The Impact as Matter: The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Contemporary Aesthetics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34630/e-rei.vi13.6334Keywords:
Materiality, Phenomenology, Industrial, ArtAbstract
This research aims to explore the intersection between industrial materiality and its incorporation into contemporary artistic practice, adopting a phenomenological perspective to investigate how industrial materials can become vehicles for sensitive and poetic artistic expression. Adopting a theoretical and critical perspective, it analyses how industrialisation has reconfigured the perception of the modern world and influenced artistic production. Divided into three sections, the study begins with an analysis of the Industrial Revolution as a phenomenon that transformed economic, social and cultural structures, emphasising its impact on the relationship between art and technology.
We then analyse how the aesthetics of the industrial can subvert traditional perceptions, offering a complex and diverse sensory experience. To do this, we draw on concepts from Maurice MerleauPonty, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, which allow us to understand industrialisation not just as a mechanical process, but as a structuring element of contemporary perception. The third part examines the industrial as a central element of artistic practice, highlighting how different artists explore industrial materials, processes and references in the creation of works that question the limits of art and aesthetic experience. This approach aims to demonstrate the theoretical and practical relevance of a dialogue between art and industrialisation, underlining how contemporary artistic production rethinks the traces of the landscape, giving them new expressive and conceptual dimensions. This structure aims to broaden the dialogue between artistic practice and aesthetic experience, reinforcing the capacity of contemporary art to enrich human understanding.
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