How Art Seduces

Dr. Laura González
Artist, Writer, The Glasgow School of Art,
Glasgow

What makes a work of art seductive? This talk is concerned with the relational and psychodynamic aspects of the encounter between the work of the art and the viewer; one that, when seduction operates, is characterized by interplay, flow, and conflict. The first step is to define seduction, a concept that is contingent, ridden with confusion, contradictions and connotative interpretations. Any attempt at pinning it down shows that it is pervasive and operates everywhere. To overcome this problem, González puts forward a subjective approach, comprised of three practices: photographic, psychoanalytic, and writing. Her own (nearly missed) encounter with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés, and a bold shoe in a New York shop window play a part in delineating seduction.

www.gsa.ac.uk

The talk will be held in English language.