Złożone relacje nadawca–odbiorca oraz tekst–obraz w publikacjach traktujących o dziele sztuki

Abstrakt

The complex author‒reader and text‒image relations in publications dealing with works of art

The author analyses the specific nature of publications dealing with a work or works of art, substantive changes that determine their creation — editing and designing — as well as the complex mutual relations that occur in the very construction of the narrative, including its reading and understanding. The commonly used term “catalogue” has been redefined. The contents of art/exhibition catalogues are becoming increasingly rich and are scholarly well prepared; an extensive analysis and a multi-context discussion of the problem in question sometimes even constitute the dominant part of the catalogue, going beyond the function of a commentary to a collection of reproductions. The type of publications discussed here has for some time been the only evidence of the existence of an artistic work/project, its lasting visual representation. Of significance is also the fact of a kind of media adaptation occurring when the original work is translated, interpreted: e.g. through presenting the artistic work/project in a different medium, different scale, colour scheme etc., also in a different context and conditions of reception. There is a need for publications devoted to art to be treated seriously, on an equal footing with other design disciplines, despite the seemingly niche-like nature of such publications. The author of the article stresses the complex communication process as well as problems related to the creation of publications dealing with works of art by editors and designers, which are too often unjustly marginalised. What is needed is interdisciplinary research into these problems. The results of such research could lead to professionalisation of actions of both the sender editor, publisher and the intermediary designer of the message, and play an important role in the social context.