Dokumentacja, ślad i kreacja artystyczna
Documentation, trace, and artistic creation

Summary/Abstract: The starting point for reflection presented by this article is a concept which has made documentation one of the most important problems within contemporary art. Based upon the writings of Grzegorz Dziamski on this issue found in his book devoted to conceptualism, the author stresses the role of questioning the importance of painting and sculpture in this matter. Instead, an idea of artistic activities as a method of documenting thought or action was proposed. Thus, the motto of art as documentation had an emancipatory role for practices based on the morphology of the object. Furthermore, the article discusses the transformations which this concept has undergone. The author juxtaposes the tendency to subordinate documentation to thoughts or performance actions (which were considered proper work in the 1970s), and making documentation autonomous (transforming it into a work of art). The second of these trends dominated artistic practice in the late twentieth century and twenty first century. Crucial from this point of view was Marina Abramović’s show The Artist is Present (2010), in which the artist, recreating actions from the 1970s on the basis of preserved documentation, asked a question about the presence of the original situation during re-enactment. The article recalls a debate sparked by these actions (the views of Amelia Jones, Lara Shalson), and suggests to take into account the category of trace reflection within artistic documentation. Referencing Grzegorz Sztabiński’s considerations, the author emphasizes also the role of trace (which can also be an analogue photography). The article concludes with comments on Abramović’s action considered from this point of view.

• Details
• Contents