The Art of Refusal: Notes on the Poetics of the No

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28939/iam.debats.133-2.4

Abstract

This essay proposes an approximation to the different ways in which the visual arts have dealt with versions of the word NO since Marcel Duchamp created his NON in 1959. This form of explicit negation has been explored in different formats
and with myriad meanings by artists such as Boris Lurie, Santiago Sierra, Bahia Shehab and Maurizio Cattelan. I examine how their works emphasize political dimensions of refusal, questioning realities and notions that are prevalent in art
as well as in other spheres. Their contributions also create new links that develop in several directions--associating
people, ideas, art and history.

Author Biography

  • Luis Martín-Estudillo, University of Iowa, University of Valencia

    Luís Martín-Estudillo és catedràtic en el Departament d'Estudis Hispànics de la Universitat de Iowa i investigador afiliat en les universitats de Minnesota i Gröningen. S'especialitza en cultura espanyola, estudis europeus i estudis visuals. És editor executiu de Hispanic Issues i de Hispanic Issues Online. Ha rebut el Collegiate Teaching Award de la Universitat de Iowa, el Dean’s Scholar Award, així com dues beques del National Endowment for the Humanities. Els
    seus últims llibres són The Rise of Euroskepticism: Europe and Its Critics in Spanish Culture (Vanderbilt University Press, 2018) i Despertarse de Europa. Arte, literatura y euroescepticismo (Ediciones Cátedra, 2019).

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Published

2019-11-27

Issue

Vol. 133 No. 2 (2019)

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE

License

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How to Cite

Martín-Estudillo, L. (2019) “The Art of Refusal: Notes on the Poetics of the No”, Debats. Journal on culture, power and society, 133(2), pp. 43–54. doi:10.28939/iam.debats.133-2.4.