Fragment, Image, and Absence in 1960s Japan

This book explores how the concept of "the object" was transformed in Japanese experimental art during a period of rapid social, economic, and environmental change. It examines the implications of an aesthetics of disaffection, drawing from psychoanalytic theories of melancholia, and traces a genealogy of disaffection within modernist discourse. By analyzing the discursive practices of artists across various media, it demonstrates how negativity became an effective means of addressing politics as a source for the creative act of undoing.

Format: Hardback
Length: 262 pages
Publication date: 03 January 2023
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

This groundbreaking book delves into the transformative journey of the concept of "the object" in Japanese experimental art during a period of rapid social, economic, and environmental change. Drawing inspiration from the historical avant-garde, Japanese artists and intellectuals of the 1960s formulated an aesthetics of disaffection, aiming to break the stalemate of political and aesthetic representation. Ignacio A. Adriasola Muñoz, in his exploration, employs psychoanalytic theories of melancholia to examine the profound implications of this approach, tracing a genealogy of disaffection within modernist discourse. By meticulously examining the discursive practices of artists across various media, as well as conducting a close analysis of artwork, philosophical debates, artist theories, and critical accounts, Adriasola Muñoz showcases how negativity became an effective tool for addressing politics as a catalyst for the creative act of undoing.

In its examination of ideas of the object advanced by artists and intellectuals both in writing and as part of their artwork, this book brings discussions in critical art history to bear on the study of art in Japan. It appeals to art historians with expertise in modernism, the international avant-garde, Japanese art, and the history of photography, offering a rich and insightful perspective on the evolving landscape of artistic expression.

Weight: 792g
Dimension: 248 x 187 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271092904