The appropriation of the easel panels from the painting classroom at IDA (Art Institute of the UnB) was used to reflect upon the author; they had accumulated multiple layers of paint that exceeded the borders of the students' work, paintings that are no longer present but left a trace.

It is rather ironic that the easel, symbol of classic and mimetic academic painting, is used as the starting point to think about the controversial postmodern practice of appropriation.

Following the thought of Heidegger, the easels (once liberated from their usefulness) will perform their essential - Allegoric - function as works of art: Refer to something else.*

Oliveras 2004 p. 344* (own Translation. Elena Oliveras is a prominent argentinian author on aesthetics and contemporary art).

In order to describe what was happening in the 60's, the difference between modern and postmodern movements is explained  using Arthur Danto's theories. Furthermore, the writings of Douglas Crimp and Craig Owens were the basis for an analysis on  appropriation and allegory.

All trough the thesis, Elena Oliveras' book Estética, La Cuestión del Arte (Aesthetics, The Question of Art), served as the thread of Ariadne to visit the philosophical labyrinths of the 20th century and the concepts of aura, ready made, authorship, originality and work of art in a contemporary context.

To conclude, an analyses of the poetics of the work "Vestiges" is made under the concepts of "Limits" (Eugenio Trías), The Open Work (Umberto Eco) and Parergon (Jacques Derrida).

V E S T I G E S

A REFLECTION ON AUTHORSHIP

Graduation Thesis

8 panels 42 x 31 in. (109 x 79 cm.)   

6 panels 31 x 28 in. (79 x 73 cm.)