers, 252.] They are therefore substitutive, and it is important to study their "conditions of presentation" and "the relations of those conditions to our own spatiotemporality." [Summers, 253.]

Planarity

Planarity follows the development of planar orders "as they shape and enable all kinds of routine, second-natural practices and activities" [Summers, 344.] Concepts that follow from planarity include order (which is one of the basic relations between parts of an image, but is also "analogous to the order of the parts of something to which the image refers," [Summers, 358.] , measure and proportion, hierarchy, framing and division, symmetries, oppositions, profiles and frontal figures, harmony, ratio, grids, and maps. [Elkins.]

Virtuality

Virtuality concerns the capacity to complete images by seeing three dimensions in two or by perceiving what is absent from what is given. Virtuality raises the problem of illusion, and effigies, narratives, and doubting or skepticism. [Elkins.]

Conditions of Modernity

Conditions of Modernity examines “the conditions of presentation, trying to characterize the formation of Western modernity as a tradition of place and image-making traditions.” [Summers, 549.] Summers examines László Moholy-Nagy’s, "Untitled (Looking Down from the Wireless Tower, Berlin)" of 1932.

Post-Formalism

Summers proposes that Western art history and world art history can be united by Post-Formalism, a new type of formalist artistic interpretation that priviledges the form or shape of the art object. Throughout the text, Summers uses various definitions he creates or reinterprets as a way to understand art objects based primarily on their form, which Summers believes, leads into cultural or social meanings of art.

Notes

References

Elkins, James “Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism” "The Art Bulletin," June, 2004.

Summers, David. "Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism." New York: Phaidon Press, 2003. ISBN 0714842443


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Real analysis — Real function redirects here. For the real part of a complex number, see real part. Real analysis, is a branch of mathematical analysis dealing with the set of real numbers and functions of a real variable. In particular, it deals with the… …   Wikipedia

  • Real estate trading — (also referred to as permanent Real estate swapping), is a type of I buy yours you buy mine arrangement. This is distinct from vacation home swapping. The deteriorating real estate market (circa 2006+) has led many to realize that trading may be… …   Wikipedia

  • Real Time rendering — is the one of the interactive areas of computer graphics, it means creating synthetic images fast enough on the computer so that the viewer can interact with a virtual environment. The most common place to find real time rendering is in animated… …   Wikipedia

  • Real number — For the real numbers used in descriptive set theory, see Baire space (set theory). For the computing datatype, see Floating point number. A symbol of the set of real numbers …   Wikipedia

  • Real projective space — In mathematics, real projective space, or RP n is the projective space of lines in R n +1. It is a compact, smooth manifold of dimension n , and a special case of a Grassmannian.ConstructionAs with all projective spaces, RP n is formed by taking… …   Wikipedia

  • Real estate — Property lawReal estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions, notably in the USA, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is …   Wikipedia

  • Real form (Lie theory) — Lie groups …   Wikipedia

  • Real line — In mathematics, the real line is simply the set R of singleton real numbers.However, this term is usually used when R is to be treated as a space of some sort, such as a topological space or a vector space.The real line has been studied at least… …   Wikipedia

  • Real estate (Second Life) — Second Life, an online world owned by Linden Lab has been operating since 2003.citeweb url=http://videogames.yahoo.com/newsarticle?eid=434909 page=0 title=Second Life goes live publisher=Yahoo! author=Parker, Sam date=June 23, 2003… …   Wikipedia

  • Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet 2 — The Gauntlet II was the eleventh season of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge , airing in late 2005 and into 2006 with 32 contestants and taking place in Trinidad and Tobago. The teams were designated Veterans and Rookies, based on the number of …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”