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Title
The Presence of Water in Contemporary Art. A Material Semantic Approach.
(Presencias hídricas en el arte contemporáneo. Una perspectiva desde la semántica material)
Name
Dr. Esther Moñivas Mayor
Affiliation(s)
Complutense University of Madrid (Spain)
Supervisor(s)
Prof. Carmen Bernárdez Sanchís
Prof. Jaime Brihuega Sierra
Date of completion
June 2011
Key words
Semantic Material Methodology; Materiality; Non-linear Art History; Aesthetics and Art Theory; Memory; Material Cultural Studies; Third Culture; Art-Science-Technology; Flux; Change of State; Water.
Abstract
This thesis studies a specific relationship between matter and form which can no longer be related to stability, solidity and objectuality, as it has been traditionally interpreted. To this aim, it firstly explores the plurivocity in the concepts of 'matter' and 'artistic material'; and secondly it examines a case study about water as a material presence in contemporary art. As the study develops, certain issues arise, such as the problematic use in the specific context of the artwork of notions like form, information and memory.
The methodological lines of this thesis are an alternative approach to the artwork’s technical and material system, this understood as a synergistic and complex structure of symbolic, technological and imaginative relations. This methodology focuses on the evolution of the 20th century´s technical and technological thinking, establishing the connection between past and current uses of media and materials. Based on the principle of transversality, this study contributes to the expansion of the Third Culture by visualizing the dialogical relationship between art, science, technology and aesthetics. Thus, its starting point are water states (solid, liquid, and gas) as well as the technical and conceptual operations associated to this specific material. A selection of 258 artists or working groups and more than 500 works have been gathered along diverse actional and conceptual interpretation of water in its three states.
Archeology, technological thinking, anthropology, and material imagination are the key epistemological elements used to reflect upon the encounter between the so-called traditional art mediums and new media in 20th century—or from a broader perspective, between both deterministic-mechanistic and the systemic-cybernetic currents of thought. In this context, water provides a paradoxical and exemplary temporal connectivity.
How to access the dissertation
Personal portfolio: http://www.behance.net/esthermonivas/frame
The dissertation will also be available in TESEO and UCM databases for Doctoral Thesis.
Previous education and/or work experience
Ph.D. in Art History (Honor – Sobresaliente Cum Laude). She obtained the Master of Arts degree in this discipline in 2002, and the Master of Advanced Studies degree in Contemporary Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid (DEA with distinction in 2006 in the field of Aesthetics and Art Theory). She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Heritage (2000).
She obtained the Pedagogical Aptitude Certificate (equivalent to the English PGCE) in Geography and History (2003) and has taken about twenty extra-academic courses to get specialization in curatorship, art criticism, research methodologies, history didactics, art education/mediation, and conservation of contemporary art.
As conservator-restorer has participated since 2000 in many projects, getting expertise in the installation and contemporary sculpture problems in Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) and in Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM).
In the art-historical research field related to media and contemporary materials has received a fellowship from the ICO Foundation (2005-2007), and has published articles in institutions such as the Felix Huarte Chair, Patina magazine, the International Institute for Conservation Spanish Group (GEIIC), the Spanish Committee of Art History (CEHA), or the Vostell-Malpartida Museum.
In the last five years has also developed several projects in the sphere of the cultural mediation and the social application of art, which have led her to the foundation of the NGO Acción C. She works as professor in monographic courses at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, and collaborates since 2009 in Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Educative Programs Department.
Current positions
Educative Programs Department – Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) / Freelance researcher.
Contact details
http://es.linkedin.com/in/esthermonivas/en
Personal portfolio: http://be.net/esthermonivas
Email:
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