Elegy to an Oz Republic: First Steps in a Ceremony of Invocation towards Reconciliation

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Barbara Bolt

Abstract

In 2012 the author completed a series of drawings that, while figurative in form, were structurally based on and derived their inspiration from Robert Motherwell’s abstract series, Elegies to the Spanish Republic (1963-1975). This wholesale 'borrowing', 'quotation' and 'citation' raises the questions addressed in this article. What does it mean to engage in acts of appropriation now? And, more importantly, can such acts of appropriation draw on the spirit of the 'original' work to make a (political) difference? 

 

Article Details

Section
New Materialisms: Movement, Aesthetics, Ontology (Peer Reviewed)
Author Biography

Barbara Bolt, The Victorian College of the Arts and The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

Barbara Bolt is an artist and art theorist at the Victorian College of the Arts. She has written two monographs, Art Beyond Representation (2004) and Heidegger Reframed (2011) and co-edited books four including Material Inventions: Applying Creative Arts Research (2014), Carnal Knowledge: Towards a ‘New Materialism’ through the Arts (2013) and Practice as Research (2007). http://www.barbbolt.com/.