© Anne Brannys 2017
T
he German term »zart« (engl. tender) derives from the middle high German verb »zarten« and means »to carefully touch« or »to draw nearer to somebody«.Today it is primarily used as an adjective encompassing a wide range of possible applications. In the jargon of art theory it describes work that appear to be modest, delicate, subtle, ephemeral or fragile. An accurate definition of its aesthetic significance is yet to be done. The dissertation »On Tenderness« tries to define tenderness as an aesthetic category of its own and describes its presence and relevance in historical and contemporary art.
© Anne Brannys 2017
The dissertation "On Tenderness" is an alphabetical collection cataloguing everything significant about tenderness within the context of art theory. In terms of aesthetics, form and and typography it is inspired by the Encyclopedia of D.Diderot and J.B. Le Rond d'Alembert. However, this dissertation challenges Diderot's and d'Alembert's formal contextual rigour and questions compulsory objectivity by including radical artistic subjectivity. Artistic approaches proving a profound involvement with the term tenderness rank equally with aspects from humanities and natural sciences.
National and international visual artists are invited to submit their work - provided it shows a distinct involvement with the term tenderness in a formal or contextual way. All entries will then be collected and sorted. After careful consideration the best works will be published in the encyclopaedia as individual articles. In addition the most convincing works will be selected for an exhibition presenting the encyclopedia's comprehensive archive. This is a participatory project specifically giving the opportunity to any students and emerging artists who are intensely engaged in this particular subject, to be be part of a scientific and artistic publication.
© Anne Brannys 2016
The final exhibition represents the essence of the works submitted, summing up the long process of extensive research whilst at the same time accentuating the encyclopaedia. As a flexible and extendable archive, the encyclopedia itself is intended to provide an endless source of possible new combinations under different focus for the future. With its final transformation into an artist's book for the show it will also present as an independent work of art in itself.
