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- ItemOpen AccessFrom Mistaking Fakeness to Mistake in Fakeness. Artificial Ruins Between Aesthetics and Deception(2021) Somhegyi ZoltánAesthetic attraction and artful execution of the object, careful design and seemingly blatant falsification by the creator, voluntarily accepted counterfeit imitation and celebration of a melancholy-filled illusion – these, and many other, often contradictory, particularities can describe one of the most complex aesthetic phenomena, that of fake ruins. Questions of perfection and mistake, accurate planning and permissive randomness, genuineness and authenticity – or the convincing justification of aesthetic experience despite the complete lack of them – profound references to the nature of decay, the transience of all human creation and nostalgia can all be found around this object of art. In this article I analyse the fakeness of fake ruins with regard to the multiple consequences that this type of fake can contribute to the better understanding of both their aesthetics and the concept of mistake.
- ItemOpen AccessFrom Densely Filled Vistas to Empty Piazzas. City Images Interpreting the Oscillating Dynamisms of Urban Reality(2021-06) Somhegyi ZoltánCities have been inspirational for the creators of visual art works long since, first as mere secondary, additional motifs to indicate the “urban” environment of the main scene, then as subject-matters in their own right. Those images could depict both imaginary and actual cities of the past and of the future, including mythological and Biblical locations, documenting distant lands and fantasizing on the appearance of utopian cities. In some of these aspects, the history of city representations shares significant similarities with the history of landscape depictions. In the present paper, however, I aim to focus on a curious and particular detail in this pictorial tradition. Following and further investigating a brief reflection by Michel Makarius from his 2004 book on Ruins, I would like to compare the visuality and aesthetic effects of dense and empty cityscapes, of which two classical examples could be the capriccios – imaginary views of cities completely filled with aesthetically pleasing elements, including magnificent remnants of the Antique heritage – and representations of cities in which their emptiness is highlighted to such extent that the observer tends to assume that the real subject-matter of the image is not the city, its buildings, forms and physical components but exactly its being “empty”. These “extremities” on the broad range of cityscapes, i.e., the densely-filled and the extremely depopulated are, however, not merely historical sub-genres of long-gone centuries. These typologies have survived to this day, in various versions and with diverse accents; what’s more, they seem to be more relevant than ever in understanding not only the nature of these artistic representations and their aesthetic references, but also in learning more of our contemporary reality itself. It is enough to think of the numerous ways in which artists approach the convoluted issues and challenges of urban life today, with the classical references and visual vocabulary in mind, either unconsciously creating occasional parallels or using them as explicit forerunners to their own works. The density of the global megapolises are represented in artistically novel ways often with socially critical overtones, while the images of empty cities – not long ago, for example, during the recent pandemics and lockdowns – are again resulting in aesthetically inspiring and insightful works incentivizing us to reflect on the oscillating dynamisms of our present urban realities. Therefore, it is particularly beneficial to observe such renderings of our cities and hence to raise more our awareness of the multiple global issues that are often very strongly manifested in the everyday life in large metropolises. Pieces of art thematising the extreme forms of city life can become very efficient ways of constantly reminding us of our duties of taking care of both our cities and our life.
- ItemOpen AccessMoving Architecture. Aesthetics Around the Changing Context and Status of Constructions(2022-07) Somhegyi ZoltánOne of the primary and most typical features of a piece of architecture is its stability, its fixed and anchored state. It is therefore surprising and, at the same time, aesthetically inspiring and intellectually exciting when buildings are moved. In the present study I examine the agency of transportation and the aesthetic consequences of such translocations in three art projects. First, I analyse the work of the Norwegian Marianne Heske, the Georgian Vajiko Chachkhiani, and the Finn Anssi Pulkkinen. I lay out the aesthetic implications of the transformative decontextualization caused by the relocation of the original structure. In the second part of the paper, I present the main aspects that connect these otherwise different projects and explain why the complex and costly transportation of these pieces of architecture is relevant and justified.
- ItemOpen AccessSpace-making and aesthetics: Adaptive restoration, new functions and their experience in architecture(2022-10-25) Somhegyi ZoltánIn this study I investigate several questions related to adaptive restoration, i.e. when a functioning piece of architecture operates with a different purpose to its original one, as well as the role of aesthetics in re-purposing, and the importance of the special forms of experience such a conversion provides. The questions connected to these architectural projects are not only theoretically inspiring, leading to diverse and broad fields of research in architecture, art and aesthetics, but are also crucial on a practical level, and hence require caution and precise consideration, given the impact the final results of such projects may have, as well as in terms of the effect and efficiency of the new space. Creative and adaptive re-purpose, modification or complete change of function can have wonderful potential, as well as, obviously, presenting serious hazards to avoid. What is equally important, however, is that this will also contribute to a strengthening of awareness of architecture and its aesthetic qualities, hence further promoting the idea of safeguarding and care of edifices and of tangible heritage.
- ItemOpen AccessArt and Patronage in Medieval Hungary: The Frescoes of the Augustinian Church at Siklós(2003) Jékely ZsomborThis dissertation provides an in-depth analysis of the former Augustinian church at Siklos in southern Hungary, and its fresco decoration. Commissioned by an aristocratic family, the frescoes reveal a wealth of information about art and patronage in the reign of King Sigismund (1387-1437). The Introduction provides an overview of art historical literature dealing with Siklos and its church, and outlines the problems discussed in the dissertation. Part I focuses on the history and architecture of the church. The Augustinian canons settled at Siklos in the early fourteenth century, invited by the Siklosi family. Their first church, dedicated to St. Anne, stood near Siklos castle, and was completed before 1343. It was built in a simple manner resembling contemporary mendicant churches. At the end of the fourteenth century, under its new patrons, members of the Garai family, the church was remodeled. Part II surveys the painted decoration of the church. There were two layers of frescoes in the sanctuary, and the remainder of this chapter is dedicated to the earlier layer, of which only fragments remain. Painted in the 1360s, these frescoes are most likely the work of a group of masters familiar with Riminese painting, or its offshoots in Hungary-Croatia (cf. Esztergom, Zagreb). Part III focuses on the later, more fully preserved decorative scheme executed around 1410 under the Garai family's patronage. After a description, the iconography of key scenes is analyzed. Most attention is given to the large scenes on the walls: the Crucifixion, the Coronation of the Virgin, and the Traditio Legis. Based on comparisons with the painting of Altichiero and his circle, and with works of his followers in South-Tyrol, the chapter demonstrates that direct connections with Italian painting did not cease with the demise of the Neapolitan Angevin dynasty in Hungary (1382). The frescoes are then placed in their historical context. First they are examined as a product of Garai patronage, by comparing them to other monuments commissioned by this family and other barons. Other elements of an ensemble of monuments at Siklos, including the castle and its frescoed chapel, as well as the tombstone of Miklos (I) Garai, are also discussed. The church functioned as a family burial church, similar to a group of monuments, all richly decorated with frescoes. In conclusion, the contribution of these findings to a fuller understanding aristocratic patronage in the Sigismund period is summarized.