This is the first book to offer a systematic account of the concept of opacity in the aesthetic field. Engaging with works by Ernie Gehr, John Akomfrah, Matt Saunders, David Lynch, Trevor Paglen, Zach Blas, and Low, the study considers the cultural, epistemological, and ethical values of images and sounds that are fuzzy, indeterminate, distorted, degraded, or otherwise indistinct. Rethinking Art and Visual Culture shows how opaque forms of art address problems of mediation, knowledge, and information. It also intervenes in current debates about new systems of visibility and surveillance by explaining how indefinite art provides a critique of the positivist drive behind these regimes. A timely contribution to media theory, cinema studies, American studies, and aesthetics, the book presents a novel and extensive analysis of the politics of transparency.
Author(s): Asbjørn Skarsvåg Grønstad
Edition: 1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 205
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Devotion to Transparency Versus Virtues of Opacity
Opacity as an Aesthetic
Politicized Visibilities
Glissant and the Value of Opacity
Chapter 2: On the Concept of Opacity in Art and Theory
Art and Illegibility
Opacity in Criticism
Noise
The Aesthetic and Philosophical Significance of Low Definition
Cinema Between Clarity and Opacity
Transparency and Opacity in Post-classical Film Theory, Philosophy, and Visual Culture
Chapter 3: Boundaries of Discernibility: Ernie Gehr
Chapter 4: Archival Ghosts, or the Elsewhere of the Image: John Akomfrah
Chapter 5: The Shape of the Secret: Matt Saunders
Chapter 6: And Dark Within: David Lynch
Chapter 7: A Hermeneutics of the Black Site: Trevor Paglen
Chapter 8: Faceless, Nameless: Zach Blas
Chapter 9: Sublime Static: Low
Afterword
Index
