Scenography and Art History reimagines scenography as a critical concept for art history, and is the first book to demonstrate the importance and usefulness of this concept for art historians and scholars in related fields. It provides a vital evaluation of the contemporary importance of scenography as a critical tool for art historians and scholars from related branches of study addressing phenomena such as witchy designs, Early Modern festival books, live rock performances, digital fashion photography, and outdoor dance interventions. With its nuanced and detailed case studies, this book is an innovative contribution to ongoing debates within art history and visual studies concerning multisensory events. It extends the existing literature by demonstrating the importance of a reimagined scenography concept for comprehending historical and contemporary art histories and visual cultures more broadly. The book contends that scenography is no longer restricted to the traditional space of the theatre, but has become an important concept for approaching art historical and contemporary objects and events. It explores scenography not solely as a critical approach and theoretical concept, but also as an important practice linked with unrecognized labour and broader political, social and gendered issues in a great variety of contexts, such as festive culture, sacred settings, fashion, film, or performing arts. Designed as a key resource for students, teachers and researchers in art history, visual studies, and related subjects, the book, through its cross-disciplinary frame, does consider, implicitly and explicitly, the roles of both scenography and art in society.
List of Illustrations List of Contributors Two forewords Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Re-imagining Scenography in Relation to Art History, Astrid von Rosen (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) and Viveka Kjellmer (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) 2. Black Goats and Broomsticks: Feminism and the Figure of the Witch in Leonor Fini’s Designs for Le Sabbat, Rachael Grew (Loughborough University, UK) 3. Scenographing the Dance Archive – Keep Crawling!, Astrid von Rosen (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) 4. Michael Chapman’s Rauschenberg: Mis-en-scène and Scenography in Taxi Driver, Gillian McIver (The University for the Creative Arts, UK) 5. A Dynamic Bipolarity: The Royal Holloway Chapel Project, Scenography and Art History, Greer Crawley (Buckinghamshire New University/Royal Holloway University of London, UK) and Harriet O’Neill (British School at Rome, Italy) 6. Killed by Drones: Embodying Live Performance Scenography, Olga Nikolaeva (Independent scholar, Sweden) 7. Evocations of the ‘sonore et voilé’: The Scenographic World of Der Ring in the Art of Henri Fantin-Latour, Corrinne Chong (Peel District School Board/Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada) 8. Visual Couture: Costume Agency in the Advertising Campaign Opera Papier, Viveka Kjellmer (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) 9. ‘Re-Dressing The Part:’ The Scenographic Strategies of Ellen Terry (1847-1928), Veronica Isaac (University of Brighton/New York University London, UK) 10. Scenographing Festival Books: Towards a Multisensory Archive, Carmen González-Román (University of Málaga, Spain) 11. Scenographic Events: Interfacing with Digital Fashion Stories, Christine Sjöberg (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) 12. Beyond Change: Archaeology of a Spook Play, Tamas Szalczer (Designer, USA) and Eszter Szalczer (University at Albany, State University of New York, USA) Index
Astrid von Rosen is Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Viveka Kjellmer is Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Reviews for Scenography and Art History: Performance Design and Visual Culture
The essays collected in the present volume shift the conversation with scenography away from definitions, and this opens terminology-scenography, scenographics-but also theoretical parameters. ... The anthology seeks to give scenography its voice and in so doing, challenges easy boundaries between disciplines and forges new methodologies for thinking with and through scenographic agency. ... Scenography and Art History opens its dialogue with art and its histories ... at a time when reconceiving the material and imaginative encounters between times, spaces and bodies has never been more urgent and necessary. --Marsha Meskimmon, Professor of Transnational Art and Feminism, and Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Loughborough University, UK A book devoted to the interfaces of scenography and art history is long overdue for numerous reasons. ... As the authors deftly argue, art history has been as ready to dismiss scenography on the same grounds that, until recently, allowed theatre and performance scholars to brush it off as purely decorative (as a practice) or vocational (as a form of thinking). The marriage of these subjects is, consequently, a welcome and exciting addition to the growing library of scenography scholarship and its many possible futures beyond theatre. --Rachel Hann, Senior Lecturer in Performance & Design, Northumbria University, UK
