En Ru
Login
ISSN 2411-0795
ISSN 2411-0795
En Ru
Search
The Work of Art and Its Researcher: the Limits of Communication

The Work of Art and Its Researcher: the Limits of Communication

Download in pdf (RU)

Recieved: 04/14/2025

Accepted: 04/30/2025

Published: 05/05/2025

Keywords: work of art, interpretation, communication, methods of scientific research, metaknowledge, source studies, role of the viewer

Available in the on-line version with: 30.05.2026

To cite this article

Kononenko, E. I. The Work of Art and Its Researcher: the Limits of Communication. // Theory and History of Art. 2026. N 3, p.14-38 https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU2411-0795-2025-3-01.

Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
This work is licensed under a Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
N 3, 2025

Abstract

Studying a work of art is traditionally considered as an act of communication aimed at extracting some information — a message. However, the ‘communication’ with a piece of art has limitations, as the researcher does not communicate anything to the artwork. However, while interpreting the received message the scholar adds new meanings to it, and at the same time serves as a medium, transmitting both the well-received message and their interpretation to a third party in another act of communication (for example, to the reader of a scientific paper). The article explores some natural prerequisites and constraints of both ‘communication’ with a piece of art and the message we receive, which arise from two factors: what we know about the artwork (metaknowledge) and how accurate this knowledge is. The paper provides vivid examples to illustrate the mistakes caused by disregarding the work of art as a source of information. Notably, the roots of such mistakes not infrequently stem from the researcher’s biases rather than the characteristics of the artwork itself. Quite often the challenges posed by such ‘communication limitations’ cannot be overcome, while these limitations cannot be ignored; the researcher could only accept their existing. Additionally, the author demonstrates the technique of “in terviewing” a piece of art, emphasizing the need to reassess the primarily obtained information about the object.

