From formalist «ostranenie» to a singular type of estrangement in the visual arts

Abstract

The following essay explores the notion of estrangement, from its conception as a theory in the early 20th century in the context of Russian Formalism, up to the current contemporary art scene, with the aim of identifying a small group of works in which this phenomenon achieves a singular character and intensity. This approach will allow, first, an account of the main characteristics of this device, as they were stated in the theses of Viktor Shklovski, as well as of their subsequent reinterpretations and redefinitions, in the work of different authors. Secondly, to note how the type of experience discussed in these approaches, in which the familiar and the unknown coexist, is condensed in a particularly significant way in Spanish, under the verb «extrañar». From here, thirdly, to specify how all this acquires a particular configuration in a series of works in which, paradoxically, photograph is installed in those very places where it was originally taken. And finally, to guide the reflection towards certain debates that today vindicate the faktura and materiality of images, thereby attempting, just tentatively, some solutions to the crisis of representation that has been going through the last century.