Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0003-2646-2804

Document Type

Conference Paper

Disciplines

Archaeology, Philosophy,, History and philosophy of science and technology, Ethics, Arts, Art history, Architectural design

Publication Details

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.eurosa.org/volumes/7/ESA-Proc-7-2015-Aesthetics-Group.pdf

doi:10.21427/kmab-8v89

Abstract

Not only is vandalism increasingly subject to digital documentation, but the aesthetic nature of vandalism itself is different as a result of the digital. No longer is vandalism a local destructive act, it has become an act performed primarily for broadcast to global markets. This paper uses the example of Islamic State (IS) iconoclasm to explore the way in which digital media is strategically used by vandals and considers the responses of the heritage industry to respond to such destruction. It illustrates how the deliberate digital documentation and subsequent global broadcasting of the destruction of cultural heritage by Islamic State forms an aesthetic strategy of a nascent state and not simply blind iconoclasm but vandalism in the service of state formation. Yet, just as digital documentation fans vandalism it undermines its potency, eliminating the possibility of complete destruction. By considering recent attempts to restore destroyed artefacts via 3D printing this paper connects vandalism and the idolatry of preservation within the larger plot of the iconoclast economy. In doing so it connects fantasies of aniconism and iconodilism. To combat the extremism of both positions this paper proposes an attitude to destruction, inspired by Japanese kintsugi, which simultaneously recognises the fragility and the resilience of artefacts.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/kmab-8v89

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.


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