South African Journal of Art History Volume 12 (1996)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/14229

South African Journal of Art History, Volume 12, (1996)
Content
SAJAH Volume 12	Cover, general information
Welsh, Catherine	Making place for South Africans: rethinking urban conservation
Cornew, Clive	Book Review: The life and work of Thomas Baines
Cornew, Clive	A descriptive approach to perceptual theory and visual spectatordom
Cornew, Clive	The role of language 21
Cornew, Clive	The viewer and the work of art 40
Cornew, Clive	Perceptual approaches towards visual spectatordom
Mare, E.A.	Batalha as a Sacred Place
Van der Merwe, Johann	The Postmodern simulacrum - A critique of the work of Allen Weiss and Barbara Kruger

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The postmodern simulacrum - a critique of the work of Allen Weiss and Barbara Kruger
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 1996) Van der Merwe, Johann
To effect the change from an active 60s/70s style political dialogue to a user-friendly dialogue of-and-for the people, postmodern language use enters the sublime arena of virtual reality, wherein 'fictions' are created by those who 'know better': and fictions/truths become synonymous in a psychoanalytic world of uncertainty and doubt. This is highlighted in the critical essay "Lucid intervals: postmodernism and photography" (1990) by Allen Weiss, in which he also discusses the work of the artist Barbara Kruger. In his essay Weiss shows the transference, from theory to practice, of this new basis of knowledge in the epistemological shift. The new epistemology allows a subject to be seemingly 'destroyed' in favour of an object (but this only means an attempt is made to change the subject into an object, it does not mean the subject disappears). The object itself is then changed to a copy of the real, and in this false 'mirror image' no subject (so it would seem) can be found to refer [to] or to relate to - a psychological shift in perception that isolates anyone viewing these images from normal interrelational contact re:social communication and cultural values as guidelines. 'Visual words' in art are not in themselves indicative of reality; they can, however, change our perception of reality. Because virtual reality may be persuasive in this irrational way - because there still remains a very strong link between object and subject as far as information-in-the-world is concerned - the simulated object (in its operation as a hidden subject) can relate back to the 'normal' primacy of the subject over object relation, and psychologically this is accepted as the domination of the one over the other. Because we do not consciously think of this relation of primacy as domination, in the political and ideological sense, we may mistake[nly interpret] the transformation process that takes place in the visual persuasiveness of Kruger's work. This transformation or shift in the epistemology of postmodernism re-interprets language as a communication system that facilitates a reading of the 'new social reality': the control of information and knowledge disguised as the postmodern call to freedom.
Batalha as a sacred place
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 1996) Mare, Estelle Alma
Before attempting to evaluate the monastic complex at Batalha, known as Mosteiro da Santa Maria da Vitria, as a sacred place the author considers the expressive aim of Gothic cathedrals, of which this edifice exemplifies the late Gothic style. Because the author believes that historical research ought also to provide lessons for the present the research is concluded with a speculation on the reasons for the almost total absence of articulations of the concept of sacredness in twentieth-century architecture.
A descriptive approach to perceptual theory and visual spectatordom
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 1996) Cornew, Clive; Van den Berg, Dirk Johannes
The following three articles will investigate, using a descriptive approach, how perceptual theories have influenced the role of the viewer in visual spectatordom. In the first article, the role of language (English) is examined in relation to the perceptual process. The interaction between language and viewing is then used in the second article to describe the relationship between the viewer and the work of art. In the third article, which describes seven perceptual approaches to visual spectatordom, the author shows how these perceptual theories can be linked to the role which language plays in visual spectatordom.
South African Journal of Art History, volume 12, 1996
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 1996) Allen, N.P.L. (Nicholas P.L.)
Book review : the life and work of Thomas Baines
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 1996) Cornew, Clive
Review of a book written by J. Carruthers and M. Arnold, on the work of Thomas Baines.
Making place for South Africans : rethinking urban conservation
(Art Historical Work Group of South Africa, 1996) Welsh, Catherine
An approach to conservation based on phenomenology recognises the human need to feel a sense of belonging both to society and to the environment and seeks to maintain those qualities of the cultural landscape which, as manifestations of cultural values, both express and reinforce this sense of belonging. This article uses a phenomenological approach to explain the importance of urban conservation in terms of human experience of the urban environment and how a 'sense of place' in this environment may be retained. It then discusses some of the ideological problems related to past and current conservation practice, and argues that since urban conservation is involved with the production of a society's history, and hence also its identity, it can be a powerful and profound tool for bringing about commonly desired changes in our post-apartheid society.

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