Monograph by Leticia Vitral
This thesis is concerned with establishing a bridge between matters of aesthetics and epistemolog... more This thesis is concerned with establishing a bridge between matters of aesthetics and epistemology, by investigating the mechanisms through which artworks allow agents to derive knowledge through the former’s manipulation. It is proposed that, in order to understand the epistemic potential of artworks, we need to approach them as diagrams, in the sense developed by Charles Peirce.
The background upon which the arguments are developed are mainly those of American Pragmatism – with a special emphasis on primary literature from Charles Sanders Peirce about semiotics and inquiry, and John Dewey about aesthetics. It is introduced that the manipulation upon artworks can be an example of an inquiry process, due to artworks’ diagrammatic symbol-type-token structure, which embody the logical relations of abduction, deduction and induction. Through Peirce’s definition of inquiry, and Dewey’s definition of an aesthetic experience, it is possible to defend that artworks deliberate create states of doubt and chance as to stimulate and guide inquiry as a way to achieve an aesthetic experience, corroborating to the claim that inquiry processes and aesthetic experience share the same ontological basis: it is in the nature of aesthetic experience to confront agents and contexts with state of chance and doubt, to be further guided through inference into a state of regularity and belief.
In order to develop and test the argument, I present the development of Arthur Danto’s influential theory of aesthetics based on Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes, by focusing on a review of Danto’s main writings about it. The central point that Danto developed in this theory is that what gives something the status of an artwork are not the immediately perceivable sensorial features of an artifact, but something else. I claim it to be a “diagrammatic structure” that can be potentially manipulated through an inquiry process. I conclude by establishing a possible development of my argument in relation to modelling processes: as diagrams, artworks can be understood as models, opening room for the emergence of new hypothesis and conjectures about the relationship between aesthetics and epistemology.
Papers by Leticia Vitral
METODO - International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy, 2021
In this paper, we intend to discuss how, according to Peirce's semiotics, gestures can be concept... more In this paper, we intend to discuss how, according to Peirce's semiotics, gestures can be conceptualized and described as diagrams. We are not concerned with answering when, why or how gestures emerged as semiotic motor activities. As a prerequisite for the very formulation of these problems, we are rather interested in discussing the theoretical conditions which should be fulflled for gestures to be characterized as iconic processes-and more specifcally as diagrammatic processes. The frst step is to summarize a systematic analysis of the variety of iconic signs, elaborated by Peirce, followed by his typology of hypoicons in order to describe the hypoiconic class of diagrams. After that, we present some tentative answers to the question of how to describe gestures as diagrammatic signs.
Palast der Republik, by the photographer Christoph Rokitta, is an independent photobook published... more Palast der Republik, by the photographer Christoph Rokitta, is an independent photobook published in 2013 in Berlin. In the photobook different semiotic resources are coupled in order to iconically model the demolition of the homonymous building in Berlin. In opposition to the trivial notion of icon as sign that stands for its object in a relation of similarity, we analyze the photobook as an icon whose main feature is the possibility of discovering information about its object through its manipulation. This specific feature is called operational criterion for iconicity, and it stresses the inherent quality of icons of revealing information available through their manipulation and observation.
Our aim is to describe and analyze the relations between semiotic
resources in this photobook by exploring the operational criterion of iconicity, and models as epistemic artifacts. We are interested in how couplings between semiotic resources in the photobook can iconically model a spatio-temporal process.
VIA is a mobile art project (video-dance and computational music) semiotically translated
to phot... more VIA is a mobile art project (video-dance and computational music) semiotically translated
to photographic media by means of formal constraints derived from selected properties of
Rio de Janeiro’s predefined downtown routes. Under the constraints of street buildings and
the morphology of the routes, questions regarding the influence of the bodily movements of
the urban space led to the creation of a dance typology. This typology is related to
pedestrians in the area and to the structure of the buildings spans where the performance
happened. The dance movements captured in the videos were restricted and regulated by
the physical environment and its main features. Here, an intersemiotic translation of a
mobile art project to a photographic essay is presented and described. It strongly relates,
and tentatively explores, both an artistic research praxis and a theoretical discussion. The
essay explores an analogous semiotic effect from the VIA project on the photographic essay
as a result of this investigation.
