Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s

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dc.contributor.advisorGodby, Michaelen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDaehnke, Nadjaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-10T06:55:04Z
dc.date.available2015-01-10T06:55:04Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes abstract.en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 53-58).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn his essay The Poetics of the Open Work, Umberto Eco suggests that 'open work' of the 1960s, which stressed audience involvement, contingency and an anti-institutional stance, is an expression of a Quantum paradigm. Here, the irrationality and lack of order of Quantum Theory is seen as paralleled in artistic expression. Since the mid 1990s, participatory art has gained prominence, both in terms of current art production and retrospectives of Dadaist and 1960s 'open work'. Using Eco's essay as a model, this could be seen as a result of the progression of a Quantum Theory worldview to a view that is understood in terms of Chaos Theory. The patterns that mathematical models such as natural numbers, Calculus, Statistical Mathematics and Quantum Theory propose have parallels in social and artistic expression. In an extension of this, Chaos Theory is the latest mathematical model that social and artistic trends express. This is suggested by the mirroring of Chaos patterns in current social phenomena such as the Internet and experience economy. The similarity in approach between social phenomena and participatory art suggests that they answer the same social/audience demands. My primary contention is that the environment in which audiences and artists currently operate is such that demands and expectations raised by Chaos Theory are answered by participatory art, just as they are answered by wider social trends. The primary Chaos patterns that can be observed are interconnection, phase change and feedback. This is not a matter of a linear influence of cause and effect. It is not that Chaos inspires certain characteristics which are then expressed in various social phenomena. Rather, encountering Chaos characteristics in daily life raises expectations that these characteristics will be encountered elsewhere. We are thus not speaking of a causative relation between Chaos theory and social phenomena. Rather, there is a complex pattern of escalation which encourages interaction, feedback and phase change in a dynamic, chiasmic system which itself can best be analysed as another Chaos phenomenon.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationDaehnke, N. (2009). <i>Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11906en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDaehnke, Nadja. <i>"Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11906en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDaehnke, N. 2009. Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Daehnke, Nadja AB - In his essay The Poetics of the Open Work, Umberto Eco suggests that 'open work' of the 1960s, which stressed audience involvement, contingency and an anti-institutional stance, is an expression of a Quantum paradigm. Here, the irrationality and lack of order of Quantum Theory is seen as paralleled in artistic expression. Since the mid 1990s, participatory art has gained prominence, both in terms of current art production and retrospectives of Dadaist and 1960s 'open work'. Using Eco's essay as a model, this could be seen as a result of the progression of a Quantum Theory worldview to a view that is understood in terms of Chaos Theory. The patterns that mathematical models such as natural numbers, Calculus, Statistical Mathematics and Quantum Theory propose have parallels in social and artistic expression. In an extension of this, Chaos Theory is the latest mathematical model that social and artistic trends express. This is suggested by the mirroring of Chaos patterns in current social phenomena such as the Internet and experience economy. The similarity in approach between social phenomena and participatory art suggests that they answer the same social/audience demands. My primary contention is that the environment in which audiences and artists currently operate is such that demands and expectations raised by Chaos Theory are answered by participatory art, just as they are answered by wider social trends. The primary Chaos patterns that can be observed are interconnection, phase change and feedback. This is not a matter of a linear influence of cause and effect. It is not that Chaos inspires certain characteristics which are then expressed in various social phenomena. Rather, encountering Chaos characteristics in daily life raises expectations that these characteristics will be encountered elsewhere. We are thus not speaking of a causative relation between Chaos theory and social phenomena. Rather, there is a complex pattern of escalation which encourages interaction, feedback and phase change in a dynamic, chiasmic system which itself can best be analysed as another Chaos phenomenon. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s TI - Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11906 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/11906
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDaehnke N. Chaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990s. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11906en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentMichaelis School of Fine Arten_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherArt Historyen_ZA
dc.titleChaos and context : speculations about the prominence of participatory art since the mid 1990sen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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