Early modern wonder and the Kunst- und Wunderkammern became of greater interest to museums, curators, and individual artists over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. During the...Show moreEarly modern wonder and the Kunst- und Wunderkammern became of greater interest to museums, curators, and individual artists over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. During the last two decades, the revaluation and revival of these two concepts in exhibition spaces have been the main subject in which modern audiences have been illuminated with the different visual representation strategies of the early modern cabinets. However, this revival is an underexposed theme in current art historical fields and little has been written about this shift from past till present. Therefore, this thesis aims to highlight to what extend the concepts of wonder and the Wunderkammer corresponds and have been reinterpreted in contemporary art and museum practices.Show less
This thesis is the first critical look at the reemergence of Wonder in art museums as they create exhibitions based on the Wunderkammer and Cabinet of Curiosities. The thesis questions whether the...Show moreThis thesis is the first critical look at the reemergence of Wonder in art museums as they create exhibitions based on the Wunderkammer and Cabinet of Curiosities. The thesis questions whether the early modern collection and its ideal form of Wonder are really compatible for audiences today. The first part examines the evolution of eaerly modern Wonder as it appears within ideal and actual Wunderkammern. The second part returns readers to the modern day in which art museums have frequently evoked the theme of the Wunderkammer without reflection. This part examines four case studies in order to understand modern day Wonder and the failures and successed had by varying museums, and in doing so, to prescribe a new model for the future.Show less
