History of Art in the Digital Age: Problems and Possibilities

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, einen allgemeinen Überblick über die Wirkung von Computern auf die Kunstgeschichte zu geben. Zu Beginn der Arbeit wird der Charakter der informationstechnologischen Revolution untersucht, einschließlich seiner schon oft festgestellten Parallelen mit der "Gutenberg"- Revolution, deren Ausgangspunkt in der Entwicklung der Druckerpresse liegt. Wie auch bei Gutenberg, ist die Entwicklung der Informationstechnologie technologisch bedingt. Jedoch führt sie durch ihren Schwerpunkt auf Flexibilität und Verbreitung an ein anderes Ziel. Diese Flexibilität ist zweischneidig: während sie viele neue Möglichkeiten eröffnet, scheint sie auch einen bruchstückhafteren, iterativen Ansatz zur Untersuchung des Vorzugs von Information vor Wissen anzuregen. Es bleibt jedoch offen, ob dieser Ansatz als notwendige Konsequenz der Struktur dieser vorhandenen neuen Technologie betrachtet werden kann, oder ob er eher als Produkt eines allgemeinen intellektuellen Wandels, angeregt durch das Aufkommen des postmodernen Diskurses, beschrieben werden soll. Ich werde in dem vorliegenden Artikel für den zweitgenannten Grund argumentieren. Ich bin außerdem der Meinung, dass der in der neuen Technologie enthaltenen Tendenz zur Fragmentierung entgegengewirkt werden kann - vorausgesetzt der Wunsch besteht. Die Entwicklung des Computers hängt eng mit der Nachfrage des Konsumenten zusammen. Aus diesem Grund kann ein neuer Trend in der Nachfrage die Art der Ausweitung und Modifizierung technologischer Vorgänge mitbestimmen.Des weiteren werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit Problemstellungen diskutiert, die speziell Auswirkungen auf die Untersuchung von Bildern haben. Hierbei wird sowohl das Potential digitaler Bilder für neue Formen der Erforschung und Analyse diskutiert, als auch die vielen neuen Möglichkeiten im Zeitalter des Internets.

»Imitation is the means, not the end, of art« - Peter Paul Rubens und Sir Joshua Reynolds über die Grammatik antiker Skulptur

In der vorliegenden Besprechung von Peter Paul Rubens’ Lehrschrift De imitatione statuarum (um 1610) und Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Discourse on Sculpture (1780) wird der Versuch unternommen, das Lehrgerüst der Grammatik als ein gemeinsames Referenzmodell herauszuarbeiten und die Position dieser beiden Malergrößen innerhalb der neuzeitlichen Kunsttheorie genauer zu verorten. Hierbei werden besonders die medienspezifischen Eigenschaften von Skulptur im Verhältnis zur Malerei diskutiert, die Maler bei der Nachahmung von antiker Skulptur zu beachten haben.

Theory and Practice: A Matter of Words. Language, Knowledge and Professional Community in Social Work

The relation between theory and practice in social work has always been controversial. Recently, many have underlined how language is crucial in order to capture how knowledge is used in practice. This article introduces a language perspective to the issue, rooted in the ‘strong programme’ in the sociology of knowledge and in Wittgenstein’s late work. According to this perspective, the meaning of categories and concepts corresponds to the use that concrete actors make of them as a result of on-going negotiation processes in specific contexts. Meanings may vary dramatically across social groups moved by different interests and holding different cultures. Accordingly, we may reformulate the issue of theory and practice in terms of the connections between different language games and power relationship between segments of the professional community. In this view, the point is anyway to look at how theoretical language relates to practitioners’ broader frames, and how it is transformed while providing words for making sense of experience.

