Talk by Richard Ingersoll
Telling the Truth in the Age of Irony
Salt Beyoğlu
May 9, 2012 18.30
L.O.V.E. by Maurizio Cattelan, Milano, Piazza degli Affari, 2010
SALT Beyoğlu, Walk-in Cinema
Irony, which the ancients understood as the art of dissimulation— that is, saying one thing while meaning another—became central to the theories of art during the 20th century. Marcel Duchamp and his ready-mades, the Dadaists with their assaults on meaning, followed by the Surrealists, Fluxus, and Pop Art produced works that seemed to negate themselves. Currently, two of the most celebrated artists, Damien Hirst and Maurizio Cattelan, are both masters of irony. In this talk, architectural historian Richard Ingersoll will explore the function of irony in art and consider whether an effective resistance to irony can be offered by techniques of remaining true through form and material.
Richard Ingersoll, Ph.D., lives in Italy, where he teaches at Syracuse University in Florence. He writes criticism for Lotus, Arquitectura Viva, and Bauwelt. He is the author of Sprawltown, Looking for the City on its Edge (2006) and World Architecture. A Cross-Cultural History (co-written with Sprio Kostof), to be published in July 2012.
The talk will be held in English.
