Art and Language: Explorations in (Post) Modern Thought and Visual Culture

Book excerpt: Art and Language: Explorations in (Post) Modern Thought and Visual Culture sheds new light on the symbiotic relationship between art and language by exploring how these cultured sets consociate on philosophical and art-historical levels. Against the backdrop of (visual) semiotics the first section of the book considers the differences between art and language from various vantage points: meaning-making, asking if art is a language, Ernst Cassirer's symbolic forms, Jan Muka?ovský's signs, and Gilles Deleuze's philosophy. The second section of the book deals with the works of (post) modern artists from diverse cultural backgrounds who unfasten traditional linguistic and artistic systems by destabilising the viewer and blurring the boundaries between art and language. The author argues that this is the most productive, cutting-edge aspect of the word-image relationship of that period. Language provides (post) modern art with its thrust and focus and offers a site for critical intervention. The artistic forays the author embarks on cover a wide range touching on Surrealism, Dada, Arabic Calligraphy, and Chinese Conceptualist Art.