ABSTRACT
For Toulmin, as for Helms and many other anthropologists and art historians nowadays, as long as there have been here have been cosmologies that situate the ‘polis’ at the cosmological centre of the universe, image of ‘outside realms’ and ‘others’ have been crucial motifs in ‘self portraits’ (Daston 2006) of the former. It is now widely recognised that hitherto predominant notions not only of so-called ‘primitive art’ but also ‘art’, in general, have been enmeshed in the history of such self-portraiture. However, many institutions structured around these notions remain as self assured as ever it has. Galleries and museums continue to maintain record numbers, whilst the markets, its auctioneers, dealers, and buyers, continue to exchange vast sums for record prices. And all this despite an economic downturn of historic significance (this essays historical present is mid 2009). In stark contrast to such stability, there is an ongoing crisis in the interdisciplinary realm of visual culture. As the art critic/historian James Elkins (2008: vii) remarked, one immediate manifestation is that ‘contemporary [art historical] writing seems like a trackless thicket, tangled with unanswered questions.’ This period of flux is often denounced as symptomatic of the post-modern era; a paradigm in which a widespread pandemic of indecision, and relativism has apparently halted the enlightenment engine of progress and purpose.
