engleski

“Constructing a Critical Situation:” a Data-Based Approach to the Study of Cultural Periodicals and Art Criticism

The starting point of the research is a twofold conceptualization of the cultural periodical as a network. On the one hand, the cultural periodical is considered as an active and collective actor on the art scene, i.e. as a place of gathering of a network of editors, authors, designers and other contributors or a cohesive social circle of actors that share similar ideological and aesthetic values. Both the periodical as a network and the art critic as an individual node actively frame the production and reception of artworks, they shape and direct the contours of the art field, thus affecting its later historization. On the other hand, the choices on which artists or exhibitions they publish or write about can also be considered as a network: while who or what to write about is unquestionably a conscious choice in the moment of publishing, the structure of these choices over a longer period of time cannot be controlled in the same fashion. The analysis and interpretation of these choices gives insight into changing cultural trends on the art scene, as well as on the dynamic position of specific cultural periodicals. Including both a qualitative and quantitative level of analysis, this research on periodicals allows for a more structured approach to the relationship of a specific national art scene to the globalized art world, as well as to the identification of different and often competing social circles within a local or regional art scene.

art criticism, artist networks, cultural periodicals, digital art history, network analysis

nije evidentirano