Communicative space of contemporary art: philosophical reflection

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International Humanities University Odesa

Communicative space of contemporary art: philosophical reflection

Semko Yana Serhiivna

Candidate of Philosophical Sciences

Associate Professor at the Department of Art History

and General Humanities

Abstract

Relevance of the Problem. From our point of view, the communicative function of art lies in transmitting the original creative image into the social space with attention to current issues and the overall state of societal development. Undoubtedly, contemporary art is not devoid of economic and socio-economic grounds, it has certain features of “marketability”, it must satisfy or shape the demand for certain trends, create new fields of creativity. In our opinion, analyzing contemporary art from the perspective of its communicative function is currently relevant, identifying the mechanisms and means of artistic and societal communicative influence, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of contemporary art as a communicator. Thus, the aim of this research is to study and analyze contemporary art as a unique method of establishing communication at different levels of social space.

In connection with the outlined purpose, special attention should be paid to solving the following tasks: consider the features of communication in society; study the specifics of contemporary art; define the communicative space of art, consider its essence; analyze art as a means of establishing communication. The object of this research is contemporary art, and the subject is the communicative aspects of contemporary art. Research methods: dialectical principles of research objectivity serve as the methodological basis, allowing the study of contemporary art as a unique method of establishing communication at different levels and revealing its dependence on the specificity of the context - historical, social, ethno-cultural.

Results and Conclusions. Having analyzed existing scientific approaches regarding the role of contemporary art as a particular type of communicator, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Contemporary art represents a unique type of communicator that encompasses various channels of information transmission (visual, auditory, etc.). 2. Contemporary art serves as a catalyst for the development of mass cultural industry, shaping a contemporary image of consumer culture through artistic means. 3. An important advantage of contemporary art as a communicative mechanism is its internationality and cross-cultural nature. With the exception of literature and certain genres of theatrical art, works by contemporary artists do not require translation and adaptation, thus accelerating the process of information transmission. 4. The specificity of contemporary art lies in its relevance, with its connection to contemporaneity being a necessary precondition: addressing societal issues, shaping ideals, and values of societal development. 5. Among the drawbacks of contemporary art as a universal type of communicator, its “market-driven” basis can be noted, along with its orientation towards specific consumers and the utilization of market mechanisms in shaping new trends and tendencies in contemporary art, closely intertwined with fashion and pop culture.

Prospective directions for further research in this field may include: developing a typology and analyzing the function of contemporary art as a communicative form; analyzing communicative channels of information transmission through contemporary art; identifying new trends and prospects for the development of contemporary art in Ukraine as a particular communicative form.

Key words: social space, communication, art, contemporary art, communicative space, performance, art market.

Семко Яна Сергіївна, кандидат філософських наук, доцент кафедри мистецтвознавства та загально-гуманітарних дисциплін

Міжнародного гуманітарного університету, Одеса

Комунікативний простір сучасного мистецтва: філософська рефлексія

Анотація

Актуальність проблеми. Комунікативна функція мистецтва, з нашої точки зору, полягає в передачі первісного творчого образу в соціальний простір з приділенням уваги актуальним проблемам і загальному стану розвитку суспільства. Безумовно, сучасне мистецтво не позбавлене економічного та соціально-економічного підґрунтя, має певні риси «ринковості», мусить задовольняти або формувати попит на певні течії, створювати нові галузі творчості. На наш погляд, нині актуальним є аналіз сучасного мистецтва саме з позиції його комунікативної функції, виявлення механізмів і засобів комунікативного впливу мистецтва та соціуму, переваг і недоліків сучасного мистецтва як комуніканта. Таким чином, метою даного дослідження є вивчення та аналіз сучасного мистецтва як як унікального методу встановлення комунікації на різних рівнях соціального простору.

У зв'язку з окресленою метою, особливу увагу слід приділити вирішенню таких завдань: розглянути особливості комунікації у суспільстві; вивчити специфіку актуального мистецтва; дати визначення комунікативному простору мистецтва, розглянути його суть; проаналізувати мистецтво як засіб встановлення комунікації. Об'єктом цього дослідження є сучасне мистецтво, а предметом - комунікативні аспекти актуального мистецтва. Методи дослідження. Як методологічна основа виступають діалектичні принципи об'єктивності дослідження, які дозволяють вивчення сучасного мистецтва як унікального метода встановлення комунікації на різних рівнях та виявлення його залежності від специфіки контексту - історичного, соціального, етнокультурного.

