The art of rupture: Emigre artists in contemporary perspective (Khanh Vo, Irene Sosa, Hans Witschi, Jim Thirlwell, Emer Martin, Vietnam, Venezuela, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland).

摘要

Geographically displaced artists and writers have captured the scholarly interest of social scientists and humanists alike, yet even sociological treatments of emigre artists too often become conflated with myths, stereotypes and rigid typologies of "the artist" or "the exile." The Art of Rupture: Emigre Artists in Contemporary Perspective combines textual analysis of artifacts (including artwork, reviews and personal statements) with detailed interviews to explore how five living artists and writers born after 1950---Khanh Vo, Irene Sosa, Hans Witschi, Jim Thirlwell and Emer Martin---describe their own experiences of art and dislocation, and how they recount or represent a relationship between those experiences. The dissertation finds that these artists frame and describe the processes of making art and of geographic relocation as distinct from mundane or everyday experiences, countering assertions that conventional boundaries have been eroded to the point of meaninglessness. Part 1 addresses theoretical and methodological issues that shape a sociological account of contemporary emigre artists, including sociological constructs of "the artist", definitions of emigres, exiles and immigrants, and the problem of classification. Part 2 is comprised of the case studies of five living artists and writers, combining interviews with textual analysis of artifacts, including artwork, reviews and personal statements. Proceeding from recent innovations within the sociology of culture, this dissertation considers aesthetic as well as social-structural factors that emerge within the case studies. Finally, the conclusion addresses the data in light of contemporary theory on art and geographic dislocation, finding that in these five cases, creating art and being geographically displaced (by force or choice) are described by the subjects as rupturous experiences.