This paper presents, describes and analyses two photobooks: Palast der Republik and Domesticidade... more This paper presents, describes and analyses two photobooks: Palast der Republik and Domesticidades. We claim that, because of their highly iconic features, they can be regarded as epistemic artifacts (models) since they reveal information about their objects, as well as about their own morphological properties. The analysis focuses on the (i) kind of relations the photobooks establish with their respective objects (we claim that it is a mainly-iconic relation) and (ii) on the semiotic couplings that can be found in them – a type of interaction between semiotic resources (such as photographs, maps, written texts, illustrations, among others). We contextualize this analysis in relation to both a semiotic and an intermedial background. Further, we claim that the epistemic role of such artworks is directly related to their material and structural features that constrain the possibilities of manipulation and reasoning upon them. We conclude by presenting some of the information that was revealed by the manipulation of these photobooks, claiming that the semiotic-artefactual approach to models can be an epistemically interesting conceptual frame to think about artistic artefacts.
Book chapters by Leticia Vitral
Diagrams 2018 Conference Proceedings, 2018
Creative translation as a method for investigation was an idea systematically explored by the Bra... more Creative translation as a method for investigation was an idea systematically explored by the Brazilian poet and translator Haroldo de Campos. According to Campos' approach, creative translation corresponds to the transcreation of a multi-level system of constraints, "selected" and revealed by the target system. We intend to describe this process as diagrammatic (sensu Peirce), in which the physicality of its source and target systems have the ontology of a relation. Hence our approach is a tentative association of Jakobson's concept of intersemiotic translation, with De Campos' notion of transcreation based on Peirce's notion of diagrams. We intend to describe it by taking the following arguments into consideration: I. Intersemiotic translation can be described as fundamentally triadic phenomenon, that involves the selection and interpretation of properties and methods from one semiotic system to be translated into another semiotic system, bearing the production of an interpretative effect in the latter, that is analogous to the interpretative effect produced by the former. II. Intersemiotic translation is a method of investigation. As a mainly iconic process, it produces a sign that signifies by means of its own qualities and structures: this is a well-known property of iconic signs, namely operational criterion of icons.
Non/Cognate Approaches - Relation and Representation, 2019
The philosophical branches of aesthetics and epistemology, although sharing several problems in c... more The philosophical branches of aesthetics and epistemology, although sharing several problems in common, do not seem to have been in active dialogue, particularly in what regards the systematic investigation of the mechanisms through which artifacts usually regarded as sources of aesthetic experience (such as artworks) might be able to derive knowledge. In this paper, it is going to be presented one possible way to start approaching such investigation: I believe it is possible to study the epistemic potential of artworks by approaching artworks as diagrams in the Peircean sense. It is going to be explored here how (i) diagrams cannot have the experiences they produce reduced to a fixed and final response, how (ii) diagrams are constantly shaped by experimental interactions with an agent and its environment, how (iii) diagrams and the experiences they produce are part of the same process, and how (iv) diagrams are in a continuum of science and everyday life, by means of modifying and sharpening perception on general. In order to investigate and illustrate each of these features of diagrams, the artwork “Brillo Boxes” of Andy Warhol is going to be analyzed regarding its diagrammatic properties. It will be concluded that, by explicitly assuming this diagrammatic role of artworks we can proceed to investigate how art can be used to derive knowledge. Only by doing such, we can then advance to develop a more refined and detailed account of the diagrammatic reasoning process that allows an agent to process the possible knowledge that might be derived of an artwork as diagram.
