History of Art

What is the potential of interpretation in the visual field and are there limits?
The current proliferation of images has led to worries about the power of the
visual, but not necessarily to innovative approaches. While the tendency of art
history to rely on the subject in its explanatory modes (in particular the artist as
subject) has long reached an impasse, the image continues to be a site of
self-affirmation rather than of critical and creative engagement. Even recent
attempts to endow the image with a more active role, including the productive
notion of the self-aware image, have brought with them problems of agency.
How can we shift the discussion without turning the image itself into a subject?

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