DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.25161

Abstract: In this article Balash presents an analysis of the term 'originality' in the work 'The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths' (1985) written by an important American theorist and and art critic Rosalind E. Krauss. The rationale of the topic is caused by the fact that there is a need to 'expand the scope' of the conceptual analysis and terminological framework of the theory of art and analytics of artistic culture. At the same time, this is practically the only work in which the problem of originality is defined as the corner stone for foreign artistic epoch of the late XXth - early XXIth centuries. The need to identify numerous art objects in modern artistic practices which originality is difficult to be defined using classical methods of stylistic and culturological analysis defines the rationale of the research and appealing to Rosalind Krauss' methods. For the first time in the academic literature the author defines and analyzes the connection between views on originality in Krauss' concept and originality as a source and truth of Martin Heidegger's philosophy. Results of this analysis are important because Martin Heidegger's concept of originality is prevailing for modern culture. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.25122

Abstract: The article is devoted to transformation of the concepts of humans-and-gods relations at the turn of the 6th - 5th B. C. Rozin states that development of the ancient culture was accompanied and triggered by human turning to independent behavior. Even though people still relied on gods and their support, in everyday life they relied more on themselves and were more independent. The researcher analyzes the consequences of such transformation, in particular, personal growth and creativity boost, leave of kings who had been thought to be living gods, and development of democratic governments in ancient polises. The author has used the following methodology: problem statement, situation analysis, comparative law research, and conceptualisation. The methodology was also accompanied with analysis of research results and reconstruction of historical facts. As a result of the research, the author explains what factors cused the transfer from the culture of ancient kings to the ancient times, in particular, personal development and democratic governments. According to the researcher, it was a new concept of the humans-and-gods relations that changed the minds of people in those times. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.25366

Abstract: In her research Kiryushkina focuses on the author identity of a creative individual in the history of culture. The author identity is understood as one's sense of his or her creative personality. The researcher analyzes potential of this approach for the history of aesthetics. The researcher analyzes the author identity of English enlighteners such as Alexander Pope, Anthony Ashley Shaftesbury, John Addison, Edward Young, etc. The research focuses on the concepts that were used by them to name a creative personality - 'author', 'genius', and 'poet'. The author uses these concepts to analyze what English enlighteners said about creativity. Based on the categorial analysis, the author develops a thesaurus of the author identity of a creative individual in the culture of English Englightenment. The author uses the terms that denoted an actor of a creative process, 'author', 'genius', and 'poet'. Kiryushkina concludes that these authentic categories bring forth the values that were viewed by English poets as fundamental for a creative process. Such analysis of these categories extends a concept of classicism and discovers the concepts that acted as dynamic points of culture, i.e. the points where new trends and directions of aesthetics appeared. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.25296

Abstract: Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera 'Le Prophete' had been very popular in the mid 19th century but then it was forgotten. The last time it was staged in Russia was back in the 20's of the 20th century. There were several reasons to that: critics' negative opinion on Meyerbeer's creative work in general which gave a bad reputation to his operas; and the fact that new audience of the Soviet opera theatre did not agree with the ideological message of the opera about the false tzar. As a result, Le Prophete was left in the shade of Les Huguenots that was more popular in the Soviet times. Meanwhile, the third largest opera of Meyerbeer had a significant influence on the Russian culture of the 19th century both in music and literature. The reception of Meyerbeer's opera in Russian literature is analyzed by the author of the article using the comparative analysis approach as well as methods of cultural and historical text analysis. This research extends the corpus of works that have receptive links with the music theatre. For the first time in the academic literature the author analyzes this topic in relation to Apukhtin's and Pisemsky's works as well as a number of literary works about false tzars written in the 1860's. The author of the article makes a hypothesis that plot devices, chronotopes and ideological message of Le Prophete opera had an impact on Dostoevsky writing his novel 'Demons'. Thus, analysis of the reception of Meyerbeer's Le Prophete in Russian literature allows not only to discover works that had been influenced by the opera but also to clarify the role the opera had for the Russian culture of the 19th century. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.25151

