Grafika w poszerzonym polu czy kultura obrazowania graficznego – w poszukiwaniu ram metodologicznych dla badań nad współczesną grafiką

Abstract

Printmaking in an Expanded Field or Print Culture – in search of a methodological framework for research on contemporary graphic arts (Summary)

The proposed text analyzes two potential methodological frameworks for research on contemporary graphic arts, an area in which significant transformations have taken place over the last two decades, both in terms of the methods and tools used by artists, and in the area of the artist-work-spectator relationship. The first group of transformations concerns the inclusion of new tools for image producing (screen turn within digital print, laser cutting of the matrix, inclusion of photocopying techniques into the framework of classic metal or stone matrices, etc.), as well as new methods of rending the image public (installations, performances, exhibitions of matrices, audiovisual narratives, including interactive forms based on mechanics taken from the world of digital games, etc.) in the area of interest of printmakers and graphic artists. The second group of changes concerns the increasing role of the spectator in the process of perceiving the work, resulting in the expansion or outright abandonment of the contemplative model in favor of interaction between the creator and the spectator through matrices art, the recipient’s interaction with the graphic dispositive prepared by the artist, or the recipient’s co-creation or co-participation in the process of graphic image creation. These changes led to the need to reformulate analytical categories applied to the description of new graphic forms. The proposal presented in this text is to discuss and present the benefits, as well as to indicate potential weaknesses resulting from the following methodological decisions: adaptation of the concept proposed by Rosalind Krauss for the study of new forms of sculptural art known as the expanded field to the needs of the analysis of contemporary graphic art; transfer of the concept of print culture used in historical, library and literary studies to the area of analysis of graphic arts and updating it in order to adapt it to the research needs regarding activities in the field of contemporary graphic arts.