Netzwerke der Intermedialität: Theorie, Analyse, Praxis, 2018
Conference Posters by Leticia Vitral
Diagrams 2018 Conference , 2018
Creative translation as a method for investigation was an idea systematically explored by the Bra... more Creative translation as a method for investigation was an idea systematically explored by the Brazilian poet and translator Haroldo de Campos. According to Campos' approach, creative translation corresponds to the transcreation of a multi-level system of constraints, "selected" and revealed by the target system. We intend to describe this process as diagrammatic (sensu Peirce), in which the physicality of its source and target systems have the ontology of a relation. Hence our approach is a tentative association of Jakobson's concept of intersemiotic translation, with De Campos' notion of transcreation based on Peirce's notion of diagrams. We intend to describe it by taking the following arguments into consideration: I. Intersemiotic translation can be described as fundamentally triadic phenomenon, that involves the selection and interpretation of properties and methods from one semiotic system to be translated into another semiotic system, bearing the production of an interpretative effect in the latter, that is analogous to the interpretative effect produced by the former. II. Intersemiotic translation is a method of investigation. As a mainly iconic process, it produces a sign that signifies by means of its own qualities and structures: this is a well-known property of iconic signs, namely operational criterion of icons.
XXIV. Conference of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, 2016
Photobooks are a specific kind of artistic artifacts that possess particular features that distin... more Photobooks are a specific kind of artistic artifacts that possess particular features that distinguishes them from photographic prints, as well as from simple catalogues of artistic images. The most important of these distinctive features are the relations between photographs, written texts and other visual resources that can be found in several publications of this kind. These relations are the main responsible factor for allowing artistic artifacts to also function as epistemic artifacts. According to Knuutilla & Voutilainen (2003), epistemic artifacts are physical entities that provide us with new information and properties about the object they are referring to. But this new information remains only as a potentiality unless they are manipulated by a cognitive agent. Therefore, manipulation is understood not only as a reasoning process but also as the performance of an action. For the manipulation of epistemic artifacts to present such satisfactory results it must follow a number of specific laws and regulations that are related to how the resources interact with one another: how the pages are ordered in the book; how the resources are distributed in the pages; and how do we get in contact with them. These constraints of main importance in this approach, since they regulate the manipulation possibilities and the consequent discovery of information.
2nd Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics, 2016
In opposition to the trivial notion of icon as a sign that stands for its object in a relation of... more In opposition to the trivial notion of icon as a sign that stands for its object in a relation of similarity, we are going to describe and analyze several examples of intermedial visual artworks as iconic models whose main feature is the possibility of discovering new information about its object - this specific feature is called operational criterion for iconicity. We describe how the relations between semiotic resources perform an iconic epistemic role, dependent on the situated manipulation of the artwork’s material and structural constraints.
Master's Thesis by Leticia Vitral
Palast der Republik, by the photographer Christoph Rokitta, is an independent photobook published... more Palast der Republik, by the photographer Christoph Rokitta, is an independent photobook published in 2013 in Berlin. In Palast der Republik different semiotic resources interact with one another, in order to reveal a new experience about the demolition process of the homonymous building. In opposition to the trivial notion of icon as sign that stands for its object in a relation of similarity, we are going to analyze the book as an icon whose main feature is the possibility of discovering new information about its object through its manipulation. This specific feature is called operation criteria of iconicity. Our aim is to describe and analyze the relations between semiotic resources in this photobook, by exploring not only the operational criterion of iconicity, but also the roles of diagrams in reasoning, and how models function models as epistemic artifacts. Therefore, it will be presented here how semiotic resources with different morphological features in the photobook interact in order to create a diagrammatic epistemic artifact of its object: the demolition of the Palast der Republik.
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Monograph by Leticia Vitral
The background upon which the arguments are developed are mainly those of American Pragmatism – with a special emphasis on primary literature from Charles Sanders Peirce about semiotics and inquiry, and John Dewey about aesthetics. It is introduced that the manipulation upon artworks can be an example of an inquiry process, due to artworks’ diagrammatic symbol-type-token structure, which embody the logical relations of abduction, deduction and induction. Through Peirce’s definition of inquiry, and Dewey’s definition of an aesthetic experience, it is possible to defend that artworks deliberate create states of doubt and chance as to stimulate and guide inquiry as a way to achieve an aesthetic experience, corroborating to the claim that inquiry processes and aesthetic experience share the same ontological basis: it is in the nature of aesthetic experience to confront agents and contexts with state of chance and doubt, to be further guided through inference into a state of regularity and belief.
