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- Title
Absolutes and Ambiguity: Transforming Artefacts Towards Non-violence.
- Authors
Frayne, Nicholas Forrest
- Abstract
Often created by colonial societies characterized by violence and oppression, historical artefacts such as monuments are increasingly under criticism for perpetuating violent attitudes. While the links between artefacts and society are well understood, there has been little work that finds the opportunity for resistance to violence in these artefacts themselves. Developing a 'spectrum of violence' for artefacts, I argue that ambiguous artefacts move us towards non-violence by provoking critique, while absolute artefacts move us away from it by stilling critique. Applying this spectrum to a discussion of a graffitied New York monument in 2020, I propose that the act of 'refacement' can turn absolute artefacts into ambiguous ones. In so doing, the artefacts that once upheld colonial values might be transformed to resist them. This paper offers a timely exploration of monuments and violence, and seeks to better understand how cultural artefacts can lay the foundations for a non-violent future.
- Subjects
MONUMENTS; NONVIOLENCE; HISTORIC sites; HATE crimes; PACIFISM; COLONIES; SOCIAL attitudes
- Publication
British Journal of Aesthetics, 2023, Vol 63, Issue 1, p91
- ISSN
0007-0904
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/aesthj/ayac017