"A Weapon to Change Modern Reality": Action and Agitation in On Kawara's Thanatophanies, 1955-1956.

The article offers information on conceptual artist On Kawara and his drawing series "Thanatophanies." Topics discussed include the focus of his drawings on the need for art to engage with exploitative and uneven socioeconomic conditions in postwar Japan, the complicity of the Japanese people in the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:October no. 163; pp. 103 - 131
Autor principal: BRAXTON, MYCAH
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: MIT Press Winter2018
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:The article offers information on conceptual artist On Kawara and his drawing series "Thanatophanies." Topics discussed include the focus of his drawings on the need for art to engage with exploitative and uneven socioeconomic conditions in postwar Japan, the complicity of the Japanese people in the Korean War, and the use of "Thanatophanies" as a response to Socialist Realism by Kawara. Also mentioned are the constructs of Marxist aesthetic discourse in "Thanatophanies," the use of photographs in his works by Kawara, and the social criticism that he intends through his art.