Jan Švankmajer’s Kunstkammer: Every thing means everything

Authors

  • Anna Maria Brzezińska Anna Brzezińska-Winkiel Faculty of Philology, University of Wrocław, ul. Pocztowa 9, 53-313 Wrocław, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2020.2.343.352

Keywords:

Jan Švankmajer, kunstkammer, surrealism, Krzysztof Pomian, semiophores, cabinet of curiosities

Abstract

Thesis. Jan Švankmajer’s Kunstkammer is a project with a complex constellation of meaning that defies clear-cut categorization in the context of Pomian’s theory of semiophores. 

Discussed concepts. The paper describes the kunstkammer art project created by Jan Švankmajer, a Czech surrealist, in the context of Pomian’s theory of semiophores and compares it to traditional and historical equivalents, using the concepts of micro- and macrocosm, the world as a stage (Theatrum Mundi), hermeticism, and alchemy. 

Results and conclusion. Jana Švankmajer’s Kunstkammer should be analyzed primarily in the individual and subjective context, rather than in the social one.  

Originality/cognitive value of the approach. Pomian has described many examples of traditional kunstkammers, but there are also several modern collections that have not yet been described in the literature.  

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Author Biography

Anna Maria Brzezińska, Anna Brzezińska-Winkiel Faculty of Philology, University of Wrocław, ul. Pocztowa 9, 53-313 Wrocław, Poland

PhD student at the University of Wrocław on Faculty of Philology, specializing in czech and literature studies. Received a bachelor degree (pedagogics 2014, czech studies 2016) and master degree (pedagogics 2014, czech studies 2016) at the University of Wrocław. Spent two foreign scholarships: in Prague and in Olomouc. Active member of the Humanistic Research Center for Mountain Studies at the University of Wrocław. Visegrad Fund scholarship laureate at Charles University in Prague in the academic year 2019/20 . She is interested in Czech visual Avant Garde poetry in the interwar period (especially surrealism), Avant Garde typography and graphic design. She is preparing her doctoral dissertation about Czech and Polish concrete and visual poetry on the comparative studies. 

 

References

REFERENCES:

Daston, L. ,& Park, L. (1998). Wonders and the Order of Nature 1150-1750. New York: Zone Books.

Foucault, M. (2005). The Order of Things. London-New York: Taylor and Francis e-library.

Kornhauser, J. (2015). Całkowita rewolucja. Status przedmiotów w poezji surrealizmu [Total Revolution. Status of the Objects in the Poetry of Surrealism]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.

Markowski, M.P. (1997). Kolekcja: między autonomią i reprezentacją [Collection: between autonomy and representation]. Teksty Drugie: teoria literatury, krytyka, interpretacja, nr 4 (46), 89-103.

Pomian, K. (1990). Collectors and Curiosities: Paris and Venice. 1500-1800. Oxford: Polity Press.

Pomian, K. (1996). Zbieracze osobliwości. Paryż, Wenecja, XVI-XVIiI w. [Collectors and Curiosities: Paris and Venice. 1500-1800]. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.

Pomian, K. (1995). Jak uprawiać historię kultury? [How to deal with the history of culture] Przegląd Historyczny, 86/1, 1-13.

Purš, I. (2012). Kunstkamera jako Švankmajerův mikrokosmos [Kunstkamer as Švankmajer’s Microcosm]. W: F. Dryje B. Schmitt (red.), Možnosti dialogu - Mezi filmem a volnou tvorbou [Dimensions of Dialogue / Between Film and Fine Art] (ss. 195-218). Praha: Arbor vitae.

Schmitt B., (2012). Podrobný komentovaný životopis (III) 1990-2012 [Detailed biography (III) 1990-2012]. W: F. Dryje B. Schmitt (red.), Možnosti dialogu - Mezi filmem a volnou tvorbou [Dimensions of Dialogue / Between Film and Fine Art] (ss. 195-218). Praha: Arbor vitae.

Švankmajer, J. (2018). Cesty spasení [Way to salvation]. Praha: Dybbuk.

Švankmajer, J. (2014). Naturalia. https://www.artmap.cz/jan-svankmajer-naturalia/

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Published

2020-09-11

How to Cite

Brzezińska, A. M. (2020). Jan Švankmajer’s Kunstkammer: Every thing means everything . Journal of Education Culture and Society, 11(2), 343–352. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2020.2.343.352

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2020): Journal of Education Culture and Society

Section

EXPRESSION

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CC-BY

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