A Study Of "Referentiality" In Contemporary Art

The ready-made,installation and performance arts are all important artistic styles of contemporary art,of which,the root of the origin is the turning of artistic concept starting from Duchamp-the contemporary art is no longer content to seek breakthroughs from its own internal language system,but spreads the horizon to the fields that were previously considered as "non-artistic",while many "non-artistic" media have also entered the artistic creation.The redefinition of the category of art has,on the one hand,changed the way of artistic creation,and on the other hand,changed the way of interpretation of works of art.Therefore,the concept of referentiality derived from linguistics provides a useful perspective for the theoretical research on the conceptual changes and the interpretation of nature and characteristics of contemporary art.After combining the evolutionary background of the western philosophy history and the conceptual analysis of linguistics,the concept of referentiality in the second chapter of this thesis boils down to: 1.Reference is a kind of referential relation,which includes two levels-from the objective reality to the signified,and from the signified to signifier;2.The referential symbol has the principle of relative arbitrariness in reference,and is also characterized as synchronicity and diachronicity;3.Reference refers to the referent and act of reference;4.The acquisition of referential meaning mainly depends on its relationship and changes embodied in the referential activity;5.Referentiality conforms to the logical structure;6.Reference has intentionality.In the third chapter of this thesis,based on the analysis of the meanings and concepts involved in Gongsun Long's Zhiwulun in the Warring States Period,the distinction of concepts of the referent and referential behavior in linguistics,as well as the concepts of ostensive and differential behaviors are introduced,and the theoretical thoughts of “thing-in-itself” and “eidetic intuition” are explained under the thinking clue of linguistics,which paves the way for the later discussion about the “eidetic intuition” of art.In the fourth chapter,the referent and act of reference are taken as the entry point of theoretical analysis to get back to concrete cases in contemporary art.From the investigation of artists' creative concepts,the signification analysis of artistic works and the actual context of artistic phenomena,the meaning of referentiality is expressed as: 1.Referentiality is an embodiment of the way that human beings use to grasp the world;2.Referentiality is a way of breaking the circulation of super signifier and signifier of modernism;3.Referentiality is a power against the dissimilation of the consumer society to human beings,and the dissolution to the subjectivity;4.Referentiality is a way we look for possibilities in the changing world.What the problem consciousness of contemporary art emphasizes is the discovery and intervention of problems.Because as part of the system structure,we all live in problems,and artistic creation itself is to reveal the existence of problems.The reason why realistic art still has meaning and vitality in contemporary times is precisely because of its response and introspection to problems.From the approach of "referentiality",this thesis makes a detailed analysis of the development of realism and changes of creative concepts.