As real as any work of art: an ontological and historical reading of constant’s new Babylon
Date
2021
Authors
Buys, Anthea
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Abstract
This dissertation offers a historical and theoretical reading of the composite artwork
New Babylon, produced by the Dutch artist Constant Nieuwenhuys (hereafter
Constant) between approximately 1956 and 1974. Its central argument is that New
Babylon possesses an ontological indeterminacy that situates the work between
genres and art historical movements, calling into question the way in which existing
research has framed the work primarily as, on the one hand, a speculative
architectural project and, on the other, the product of Constant’s brief association with
the Situationist International. This ontological indeterminacy issues from the work's
physical and textual multiplicity and variability, as well as from Constant's frequent
equivocation regarding the nature of the work, particularly concerning its relationship
to reality. Without producing a schema of historical determinism, the account of New
Babylon offered in this thesis opens up possibilities for the work to be
recontextualized historically. In particular, this thesis proposes that there are important
affinities between New Babylon and contemporary participatory and socially engaged
practices
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfilment to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2021