Здійснивши аналіз існуючих наукових підходів стосовно ролі сучасного мистецтва як особливого типу комуніканта, можна дійти наступних висновків: 1. Сучасне мистецтво являє собою унікальний тип комуніканта, який включає в себе різні канали передачі інформації (візуальний, аудіальний тощо). 2. Сучасне мистецтво виступає каталізатором розвитку масової культурної індустрії, який засобами мистецтва формує адекватний сьогоденню образ культури споживача масової культури. 3. Важливою перевагою сучасного мистецтва як комунікативного механізму є його інтернаціональність і крос-культурність. За винятком літератури та певних жанрів театрального мистецтва, твори нинішніх митців не потребують перекладу та адаптації, що прискорює процес передачі інформації. 4. Специфікою сучасного мистецтва є його актуальність, необхідною передумовою якої виступає його зв'язок із сучасністю: проблемами, що стоять перед суспільством, формування ідеалів і цінностей суспільного розвитку. 5. Серед недоліків сучасного мистецтва, як універсального типу комуніканта, можна відзначити його ««ринкове» підґрунтя, орієнтацію на певного споживача, використання ринкових механізмів формування нових течій і тенденцій у розвитку нинішнього мистецтва, які тісно переплітаються з модою та культурою поп-арту. Перспективними напрямками подальших досліджень у даному напрямку можуть бути: розроблення типології та аналіз функції сучасного мистецтва як комунікативної форми; аналіз комунікативних каналів передачі інформації засобами сучасного мистецтва; виділення нових тенденцій і перспектив розвитку сучасного мистецтва в Україні як особливої комунікативної форми.

Ключові слова: соціальний простір, комунікація, мистецтво, сучасне мистецтво, комунікативний простір, перформанс, арт-ринок.

Introduction

art communicative society

Contemporary art represents a vast segment of cultural development, reflecting the creators' vision of the current social situation, serving as a universal mechanism for information transmission through painting, photography, music, theater, and more. Today, numerous scientific studies in the fields of philosophy, cultural studies, and sociology are devoted to the issues of contemporary art development. However, not all of them fully explore the functions of contemporary art as a communicator on cultural and social levels. From our perspective, the communicative function of art lies in transmitting the original creative image into the social space with attention to current issues and the overall state of societal development. Undoubtedly, contemporary art is not devoid of economic and socio-economic grounds, exhibiting certain traits of “marketability” and needing to satisfy or shape the demand for certain trends while creating new fields of creativity. We believe that analyzing contemporary art from the perspective of its communicative function is currently pertinent, identifying the mechanisms and means of artistic and societal communicative influence, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of contemporary art as a communicator.

The 21st century is rightfully called the century of innovative technologies. Despite humanity's relatively long acquaintance with space exploration, the discovery of the Internet, and the invention of the first robot in the previous century, modern science gradually accustoms humanity to a comfortable and unburdened existence in everyday life. Continuously existing in a state of compressed spring, science regularly introduces new gadgets into society, with technologies often preceding societal needs, offering and at the same time instilling in people a shortlist of necessary items. A significant portion of inventions is aimed at simplifying the process of communication, which, as before, holds significant social importance, underscoring the undeniable necessity of human interaction for personal development as well as the preservation and transmission of culture. However, culture itself serves as a unique means of transmitting social experience in various dimensions and projections. With the evolution of humanity, culture continually generates new means of communication, simultaneously eliminating outdated and less efficient ones. Recent closure of India's telegraph, which operated for 163 years and was considered a symbol of the beginning of a new communicative era in the world, serves as evidence of this [2, p. 158].

The world's cultural diversity has led society to constantly search for a universal mean of communication. One of the most notable attempts was the invention of the universal language Esperanto in the 19th century. The introduction of Esperanto aimed to elevate communication to a new level, free from cultural differences. However, this initiative ended in failure. Another attempt - the opening of borders and freedom of migration - led to an exacerbation of intercultural animosity and the development of terrorism. Nevertheless, a universal means of communication had been devised long before these events, namely art. Despite its diverse styles and expressive means, as well as the multifaceted forms, art has the ability to compel representatives of different cultures to understand each other, even when speaking different languages. This underscores the necessity and relevance of studying the theme of the communicative space of art.

Thus, the aim of this research is to study contemporary art as a unique method of establishing communication at various levels of social space.

The purpose of the study

In line with the outlined objective, particular attention should be devoted to addressing the following tasks:

Examining the characteristics of communication in society.

Studying the specificity of contemporary art.

Providing a definition of the communicative space of art and exploring its essence.

Analyzing art as a means of establishing communication.

The object of this research is contemporary art, while the subject is the communicative aspects of contemporary art.

