A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Arts in Fine Arts. / American critic Hal Foster argues that conceptions of 'the natural' are not universal,
they are historically and discursively produced, There is no unmediated presence of
'the natural' in painting. He proposes 'denaturalization' as a form of critical
postmodemist aesthetic which questions universalist tendencies in contemporary
cultural production" This research examines selected theories and visual.
representations of 'the natural' in order to explore different ways in which Foster's
notion of denaturalization may be productive in assessing the complexity of critical
visual art practice in South Africa.
My approach to the topic is largely fragmentary in order to reflect on and engage
with the diverse terms of 'the natural' as manifest in visual art practice. To this end
I discuss selected works of contemporary South African artists William Kentridge and
Penelope'Siopis, While Foster's notion of denaturalization is productive in trying to
engage with"critical issues' of art practice it is difficulr, if not impossible to determine
if cenaln works conform with either his notion of a postmodernism of resistance or
postmodernism of reaction. I will also explore the notion of denaturalization with
reference to my practical work. / Andrew Chakane 2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/25922 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Kapitza-Meyer, Marlene Lydia. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds