Space in Art History
by WU Hung
Space in Art History is a collection of a series of lectures by Professor Wu Hong, who was invited by the OCAT Institute to hold these lectures at the University of Chicago Center in Beijing, from June 20th to June 22nd, 2016. The analysis of visual objects in the studies of art history has always been centered with two core concepts, “image” and “form”. However, “space” and its relevant concepts have been re-occurring continuously in the author’s writing about art history, based on which, a framework about observing, describing and explaining artworks is now coming into being. This book uses “space” as the main thread, integrating the author’s studies in many years about Chinese art history at a methodological level. From the perspective of an art educator, the author also, for the first time, started a form of “jiangxiban” (a combination of speech delivery and study workshop) for young students in China, in order to summarize the intentions of his past research, and to explain his experiences of his scholarly work.