Article:

Malewitschs LETZTE FUTURISTISCHE AUSSTELLUNG »0,10« in St. Petersburg 1915 oder die Paradoxien des fotografischen Suprematismus. Die medialen Voraussetzungen des autonomen Bildes

On the basis of Kazimer Malevich’s legendary photo of the LAST FUTURIST EXHIBITION in 1915 the text describes the paradoxes of suprematistic aesthetics which on the one hand states the annulment of classical mimesis and, on the other hand, uses it just the same by means of photographic representation for propagandistic services. The essay compares some classical works of Suprematism with their photographic documentation from book reproduc-tions via historical exhibition documentations to Malevich’s selfstagings as a photographic icon. Referring to the contradiction lying in a photo-realistic recording of a suprematistic picture which claims to surpass photographic illusionism the essay confronts the aesthetics of romantically prejudiced pro-ponents of a radical »Gegenstandslosigkeit« with concrete considerations offered by »Gestalt« psychology and perceptional psychology within the meaning of »biological constructivism«. The text analyses the quest for an ontological truth as a universal claim and legitimization strategy of artists compared with a more modern art epistemology which is rather functional and pragmatical oriented, entertains a more critical approach to describing the status of pictures, and reflects the fragility of visual knowledge.