Dan Elborne's brutal beauty

In this paper I give a critical account of the work of young Australian artist Dan Elborne. Drawing on the critical theory of Immanuel Kant, Walter Benjamin and others, I suggest that Dan Elborne's on-going project,500, brings together what critical theory and critical practice often treat as separate: beauty and the sublime. I argue that the deployment of the two seemingly opposed categories best explain the complex mix of aesthetics and politics in Elborne's art

Art in parallax: painting, place, judgment

[Abstract]The point of this thesis is to undertake a critical engagement with the art and life debate. This debate involves, in particular, the question of the location of art. Does art belong to an autonomous field removed from ‘everyday life’, or is art located amongst the objects and daily activities of our lives? Contributors to this debate usually defend one or the other position; either defending autonomy or arguing that art is, or at least should be, part of life. The debate is located through three historical points: the avant-gardes of the early 20th Century Europe; the neo-avant-garde of North America in the 1950s – 1970s; and American formalist art and criticism of the 1930s – 1970s. The thesis then engages the debate through more recent examples of art where the binary art/life is again the principal issue. Minimalism, Installation art, Site-specific art and Wall Painting are examined in the context of the ‘end’ of modernist painting. The argument presented by the thesis will be informed by a recently emerging theoretical frame which engages the reception of Kantian and Hegelian forms of aesthetic judgment. This critical context includes the Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek; the Marxist-Hegelian theory of the German critic, Peter Burger, and the U.S. formalist critic, Clement Greenberg. The positions held by these theorists and critics will be examined through examples of art from both the modern period and more contemporary works. Through this context, the thesis positions the art and life debate within a structural analysis, arguing that art, including objects of ordinary life understood as art, occupy places within an art structure. The thesis argues that the choice between art and life is not so much a positive choice of one or the other, but rather a choice between one and the same thing seen differently; that is, the one thing seen in parallax

Artistic Freedom or Animal Cruelty? Contemporary Visual Art Practice That Involves Live and Deceased Animals

This paper examines a selection of 21st-century international examples of exhibited visual artworks involving live or deceased animals. It seeks to reveal the risks and benefits of unique encounters with animals through art and to consider the ethical implications of artwork deploying animals. Australian and international animal protection laws are not explicit when it comes to the sourcing of animals for art nor for the direct inclusion of animals in artworks. This lack leads to a variety of artistic practices, some considered ethical while others are viewed as controversial, bordering on animal cruelty. Artwork selection is determined by a focus on high-profile artists who intentionally use animals in their practice and whose reputation has been fostered by this intention. The study provides insight into how the intentional use of ethically sourced animals within art practice can be a method of addressing hierarchal human–animal imbalances. Further, this study identifies unethical practices that may be best avoided regardless of the pro-animal political statements the artists put forward. Recommendations of how to better determine what is an acceptable use of animals in art with a view to informing legal guidelines and artistic best practice are presented

Copper deficiency in tule elk at Point Reyes, California

Tule elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes) reintroduced to Point Reyes, Calif., in 1978 exhibited gross signs of copper deficiency by June 1979. Copper levels in liver (mean = 5.9 ppm) and serum (0.42 ppm) of elk at Point Reyes were below levels in adult tule elk from other locations in California (liver, mean greater than or equal to 80 ppm; serum, mean greater than or equal to 1.4 ppm). These levels were consistent with documented copper deficiency in wild and domestic ruminants. Copper serum levels increased in response to copper enriched dietary supplements and declined after the elk stopped eating the supplements. Analysis of plant and soil samples showed both are deficient in copper and normal in molybdenum and sulfur-sulfates. Deficiency in plants and soils at Point Reyes are probably due to low copper levels in the underlying granitic parent material.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202