References

  1. Antonova E. V., Raevskij D. S. O znakovoj sushhnosti veshhestvenny`x pamyatnikov i o sposobax ee interpretacii [On the symbolic essence of material monuments and ways of its interpretation] // Problemy` interpretacii pamyatnikov kul`tury` Vostoka. Moscow: Nauka, 1991. P. 207–232.
  2. Val`kovskij A.V. Iskusstvo souchastiya: transformaciya kommunikativnoj funkcii iskusstva v sovremenny`x xudozhestvenny`x praktikax [The art of complicity: the transformation of the communicative function of art in modern artistic practices] // Mezhdunarodny`j zhurnal issledovanij kul`tury`. 2017. № 2. P. 147–175.
  3. Van Eemeren F. X., Grootendorst R. Argumentaciya, kommunikaciya i oshibki [Argumentation: analysis, evaluation, presentation]. St. Petersburg: Vasil`evskij ostrov, 1992. 210 p.
  4. Vasil`kova V. V. E`volyuciya issledovatel`skix paradigm v teorii kommunikacii [The evolution of research paradigms in the theory of communication] // Kommunikativny`e praktiki v sovremennom obshhestve. St. Petersburg.: Skifiya-print, 2008. P. 11–20.
  5. Gurevich A. Ya. Kul`tura Srednevekov`ya i istorik koncza XX veka [Culture of the Middle Ages and the historian of the end of the XX century] // Istoriya mirovoj kul`tury`. Nasledie Zapada: Antichnost`. Srednevekov`e. Vozrozhdenie. Moscow: RGGU, 1998. P. 211–318.
  6. Zhilenko M. N., Beresneva Zh. A. Yazy`ki kul`tur: ot teorii k praktike povsednevnosti [Languages of cultures: from theory to practice of everyday life] // Vestnik slavyanskix kul`tur. 2022. V. 63. P. 107–113.
  7. Kirillova N. B. Paradoksy` medijnoj civilizacii [Paradoxes of media civilization]. Moscow-Berlin: Direkt-Media, 2020. 453 p.
  8. Kokorina Yu. K., Lixter Yu. A. Logicheskaya sistema izucheniya dekora [Logical system for studying decor] // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 8: Istoriya. 1999. № 2. P. 113–120.
  9. Kononenko E. I. Arxitektura mecheti kak ob``ekt interpretacii [Mosque architecture as an object of interpretation] // Vestnik SPbGU. Seriya 15. Iskusstvovedenie. 2018. V. 8. № 1. P. 113–130.
  10. Kononenko E. I. Pamyatniki vostochnogo iskusstva kak «vizitny`e kartochki» i «brendy`». Vvedenie v temu [Monuments of Oriental art as “business cards” and “brands”. Introduction to the topic] // Kul`tura Vostoka. Vy`p. 3. “Vizitny`e kartochki” vostochny`x kul`tur. Moscow: GII, 2018. P. 5–20.
  11. Kononenko E. I. Sil`no razbavlenny`j e`kstrakt [Highly diluted extract] // Terra artis. 2024. № 4. P. 147–156.
  12. Kononenko E. I. Fakty`, OBS, DDM: Opy`t klassifikacii anomalij nauchnoj raboty` [Facts, OBS, DDM: Experience in classifying anomalies of scientific work] // Real`nost` i sub``ekt. 2001. V. 5. № 1. P. 55–60.
  13. Lebedeva I.V. Antixrestomatiya. 69 sovremenny`x xudozhnikov. Opy`ty` interpretacii [Anti-textbook. 69 contemporary artists. Experiments of interpretation]. Moscow: Iskusstvo–XXI vek, 2023. 192 p.
  14. Lem S. Magellanovo oblako [The Magellanic cloud]. M.: Detskaya literatura, 1966. 342 p.
  15. Lixter Yu. A. Logicheskaya sistema znanij o veshhi [Logical system of knowledge about things] // Istoriya i e`volyuciya drevnix veshhej. Moscow: Izd-vo Moskovskogo universiteta, 1994. P. 33–43.
  16. Lobodanov A. P. Semiotika iskusstva: istoriya i ontologiya [Semiotics of art: history and ontology]. Moscow: Izd-vo Moskovskogo universiteta, 2013. 680 p.
  17. Lotman Yu. M. Semiotika kino i problemy` kinoe`stetiki [Semiotics of Cinema]. Tallin: E`e`sti Raamat, 1973. 56 p.
  18. Lukina M. M. Texnologiya interv`yu [Interview technology]. Moscow: Aspekt Press, 2003. 192 p.
  19. Majdanov A.S. Metodologiya nauchnogo tvorchestva [Methodology of scientific creativity]. Moscow: Izd-vo LKI, 2008. 510 p.
  20. Maxlina S.T. Semiotika iskusstva v XXI v. [Semiotics of art in the XXI century] // Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta kul`tury`. 2013. № 3. P. 6–14.
  21. Nikandrov V. V. Verbal`no-kommunikativny`e metody` v psixologii [Verbal and communicative methods in psychology]. St. Petersburg: Rech`, 2002. 68 p.
  22. Novikov A. M., Novikov D. A. Metodologiya nauchnogo issledovaniya [Methodology of scientific research]. Moscow: Librokom, 2010. 280 p.
  23. Pochepczov G. G. Teoriya kommunikacii [Theory of communication]. Moscow: Refl-buk, 2001. 656 p.
  24. Simbirceva N. A. Kod kul`tury` kak kul`turologicheskaya kategoriya [The code of culture as a cultural category] // Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie. 2016. № 1. P. 157–167.
