Jan Švankmajer’s Kunstkammer: Every thing means everything
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2020.2.343.352Keywords:
Jan Švankmajer, kunstkammer, surrealism, Krzysztof Pomian, semiophores, cabinet of curiositiesAbstract
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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