Research methods

In our research, we attempted to integrate the philosophical, cultural, and psychological senses of communication and demonstrate their applicability to art. Traditionally, the term "communication" is primarily associated with establishing connections between two or more objects, creating a common space, and bringing people together through various symbolic systems [1, p. 112]. A priori, communication, unlike interaction, does not imply a deep understanding of the opponent's ideas and global transformations but rather emphasizes the exchange of information, moods, feelings, and attitudes (some researchers consider communication in the context of signaling methods in animal communication [5, p. 145]). However, communication can be more accurately described as “mutual influence”, supported by other aspects of interaction - the process of perceiving the opponent (perception) and organizing interaction (interaction) [6].

Scientific novelty

At the same time, modern understanding of communication has given it a new nuance. In addition to the conventional verbal and non-verbal forms of communication, another gradation can be added, which involves distinguishing between real and virtual communication. While real communication implies establishing direct contact with the interlocutor and is generally considered traditional and natural for humans, as its basic principles and skills are learned from birth, virtual communication is facilitated through the Internet, mobile communication tools, and other auxiliary devices, making it more artificial in nature. An important distinction between real and virtual communication lies in the psychological complexity of the former and the relative simplicity of the latter. Carl Jung, who made a significant contribution to the understanding of communication, identified four levels within it. Interestingly, the highest level - existential - eveals the free personality, in which the individuality of the person, unburdened by social roles, is manifested. This type of communication occurs at a spiritual level [4, p. 6-11].

However, in modern conditions, such pure communication is hardly possible. This is because establishing contacts, like other processes in society, is directly and strongly dependent on many external factors. The conclusion of a person as a representative of a particular culture, social status, and other factors often implies an encouragement to establish communication according to a certain scheme, thus excluding spontaneity and ease and becoming the cause of “coldness” in communication. Nevertheless, another type of communication is emerging and gaining popularity today, one that occurs independently of social roles and geographical boundaries, penetrating all cultures and understandable to speakers of all languages. This is communication through contemporary art. Already inherent in the nature of art is one of its fundamental functions - the transmission of information in both synchronic and diachronic dimensions. However, unlike art from past epochs and periods, contemporary art is not only oriented towards a mass audience and accessible to all but also has a whole range of properties aimed at establishing communication at various levels, thereby creating a cohesive communicative space. By its nature, the communicative space involves organizing a system of multivariate and multifaceted connections and systems that ensure the transmission of information. According to some researchers, communication through culture follows a schema: author-message-recipient. A similar schema is used by researchers regarding linguistic communication [2, p. 151].

In the context of art, particularly contemporary art, this schema undergoes some changes. The communication schema of contemporary art is freed from the passive element in the recipient. Therefore, defining the subject and object becomes somewhat complex. Postmodern aesthetics, for instance, emphasized the idea of freedom of interpretation and diminished the significance of the art creator. The author (artist in the broad sense of the term) most often serves an appropriative function, merely becoming an appropriator of ideas. As for the recipient side, it also partially becomes the author, actively participating either in the creation of the object or in reinterpreting a readymade composition [4, p. 8-9]. The recipients in this schema can be both individuals and groups of people. Considering the contemporary art's orientation towards addressing and presenting current issues, public figures and representatives of the political elite increasingly become the recipients. For example, at the “China China” exhibition held in Kiev, works by Chinese artists were presented, whose activities are categorically rejected by the political structures of their native state. Their focus on global problems and sharp deviation from the state ideology led to predominantly political orientation of their works [2, p. 150].

However, when speaking about the freedom of the author in choosing themes, means of embodiment, it must be noted that the viewer is only instilled with an illusion of freedom. A vivid example of this is the social networks created by modern culture. According to the tradition that has already been established, in social networks - symbols of mass culture - there is an open restriction of freedom, assuming only one option of attitude towards the presented events, reasoning, and works - “I like it” (“like”), and retracting one's decision is possible only after accepting and sharing the proposed opinion, but categorically disagreeing from a mechanical point of view is impossible. Another aspect of the communicative space is its density. The intensity of contacts is achieved primarily by the preference of quantity over quality. All the characteristics of contemporary art can be combined according to its internal content and external manifestations. With the establishment of a powerful art market, contemporary art has acquired pronounced external characteristics of a commodity that must, first and foremost, sell well, be accessible to all, thus creating global communication.

Results and discussion

Thus, the possibility of elitism in art is excluded, and mass production is developed, which brings everyone closer to art, thereby removing responsibility for the quality and uniqueness of works. A particular impetus for communication in the conditions of the modern art market is advertising and the application of public relations technologies, which allows attracting public attention quickly and efficiently, although not always for long. The importance of quality advertising campaigns and the sensational image of the artist was noticed as early as the beginning of the 20th century when Salvador Dali emerged in the art world. At Dali's instigation, art became a common topic for conversation, regardless of the level of education on the subject, and became a subject of disputes and discussions. This tradition was later upheld and developed by Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and others, elevating art to a level of language that uses multilevel symbols, seemingly understandable to a wide range but at the same time requiring contextual explanation. With the increase in the speed of message exchange, the problem of superficial, schematic communication arises, filled with errors and conflicts [5, p. 143-145].

