Thesis (Ph. D.)--College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, 2004. / Also available online.

Licenciado en artes con mención en historia y teoría del arte / El presente texto tiene por finalidad poner en contexto un episodio en la relación entre arte y cultura popular, específicamente, entre arte de vanguardia y cultura popular industrial en el escenario estadounidense. El título de éste hace relación directa a ésta problemática convivencia, y propone que la diferenciación entre ambas tiene su fuente directa en la historia y la teoría del arte.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy / The aim of this thesis is to consider a concept of trauma which may offer support for the contemporary interest in and practice of painting. Jacques Lacan’s (1959-1960) structural and abstract articulations of trauma as das Ding is the central framework for the trajectory and form of the research and writing in this thesis. Lacan’s seminar on das Ding develops the notion that philosophical and social functions of art are aimed at structuring the traumatic and tragic sphere of experience. Das Ding is a hypothetical construct that resonates with Kant’s epistemological, moral and aesthetic philosophy. Primarily, I see the historical framework of das Ding as foregrounding a certain ‘ethics’ in my approach to painting and its interpretation. Kant’s own emphasis on the communicability art may offer is key to this thesis. His focus is not on interpretation as an act eliciting direct meaning from representations in art, but frames the potential for humane interaction: for how a consideration of the perception of beauty and the form of the cognitions that arise in private and public spheres may lay the groundwork for thinking about communicability in general. Through the lens of das Ding, I suggest that an emphasis on aspects of non objective, non-communicable elements of making and experiencing painting is a viable way of contemplating both its pleasures and, often, its more painful effects. I contend that the displacement of meaning enabled by conceptualising the structural implications of trauma, in theory and in the practice of painting, may sustain a quiet yet significant social position in the wider sphere of intellectual activity and pursuits. / GR2018