Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2005

El eje central del desarrollo de esta tesis lo constituye el trabajo elaborado a partir de la idea de vacío como concepto operativo; teniendo como principal objetivo experimentar operacionalmente la manera en que este podría ser visualizado por el espectador. A partir de la mezcla de diferentes materialidades y diversos medios (fotografía, video, instalación), las obras que a continuación se presentan buscan hacer visible diferentes estados de energía o densidades, que asociadas entre sí, permiten desestabilizar la noción de espacio y categorizarlo entre situaciones formales y dicotomías conceptuales tales como: visible/invisible, dentro/fuera, vacío/lleno, materia/no-materia, entre otras. La respuesta a la pregunta planteada inicialmente y que da origen a esta tesis, es paradójicamente su negación y superación, es decir, un encuentro de los límites que nunca llegan a colisionar del todo. Además se ha constatado que esto ocurre independientemente de la materialidad con la que se produce dicho vacío.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Fine Arts by Dissertation / In this research I examine how the ineffable is addressed and explored in selected artworks by British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor (b 1954) and South African artist Karel Nel (b 1955). I introduce the notion of the ineffable, described as that which is too great or profound to be expressed in words; the ungraspable, indescribable, indefinable. It is often linked to the spiritual, the fluid and unfixed, the transcendent and the notion of the revelatory. I consider it alongside related terms such as the sublime, the numinous, the mystical etc. In examining how it can be seen to link to artists’ aesthetic pursuits, I briefly consider the idea of the shamanistic role of the artist in providing a ‘transformative event’ of bringing the invisible into visible form. My primary focus is on how both Kapoor and Nel can be seen to use their chosen materials, forms, and means of display to engage with ideas that relate to the metaphysical and allude to the intuitive and the spiritual. Their interest in Buddhist philosophy and the notion of reconciliation of opposites as well as their exploration of space and the idea of the immaterial becoming object is related to my discussion of their artworks in terms of evoking the ineffable. Kapoor's biomorphic sculptural forms covered in powder pigments, examples of his reflective stainless steel sculptures and two recent sitespecific installation artworks using smoke and water are closely examined as are examples of Nel's two-dimensional drawings using pastels, powdered earth pigments, carboniferous salts and dust and two of his site-specific installation artworks involving the use of water and refracted/reflected light. I finally discuss my own creative work in relation to the above as presented in my exhibition titled Ātmān / MT2016

Text in English with abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Setswana. Translated titles in Afrikaans and Setswana supplied / Dataset link: https://doi.org/10.25399/UnisaData.14101913.v1 / The gap between diverse cultures living in a globalized world is not intransigent nor unassumingly flexible. This space is an arena of dissimilarities and correlations, which result in interactions that incite unusual expectations. ‘Cultural hybridity’ is clearly mirrored within contemporary society. New methods and approaches are required to comprehend the lived experiences of escalating displacement. This research traces the trajectory of migration, identity, self and other from the point of view of contemporary diasporic artists. Notions of ethnicity, authenticity, identity, transnationality, singularity and duality are debated against the backdrop of the creative practices of Anish Kapoor and Yinka Shonibare. Informed by Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the third space, and also theories of hermeneutic translation by Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur, this dissertation creatively and critically investigates the ambiguities and ambivalences in this field of inquiry. / Die gaping tussen uiteenlopende kulture wat in ’n geglobaliseerde wêreld woon, is nóg onversetlik nóg pretensieloos veerkragtig. Hierdie ruimte is ’n arena van ongelykhede en korrelasies wat lei tot interaksies wat ongewone verwagtings ontketen. “Kulturele hibridisme” word duidelik in die eietydse samelewing weerspieël. Nuwe metodes en benaderings word vereis om die werklike ervarings van toenemende ontheemding te verstaan. Hierdie navorsing spoor die trajektorie van migrasie, identiteit, self en ander vanuit die oogpunt van eietydse diasporiese kunstenaars na. Idees rondom etnisiteit, egtheid, identiteit, transnasionaliteit, enkelvoudigheid en tweevoudigheid word teen die agtergrond van die kreatiewe praktyke van Anish Kapoor en Yinka Shonibare bespreek. Hierdie verhandeling, wat geïnspireer is deur Homi K. Bhabha se konsep van die derde ruimte, asook teorieë van hermeneutiese verplasing deur Georg Gadamer en Paul Ricoeur, ondersoek op ’n kreatiewe en kritiese wyse die dubbelsinnighede en teenstrydighede in hierdie ondersoekveld. / Sekgala magareng ga ditso tse di farologaneng tse di tshelang mo lefatsheng le le susumetsanang ga se a tsepama le mme ga se obege bonolo. Sebaka seno ke serala sa dipharologano le dikamano tse di lebisang kwa dikgolaganong tse di tlhosetsang ditsholofelo tse di sa tlwaelegang. Tota 'motswako wa setso' o bonala sentle mo setšhabeng sa sešweng. Go tlhokega mekgwa le selebo se sentšhwa go tlhaloganya maitemogelo a phuduso e e oketsegang. Patlisiso eno e lebelela motlhala wa bofudugedi, boitshupo, jwa sebele le jo bongwe go tswa mo mogopolong wa batsweretshi ba sešweng go tswa mo mafelong a bofudugedi (diaspora) Go ganetsanwa ka megopolo ya lotso, boammaaruri, boitshupo, boditšhaba, bongwefela le bobedi go lebeletswe ntlha ya ditiragatso tsa boitlhamedi tsa ga Anish Kapoor le Yinka Shonibare. Thesisi eno e e theilweng mo mogopolong wa ga Homi K. Bhabha wa sebaka sa boraro, le ditiori tsa saense ya boranodi ka Georg Gadamer le Paul Ricoeur, e batlisisa ka boitlhamedi le ka tshekatsheko, ketsaetsego e e mo lephateng leno la dipatlisiso. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)