DOI Heft:
II. Ostatnie prace Jana Białostockiego
DOI Artikel:Odczyty
DOI Artikel:Białostocki, Jan; International Congress of the History of Art <26, 1986, Washington, DC> [Mitarb.]: Some values of artistic periphery
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19643#0133
SOME YALUES OF ARTISTIC PERIPHERY
TT
A Aistory concerns happening in time. Art history deals with the origins and the
reception of the works of art, which happen in time as well. But any happening, also that
concerning art, is connected with some place. Time is linked with space, and it is not
unimportant whether we speak about things happening in a large metropolitan center or in
a faraway place lost in a desert or in inaccessible mountains. Time has various ąualities,
depending on the place in space in which we observe its flow. Happening in time may be fast
or slow. The time units may be more or less saturated with events, and this is one of the
criteria for discerning between central and noncentral places of cultural happening and
development.
If we contrast centers and peripheries, we want to discern between places where
happening is fast and those where it is slow. We intend to oppose invention with
traditionalism, vitality with stagnation, and indeed there are many reasons for such a
differentation to occur. But things are not always as simple as that. Vitality and stagnation
may shift in specific conditions and change places. Everyone who has driven on the ring of the
outside highway in Mexico City knows that its name, El Periferico, is associated with an
incessant flow of traffic, with a constant movement. And vice versa: Anyone who has ever
traveled through the United States of America has seen the phenomenon of degradation of
the old centers, where grass grows in the cracks of the pavement because life has deserted
those once lively places. So we see that in specific cases vitality may appear in peripheral
areas, whereas stagnation may have a hołd over the centers.
Concerning culture, especially art and architecture, one has to reconsider the problem of
centers versus peripheries. This paper proposes a short analysis of the positive possibilities
for artistic production that appear in the peripheral areas. For an art scholar, is the periphery,
or should it be, always something negative? Is the periphery really so bad?
One has to recall that there were periods when escape from centers of town or court life
toward the peripheries of civilization — either within one country or the whole globe — was
considered to be the correct program for artists. Solitude, simplicity, connection with naturę,
9 Rocznik Muzeum Nar. XXXV
129
TT
A Aistory concerns happening in time. Art history deals with the origins and the
reception of the works of art, which happen in time as well. But any happening, also that
concerning art, is connected with some place. Time is linked with space, and it is not
unimportant whether we speak about things happening in a large metropolitan center or in
a faraway place lost in a desert or in inaccessible mountains. Time has various ąualities,
depending on the place in space in which we observe its flow. Happening in time may be fast
or slow. The time units may be more or less saturated with events, and this is one of the
criteria for discerning between central and noncentral places of cultural happening and
development.
If we contrast centers and peripheries, we want to discern between places where
happening is fast and those where it is slow. We intend to oppose invention with
traditionalism, vitality with stagnation, and indeed there are many reasons for such a
differentation to occur. But things are not always as simple as that. Vitality and stagnation
may shift in specific conditions and change places. Everyone who has driven on the ring of the
outside highway in Mexico City knows that its name, El Periferico, is associated with an
incessant flow of traffic, with a constant movement. And vice versa: Anyone who has ever
traveled through the United States of America has seen the phenomenon of degradation of
the old centers, where grass grows in the cracks of the pavement because life has deserted
those once lively places. So we see that in specific cases vitality may appear in peripheral
areas, whereas stagnation may have a hołd over the centers.
Concerning culture, especially art and architecture, one has to reconsider the problem of
centers versus peripheries. This paper proposes a short analysis of the positive possibilities
for artistic production that appear in the peripheral areas. For an art scholar, is the periphery,
or should it be, always something negative? Is the periphery really so bad?
One has to recall that there were periods when escape from centers of town or court life
toward the peripheries of civilization — either within one country or the whole globe — was
considered to be the correct program for artists. Solitude, simplicity, connection with naturę,
9 Rocznik Muzeum Nar. XXXV
129