Art & Photography
This publication series aims at initiating dynamic, flexible, technically advanced forms of publication of research in the history of art and photography. It is a contribution to digital humanities as well as an experiment to link such tools to both new and traditional practices of producing new knowledge and insights. In focus is the relation between the arts and photography on a global scale, in depth-studies in the history of the arts based on original, new findings in archives and collections around the world, as well as forms of publishing short as well as long texts: Monographs, longer essays, introductory texts for digital facsimile editions of primary material as well as miscellaneous inputs are welcome. Is it possible to make use of dynamic digital practices, without losing the aesthetic qualities of art books?
Was it not the so-called “new medium” of photography that brought new types and technologies of publishing to the fore, and not least shaped the history of knowledge of art history? These are some of the inspiring challenges and questions that initiated the idea to propose and shape something new that is as well a bridge between traditions and the modern concepts of newness, between analogue and digital, and a platform for rethinking publishing in the arts. Publications can be fostered by collaborative as well as individual authors, ideally connected with digital projects and institutional databases around the world.
The editor holds the chair for History of Fine Arts and is director of the Centre for Studies in the Theory and History of Photography at the Institute of Art History, University of Zurich, Switzerland. The publication series “Art & Photography” supplements the book series “Studies in Theory and History of Photography”. Whereas “Studies in Theory and History of Photography” (De Gruyter) is a peer reviewed publication, “Art & Photography” will be founded on a network of authors and scholars whose expertise and research will shape the profile of this series.
For more information on the Zurich Chair for History of Fine Arts see:
Editor
Prof. Dr. Bettina Gockel
Ordentliche Professorin
Lehrstuhl für Geschichte der bildenden Kunst &
Leitung der Lehr- und Forschungsstelle für Theorie
und Geschichte der Fotografie
University of Zurich
Institute of Art History
Rämistr. 73
CH-8006 Zurich
Office no. 303
Tel.: +41 (0)44 - 634 28 28
Email: editors.tgf@khist.uzh.ch
Published so far
Photographic Thought Pieces: Kenneth C. & Sabina R. Korfmann-Bodenmann: “Through Different Lenses”, Sixteen Portfolios, 2019–2022
Under the artistic concept “Through Different Lenses”, Sabina R. and Kenneth C. Korfmann-Bodenmann address contemporary and culturally relevant topics in discrete photo projects. These include fortifications from the Second World War, unusual presentations of fashion and religion, diverse architectural interpretations of social hotspots, experiences of loneliness and the mythology of places and landscapes. For each theme, the photographers plan expeditions that are focused on discovery and documentation. The difference between the perspectives of the two photographers is preserved despite their forays together. The publication presents and analyzes sixteen portfolios with a total of 384 photographs.
Photography and Modern Public Housing in Los Angeles
In the 1940s, Los Angeles faced an acute housing crisis. The local housing authority responded with a controversial program of slum clearance and public housing construction as well as photography that presented the crisis in innovative ways. This book brings these photographs together with hitherto unavailable sources to reveal a largely uninvestigated concept of housing photography. Case studies from Los Angeles, New York, and Berlin together with FBI records and nearly forgotten bulletins invite a new understanding of the history of housing and photography as one in which women scholars and commercial photographers played pivotal roles.
Funded by the SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation)
Rollenflexibilität und Demokratisierung in der Kunst: Der Konzeptkünstler, Mail Artist und Networker H. R. Fricker
The Swiss artist Hans Ruedi Fricker, born in 1947, has been practicing mail art since 1981. This form of art takes place in an open network where participants exchange objects and self-designed stamps, postcards, and envelopes by mail. Furthermore, they exhibit, collect and preserve mail art. Even before his mail art activity, Fricker intended to de-hierarchize, decentralize and finally democratize the art market, which he perceived as elitist. He belongs to a new type of artist who reacts to current events in a fresh manner and is with his art committed to personal and social processes.
A documentary about mail art is part of the publication. The documentary will be submitted to festivals and will be published later.