Abstract: The author of the article analyzes similarities and differences in costumes with traditional Chinese clothes elements that were created for The Red Poppy Ballet. The object of the research is onstage costumes of actors who played Chinese people in The Red Poppy Ballet staged at The Bolshoi Theatre of Russia in 1927, 1949 and 1957, The Mariinsky Theatre in 1929, 1949 and 1958, and Krasnoyarsk State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in 2010. Being based on photographs of artists who acted in The Red Poppy Ballet of aforesaid editions, the author of the article performs a comparative analysis and finds parellels between costumes for The Red Poppy Ballet and traditional Chinese clothes and accessories. The author discovers elements of Chinese clothes that were chosen by the ballet directors as the main elements to transfer the image of China through Chinese costumes for the ballet, in particular, traditional right-side fold, elements of traditional Hanfu, cheongsam, etc. style in clothes, elements of bufan embroidering using traditional shapes and signs (circle, square, birds, so on), men's and women's headwear elements and the dragon symbol as a direct reference to China. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.24968

Abstract: The subject of the research is the iconography and interpretation of the creative content of the frescoes series made by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo after 1565 in Villa Caldogno near Vicenza. The interpretation of the frescoes is based on the comparison of the narrative content of the frescoes with the descriptions of the country life in rural treatises of the second half of the 16th century such as Agostino Gallo's The Twenty Days Of Agriculture And The Pleasures Of The Villa (Brescian, 1564), Gioseppe Falcone's New Lovely and Pleasant Villa (Brescian, 1559) and Alberto Lollio A Letter In Praise of Villa (Venice, 1544). Such comparison allows to get a better insight into certain everyday life motifs as well as to understand a deep aesthetic meaning of the country life style as it was viewed by people of that epoch. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author demonstrates iconographic parallels to Fasolo's genre paintings in both texts and artwork of the Ancient and Renaissance literature that described the country life as a decent life of a nobleman. For the first time in the academic literature the author of the article traces back sources of the creative message of fresco series in Villa Caldogno that can be found in preceding artistic tradition of the Venetian art and cast light on their semantics. The outcome of the research is that along with clarifying individual semantic aspects of each particular plot, the author of the article also manages to define the message of the entire series which was the idea of villa as a harmonious universe and perfect life order. From this point of view, everyday life in a villa is viewed as the foundation of life existence that is the best for the human nature. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.24971

Abstract: The article is devoted to the rapidly developing modern art and design phenomenon, digital sculpture. The authors of the article state that despite a broad popularity and active practical use of digital sculpture in various kinds of modern life, researches of this phenomenon have only started. Within the framework of this research, the authors view the most important problems of digital sculpture that, in their turn, create directions of relevant research. The object of the research is the digital sculpture and the subject of the research is the directions and problems of studying this phenomenon. Historical comparative and analytical approaches used by the authors allowed to analyze historical, technological and expressive aspects of digital sculpture that relate to both the process of digital sculpture creation and associated software (ZBrush, Sculptris, 3D-Coat, etc.). The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that in the process of their analysis, the authors define the most promising directions for studying the phenomenon of digital sculpture, each can serve as an individual research subject in the future. These directions include: 1. accumulation and generalisation of research methods and historiographic basis; 2. development of the framework of terms and methodologies; 3. analysis of the history of sculpture and software development; 4. analysis of artistic features of such artwork as well as particularities of using digital sculpture. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.1.24613

Abstract: The subject of the research is the emotional hearing and its role in the development and acquisition of professional knowledge and skills of a vocalist as well as methods for developing emotional hearing that can be used in the training process. Well-developed emotional hearing enables an adequate perception and interpretation of subtle nuances of feelings expressed in musical compositions, allows a vocalist to improve his or her mastership and affects emotional-expressive and timbre-coloristic abilities of a singer, his or her acting talent and ability not only to convey an artistic image by the means of 'musical speech' fully and persuasively but also teach their students how to do it. The research method used by the author was the analysis of results and conclusions of relevant researches and analysis of teaching practice when particular means and technologies of emotional hearing development were used. The main conclusions of the research are the following provisions: only those vocalists who are able to sense subtle emotional nuances of music can express these nuances at a high artistic level and achieve the peak of mastership; well-developed emotional hearing encourages the development of a special universal world sense, world perception and world view that present an intuitive understanding of the reality, value-based concept and evaluation of the surrounding world, understanding a national cultural tradition and spiritual unity with the national and world culture.