In order to develop and test the argument, I present the development of Arthur Danto’s influential theory of aesthetics based on Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes, by focusing on a review of Danto’s main writings about it. The central point that Danto developed in this theory is that what gives something the status of an artwork are not the immediately perceivable sensorial features of an artifact, but something else. I claim it to be a “diagrammatic structure” that can be potentially manipulated through an inquiry process. I conclude by establishing a possible development of my argument in relation to modelling processes: as diagrams, artworks can be understood as models, opening room for the emergence of new hypothesis and conjectures about the relationship between aesthetics and epistemology.
Papers by Leticia Vitral
Our aim is to describe and analyze the relations between semiotic
resources in this photobook by exploring the operational criterion of iconicity, and models as epistemic artifacts. We are interested in how couplings between semiotic resources in the photobook can iconically model a spatio-temporal process.
to photographic media by means of formal constraints derived from selected properties of
Rio de Janeiro’s predefined downtown routes. Under the constraints of street buildings and
the morphology of the routes, questions regarding the influence of the bodily movements of
the urban space led to the creation of a dance typology. This typology is related to
pedestrians in the area and to the structure of the buildings spans where the performance
happened. The dance movements captured in the videos were restricted and regulated by
the physical environment and its main features. Here, an intersemiotic translation of a
mobile art project to a photographic essay is presented and described. It strongly relates,
and tentatively explores, both an artistic research praxis and a theoretical discussion. The
essay explores an analogous semiotic effect from the VIA project on the photographic essay
as a result of this investigation.
Book chapters by Leticia Vitral
Conference Posters by Leticia Vitral
Master's Thesis by Leticia Vitral
The background upon which the arguments are developed are mainly those of American Pragmatism – with a special emphasis on primary literature from Charles Sanders Peirce about semiotics and inquiry, and John Dewey about aesthetics. It is introduced that the manipulation upon artworks can be an example of an inquiry process, due to artworks’ diagrammatic symbol-type-token structure, which embody the logical relations of abduction, deduction and induction. Through Peirce’s definition of inquiry, and Dewey’s definition of an aesthetic experience, it is possible to defend that artworks deliberate create states of doubt and chance as to stimulate and guide inquiry as a way to achieve an aesthetic experience, corroborating to the claim that inquiry processes and aesthetic experience share the same ontological basis: it is in the nature of aesthetic experience to confront agents and contexts with state of chance and doubt, to be further guided through inference into a state of regularity and belief.
In order to develop and test the argument, I present the development of Arthur Danto’s influential theory of aesthetics based on Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes, by focusing on a review of Danto’s main writings about it. The central point that Danto developed in this theory is that what gives something the status of an artwork are not the immediately perceivable sensorial features of an artifact, but something else. I claim it to be a “diagrammatic structure” that can be potentially manipulated through an inquiry process. I conclude by establishing a possible development of my argument in relation to modelling processes: as diagrams, artworks can be understood as models, opening room for the emergence of new hypothesis and conjectures about the relationship between aesthetics and epistemology.
Our aim is to describe and analyze the relations between semiotic
resources in this photobook by exploring the operational criterion of iconicity, and models as epistemic artifacts. We are interested in how couplings between semiotic resources in the photobook can iconically model a spatio-temporal process.
to photographic media by means of formal constraints derived from selected properties of
Rio de Janeiro’s predefined downtown routes. Under the constraints of street buildings and
the morphology of the routes, questions regarding the influence of the bodily movements of
the urban space led to the creation of a dance typology. This typology is related to
pedestrians in the area and to the structure of the buildings spans where the performance
happened. The dance movements captured in the videos were restricted and regulated by
the physical environment and its main features. Here, an intersemiotic translation of a
mobile art project to a photographic essay is presented and described. It strongly relates,
and tentatively explores, both an artistic research praxis and a theoretical discussion. The
essay explores an analogous semiotic effect from the VIA project on the photographic essay
as a result of this investigation.