The slogans proclaimed during the period of globalization about unrestricted access to information imply freedom of message interpretation. This not only allows formulating one's own opinion but also leads to a series of distortions of real facts. Contemporary art involves the extensive use of symbols that differ in their multilevel nature and incomprehensibility to a wide audience, which creates, on the one hand, an obstacle to communication, often introducing errors into it and challenging its basic ideas, but on the other hand, stimulates the viewer to study the proposed symbols. The third aspect of communication is its duration. Attempts by contemporary authors to create new images and symbols rarely succeed, and the semiotic systems created rarely enter the traditional language of art. Therefore, the already familiar semiotic systems are most often used but in a different interpretation. This allows engaging the maximum number of participants in communication, making it truly global [5, p. 147-152].

In such conditions, contemporary art uses its own methods to prevent conflict situations. An integral part of contemporary installation is its explanation, which can take the form of traditional guided tours or performative elements. Contemporary art, in the process of establishing communication, does not try to stimulate the viewer's internal development to understand the essence of the masterpiece but engages them in discussion. Moreover, involvement in the discussion occurs through various methods. From this perspective, the use of performance and happening is logical. These two phenomena, which originated in the 20th century but are still actively used today, are only auxiliary means of organizing communicative space. In his research, A. Zlotnik explains the emergence of these methods in art and links them to the need of artists to create “three-dimensional” creativity [3, p. 174-176]. An important stage in the process was the conduct of experiments “removing barriers between the stage and the audience, the stage and the hall, the buffet, the playground, or the factory floor”, [3, p. 148] thus ensuring their unhindered communication.

Thus, the communicative nature of performance, as well as other forms of contemporary art, is based on the impact of art on the viewer's psyche, employing various stimuli: sounds, phrases, actions. The openness and ease of actions create an illusion of freedom of communication with the viewer, allowing all present to not just be passive recipients, but to take an active position as a source of information, an author, ensuring absolutely accurate communication without distorting meanings. One of the main tasks of communication is the adequacy and accuracy of perception of the conveyed information. The specificity of the communicative space of contemporary art lies in the violation of this law. Examples of contemporary art demonstrate the importance of the communication process rather than its result. Therefore, the examination of the foundations of contemporary art leads us to the discovery of the multifaceted and polyvariant nature of its communicative essence. And the study of the communicative space of art necessitates the analysis of the essence of the components that constitute its capability. The specificity of contemporary art finds its reflection in the characteristics of constructing subject-object relations, organizing the density and length of the communicative space, directly related to the characteristics of contemporary art.

We agree with this statement, but we believe it is necessary to supplement it with the function of the communicator. Contemporary art, as a communicator, realizes the connection between the creative and real worldview of the creator and the viewer (consumer of art), combining different aspects of perceiving the contemporary world. In our opinion, it is closely related to the time and is constantly relevant. The problems and ideas that artists convey in their works touch upon certain aspects of social development, the internal self-perception of representatives of the contemporary world. Therefore, contemporary art is international and, except for literature and theater, does not require translation into another language. This cross-cultural and international nature of contemporary art makes it the most universal means of communication between different nations, peoples, ethnic groups, representatives of different cultural and social strata of society. However, contemporary art is not devoid of a certain economic component, which can often influence the so-called “purity” of the communication process.

Conclusions

Therefore, conducting an analysis of existing scientific approaches regarding the role of contemporary art as a special type of communicator, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Contemporary art represents a unique type of communicator that encompasses various channels of information transmission (visual, auditory, etc.).

Contemporary art serves as a catalyst for the development of the mass cultural industry, shaping an adequate image of culture for the consumer of mass culture through artistic means.

An important advantage of contemporary art as a communicative mechanism is its internationality and cross-cultural nature. With the exception of literature and certain genres of theatrical art, works by contemporary artists do not require translation or adaptation, which accelerates the process of information transmission.

The specificity of contemporary art lies in its relevance, the necessary precondition of which is its connection to the present: addressing societal issues, shaping ideals, and values of social development.

Among the drawbacks of contemporary art as a universal type of communicator, its “market” foundation can be noted, its orientation towards a specific consumer, and the use of market mechanisms in shaping new trends and tendencies in the development of contemporary art, closely intertwined with fashion and pop culture.

Promising directions for further research in this area may include: developing a typology and analyzing the function of contemporary art as a communicative form; analyzing communicative channels of information transmission through contemporary art; identifying new trends and prospects for the development of contemporary art in Ukraine as a distinct communicative form.

Bibliography

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