Re: neo-Pictorialism

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From: Mark Malloy (malloyml@appstate.edu)
Date: 10/13/03-09:45:08 AM Z


Shannon,
Neo-Pictorialism is a term that has probably been rolling around in people's
heads for some time, but uttering the words has been very slow in coming. I
honestly have not seen the term in publication, and like you, I also wrote a
paper on the subject. It was in grad school in the spring of 2000. I coined
the term because of my frustration with the inability of those in the area
of theory and criticism to let the term "Modernism" rest in peace. That
frustration was triggered when I first heard the term "Post-Post-Modernism".
PLEASE!! So I wrote my paper for a graduate seminar in Art Criticism
suggesting those art historians who cling to "safe" ideas and fail to put
their necks out and suggest something different had no, ... well, I think it
translates to cojones in spanish.

Please keep me in touch in regards your paper, as I'd very much like to read
it. I'm including my new info for all, as I've recently moved out of NYC.

-Mark

-- 
Mark Malloy
Assistant Professor/Photography
Appalachian State University
Dept. of Technology
Kerr Scott Hall
Boone, NC 28608
828-262-2969
-------------
On 10/5/03 8:41 AM, "shannon stoney" <sstoney@pdq.net> wrote:
> I am working on a little paper about neo-Pictorialism and regular old
> Pictorialism.  My idea, which I thought I invented but which turned
> out to be sort of a commonplace once I started researching it, is
> that the antiquarian avant-garde and Holga users and pinhole folks
> constitute some sort of revival of the old Pictorialist aesthetic of
> the late 19th and early 20th century.  You know, soft focus,
> vignetting, romantic subject matter (sometimes), fooling with the
> negative,  alternative processes, interest in dreams, memories,  and
> visions as opposed to just the hard-edged, scientific, f64 world out
> there.  This is an over-simplification but you get the drift.
> 
> I was wondering if anybody has some ideas about why this "trend" has
> occurred, when it started, what it was a reaction to, where is it
> going, what is its relationship to other "avant gardes" that it is
> contemporaneous with, how it relates to so-called postmodernism,
> whether it is a form of postmodernism, whether it is just retro or
> truly avant-garde, how marginal it is, how academia and institutions
> see it, and any other questions you can think of.   Of course I will
> credit you in my paper for any of your ideas, although I have no idea
> how to cite emails in the end notes.  Maybe  like:  "Jane Doe, email
> communication, 10/4/03" ?
> 
> Also if you have images that illustrate your idea about this, that
> would be great too (attached to emails to me  off-list of course), or
> links to websites could be sent to the list or just to me, as you
> wish.
> 
> We had a fun meeting in Houston yesterday at Clay Harmon's house, and
> I saw a lot of stuff that fueled my interest in this question, and I
> heard a lot of good ideas about why we do what we do.  Thanks,
> Houston and Austin folks, and especially Clay.
> 
> thanks in advance for your thoughts,
> 
> --shannon

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