Idiomatic Différance: Reflections on Intranslatability in the Works of Gerhard Richter

Translatability of a work of art, according to Walter Benjamin, is an essential ability to allow a translation to take on »a specific significance inherent in the original« so that it will retain a close relationship to the original. In contrast, Gerhard Richter's photo-based paintings show such an auratic significance of the original in its innate deficiency or intranslatability. As Rosemary Hawker puts it, the striking effect of blur in his paintings represents itself at once as a unique photographic idiom and a distinctive shortcoming of photography which impedes the medium from providing viewers with clearly perceivable images; the blur creates a site of différance in which both media come to a common understanding of one another’s idioms by telling what those idioms always fail to achieve. In this short essay, I will examine ways in which Richter’s photographic and pictorial works, including early monochrome paintings and recent abstract works based on microscopic photographs of molecular structures, attempt to untranslate photographic idioms in order to see painting’s (in)abilities simultaneously. In doing so, I intend to observe in the artist’s pictorial practice an actual phenomenon that the image can designate certain facts or truths only through its inherent plurality, faultiness, and partiality.

Idiomatic Différance: Reflections on Intranslatability in the Works of Gerhard Richter

Translatability of a work of art, according to Walter Benjamin, is an essential ability to allow a translation to take on »a specific significance inherent in the original« so that it will retain a close relationship to the original. In contrast, Gerhard Richter's photo-based paintings show such an auratic significance of the original in its innate deficiency or intranslatability. As Rosemary Hawker puts it, the striking effect of blur in his paintings represents itself at once as a unique photographic idiom and a distinctive shortcoming of photography which impedes the medium from providing viewers with clearly perceivable images; the blur creates a site of différance in which both media come to a common understanding of one another’s idioms by telling what those idioms always fail to achieve. In this short essay, I will examine ways in which Richter’s photographic and pictorial works, including early monochrome paintings and recent abstract works based on microscopic photographs of molecular structures, attempt to untranslate photographic idioms in order to see painting’s (in)abilities simultaneously. In doing so, I intend to observe in the artist’s pictorial practice an actual phenomenon that the image can designate certain facts or truths only through its inherent plurality, faultiness, and partiality.

On the Role of Copyright Protection in the Information Society

In January 2012, Poland witnessed massive protests, both in the streets and on the Internet, opposing ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which triggered a wave of strong anti-ACTA movements across Europe. In Poland, these protests had further far-reaching consequences, as they not only changed the initial position of the government on the controversial treaty but also actually started a public debate on the role of copyright law in the information society. Moreover, as a result of these events the Polish Ministry for Administration and Digitisation launched a round table, gathering various stakeholders to negotiate a potential compromise with regard to copyright law that would satisfy conflicting interests of various actors. This contribution will focus on a description of this massive resentment towards ACTA and a discussion of its potential reasons. Furthermore, the mechanisms that led to the extraordinary influence of the anti-ACTA movement on the governmental decisions in Poland will be analysed through the application of models and theories stemming from the social sciences. The importance of procedural justice in the copyright legislation process, especially its influence on the image of copyright law and obedience of its norms, will also be emphasised.

Under One Umbrella: Problems of Internet Retransmissions of Broadcasts and Implications for New Audiovisual Content Services

The development of broadband Internet connections has fostered new audiovisual media services and opened new possibilities for accessing broadcasts. The Internet retransmission case of TVCatchup before the CJEU was the first case concerning new technologies in the light of Art. 3.1. of the Information Society Directive. On the other side of the Atlantic the Aereo case reached the U.S. Supreme Court and challenged the interpretation of public performance rights. In both cases the recipients of the services could receive broadcast programs in a way alternative to traditional broadcasting channels including terrestrial broadcasting or cable transmission. The Aereo case raised the debate on the possible impact of the interpretation of copyright law in the context of the development of new technologies, particularly cloud based services. It is interesting to see whether any similar problems occur in the EU. The „umbrella” in the title refers to Art. 8 WCT, which covers digital and Internet transmission and constitutes the backrgound for the EU and the U.S. legal solutions. The article argues that no international standard for qualification of the discussed services exists.