  25. Sternin I. A. O ponyatii kommunikativnogo povedeniya [On the concept of communicative behavior] // Kommunikativ-funktionale Sprachbetrachtung. Halle: Abt. Wissenschaftspublizistik der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 1989. P. 279–282.
  26. Tolstixina E. M. Proizvedenie «Dama i royal`» v tvorchestve Kazimira Malevicha i xudozhestvenny`x kontekstax russkogo avangarda 1910–1915-x godov [The work “The Lady and the Piano” in the work of Kazimir Malevich and the artistic contexts of the Russian avant-garde of the 1910s-1915s]. Avtoref. diss… kand. iskusstvovedeniya (17.00.04). Altajskij gos. un-t. Barnaul, 2021. 26 p.
  27. Troyanskaya E. S. Polevaya struktura nauchnogo stilya i ego zhanrovy`x raznovidnostej [The field structure of scientific style and its genre varieties] // Obshhie i chastny`e problemy` funkcional`ny`x stilej. Moscow: Nauka, 1984. P. 16–27.
  28. Tyulyaev S. I. Iskusstvo Indii. III-e ty`syacheletie do n.e`. — VII vek n.e` [The Art of India. III-th millennium BC — VII century AD]. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1988. 344 p.
  29. Uspenskij B. A. Semiotika iskusstva [Semiotics of art]. M.: Shkola «Yazy`ki russkoj kul`tury`», 1995. 360 p.
  30. Faradzhev A. A. Zarozhdenie neadaptivnogo povedeniya v pervoby`tnosti: prosto o slozhnom [The origin of maladaptive behavior in primitiveness: just about the complex]. St. Petersburg: Svet, 2021. 119 p.
  31. Feshhenko V. V., Koval` O. V. Sotvorenie znaka. Ocherki o lingvoe`stetike i semiotike iskusstva [Creation of a sign. Essays on linguoesthetics and semiotics of art]. Moscow: Yazy`ki slavyanskoj kul`tury`, 2014. 640 p.
  32. Fridlender M. Znatok iskusstva [A connoisseur of art]. Moscow: Del`fin, 1923. 248 p.
  33. Xolyushkin Yu. P., Vityaev E. E., Kostin V. S. Zadachi arxeologii i metody` ix resheniya [Problems of archeology and methods of their solution]. Novosibirsk: Manuskript, 2013. 97 p.
  34. Xomutova T. N. Nauchny`j tekst: analiz variativnosti [Scientific text: analysis of variability]. Chelyabinsk: YuUrGU, 2012. 211 p.
  35. Chernyakova N. S. Proizvedeniya iskusstva kak ob``ekt interpretacii [Works of art as an object of interpretation] // Paradigma: filosofsko-kul`turologicheskij al`manax. 2018. № 29. P. 104–113.
  36. Cherokova A. V., Ivanova E. Yu., Morozov I. I. Interpretaciya kak yazy`k sovremennoj xudozhestvennoj kul`tury` [Interpretation as the language of modern artistic culture] // Obshhestvo: filosofiya, istoriya, kul`tura. 2023. № 12. P. 359–374.
  37. Chexovskij I. V. Interv`yu kak sposob polucheniya informacii v kachestvennoj strategii issledovatel`skogo poiska [Interview as a way of obtaining information in a qualitative research search strategy] // Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby` narodov. Seriya: Sociologiya. 2009. № 4. P. 20–25.
  38. Sher Ya. A. Eshhe ob arxeologicheskix istochnikax i «zaklyuchennoj» v nix informacii [More about archaeological sources and the information “enclosed” in them] // Arxeolog: detektiv i my`slitel` / red. L. B. Vishnyaczkij. St. Petersburg: Izd-vo Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta, 2004. P. 114–123.
  39. Sheremet`eva N.V. Specifika atribucii zhivopisny`x rabot: metod Morelli [The specifics of attribution of paintings: the Morelli method] // Kul`tura i iskusstvo. 2022. № 12. P. 64–72.
  40. Yazy`ki kul`tury` i problemy` perevodimosti [Cultural languages and problems of translatability] / Otv. red. B. A. Uspenskij. Moscow: Nauka, 1987.
  41. Bal M., Bryson N. Semiotics and Art History // The Art Bulletin. 1991. Vol. 73. № 2. P. 174–208.
  42. Craig R. Communication Theory as a Field // Communication Theory. 1999. Vol. 9. P. 119–161.
  43. Édeline F., Klinkenberg J.-M. The Appropriation of the Work of Art as a Semiotic Act // Investigations Into the Phenomenology and the Ontology of the Work of Art. What are Artworks and How Do We Experience Them? Cham: Springer, 2015. P. 225–242.
  44. Elam K. The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. London–New York: Routledge, 2002.
  45. Hrivíková T. The language of culture and the culture of language // Porta Lingua 2020. Szaknyelvoktatás és -kutatás nemzetközi kontextusban. Cikkek, 
  46. tanulmányok a hazai szaknyelvoktatásról / eds. Zs. Bocz, R.Besznyák. Budapest: Szokoe, 2020. P. 41–53.
  47. Moretti M. Renato Bertelli. Signa: Masso delle Fate Edizioni, 2007. 159 p.
  48. Rosenberg H. The American Action Painters // Reading Abstract Expressionism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991. P. 189–198.