Out of the vacuum : viewer agency and receptions of Goya's Saturn
| dc.contributor.advisor | Shiff, Richard | en |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Clarke, John R. | en |
| dc.creator | Batario, Jessamine M. | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2012-06-13T17:01:08Z | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-05-11T22:25:14Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2012-06-13T17:01:08Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2017-05-11T22:25:14Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012-05 | en |
| dc.date.submitted | May 2012 | en |
| dc.date.updated | 2012-06-13T17:02:07Z | en |
| dc.description | text | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis takes the form of a meta-criticism of the hermeneutics of the art-historical enterprise. I begin with an immanent critique of the discipline, paying careful attention to where art historians shift the interpretive focus in the spectrum of maker--object--viewer. After advocating for an increase in our consideration for the viewer in the present context, I then present a synoptic reception model for the interpretation of images in both their original forms and reproduced states. These two modes of viewing hinge upon spatial constructions: that of real spaces (e.g., museums, galleries, etc.) and virtual spaces (e.g., the Internet and other ephemeral media). Instead of relegating reproduced images to the art-historical basement, I argue for the productive interpretation of reproductions through a staged theoretical intervention between Jacques Derrida, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Walter Benjamin. In order to demonstrate the use of my reception model, I conclude with a case study of a particular image--Francisco de Goya's Untitled (Saturn Devouring One of his Children) of 1820-1823. From the painting's beginnings in a farmhouse in Spain through the vicissitudes of nearly 200 years of grafting--from mural to canvas, Madrid to Paris and back again, and as a reproduced image in its "afterlife"--I analyze the aura of the image as imputed by its viewers. I argue that each subsequent reproduction of the image does not necessarily cause a loss of aura, but that conversely and paradoxically, aura actually increases. I analyze the act of viewing itself not as a passive act of visual consumption, but as an interactive process of cumulative production. In this fashion, the reproduced image can play a significant role in the formation of identities and possesses the phenomenological potential to lead to increased self-awareness. | en |
| dc.description.department | Art History | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.slug | 2152/ETD-UT-2012-05-5613 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2012-05-5613 | en |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en |
| dc.subject | Hermeneutics | en |
| dc.subject | Phenomenology | en |
| dc.subject | Reception model | en |
| dc.subject | Goya | en |
| dc.subject | Saturn | en |
| dc.subject | Visual consumption | en |
| dc.subject | Immanent critique | en |
| dc.subject | Internet | en |
| dc.subject | Identity construction | en |
| dc.subject | Black paintings | en |
| dc.subject | Pinturas Negras | en |
| dc.subject | Art history | en |
| dc.subject | Art history methods | en |
| dc.title | Out of the vacuum : viewer agency and receptions of Goya's Saturn | en |
| dc.title.alternative | Viewer agency and receptions of Goya's Saturn | en |
| dc.type.genre | thesis | en |