A natural order of things

Abstract

Idea and matter have both an important function in the arts and this thesis will treat the connections between them and try to discover through examples from my own work and other artists how this interface constitutes itself. Looking at the transformation of the material before and after Marcel Duchamp’s paradigm shift to an autonomous art world it will analyze what implications the construction of hierarchy between material and concept have made to artist’s practice. It will deal with categorization systems and how they are implemented in and about, art touching on the subject of museums and history. In addition the concept of nature and its use by artists will act as a backdrop to an analysis of the object world and of how materials behave, transform and present itself. The theories of Heidegger will be a support for my investigation where the ideas of arts origin will be discussed and leading up to an analysis of contemporary art, infused with a critique of certain aspects of the contemporary art scene.