Photography Remaking Life, the Universe, and Everything

Pfisztner, Gábor (2016) Photography Remaking Life, the Universe, and Everything. DISEGNO: A DESIGNKULTÚRA FOLYÓIRATA, 3 (1-2). pp. 118-131. ISSN 2064-7778

Preview

Text Disegno2016_1_2_07_Pfisztner.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike. Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss some important characteristics of photography from a technical and historical perspective that are related to the cultural phenomenon of remix, which, in turn, casts a different light on the invention and use of photography through its almost hundredeighty year history. First I outline the most important aspects of photographic practice that are affected by or related to activities that can be described as remix, redesign, or reuse. Then I point out the possible meanings of remix in contemporary culture in compliance with recent studies, and I also recall the basic structural features of remix. Later on, I also draw attention to the significance of this technique as a kind of bricolage as Lévi-Strauss described the work process and the attitudes of the bricoleur. Bearing this in mind, we can realize that the invention of photography and some later technical improvements to it (as in pictorialism) make the similarities to the procedure of remix obvious. Another important aspect of photography is how it remixes our memories and rearranges our remembrance with different images, compiling almost every kind of visual impression provided by photographic techniques and procedures with our own images into new and more (or even less) complex memories. By reflecting on the structure of remix, I emphasize the importance of the term Aufhebung used by Hegel, mainly in his Science of Logic. I point to the potential of criticism in remix which can be observed in the usage of photography in avant-garde art, and later in the twentieth century with particular focus on appropriation in art. I also indicate how these artistic movements reflect on photography as one of the most important technical media that has formed our culture ever since.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item