The image of man in the sociocultural space of the present-day world through the prism of the international festival of schools of art and design

Abstract

This paper presents a survey and a brief analysis of some of the major topics in the present day visual arts as seen from the perspective of a variety of architectural and artistic schools from around the globe featured at an arts festival held in 2015 in Turin, Italy. The authors undertake to examine some of the major historical factors for the postmodern era facilitative of artist efforts being concentrated in the direction of reflecting mankind’s most salient topics and images – namely, man and his place in the world. This philosophical topic, which highlights the significance of man in society and the world as a whole, is not something new. It has been explored by many a Russian and foreign researcher. Most philosophical concepts have regarded man as an inherently valuable being, a major source of images and symbols in art. Contemporary art, naturally, owes its birth to a variety of artistic cultures and worldviews. One cannot but recall here the syncretism of man’s primitive culture, the idea of the harmony of soul and body from the period of classical antiquity, and later from that of the Renaissance, the cult of the body from the Baroque era, etc. A new aspect examined in this paper is the attempt to focus, instead of going back to the analysis of past experience, on the subject from the perspective of the modern age and take an integrated look at some of the common consistent patterns in the process, which should help view the phenomenon under study in a more comprehensive fashion and in its development, and, eventually, determine its place in global art.  Comparing various samples of art in an attempt to demonstrate some of the present-day trends may help gain a deeper insight into their nature in the domain of art and design in this constantly changing world of today, with these trends representing a single complexly structured space characterized by dynamic interaction between multiple variables.

Keywords: dimension, (focus) area; sociocultural reality; installations; artistic image; creative work by young people; modern age; man; human body; schools of art; space; exposition