: Many art history departments host the PDF for syllabus use.
In her essay, Krauss uses various examples, but one of the most powerful ways to understand her theory is through the lens of "monochrome" painting (artists like Malevich, Rauschenberg, or Ryman).
However, the rise of conceptual art, video art, installation art, and photography's increasing centrality to contemporary practice had shattered this framework. As Todd Haynes notes, "the very idea of medium was thrown into crisis," and its "material determination seemed insufficient" to describe the work being made. For Krauss, the word "medium" itself was "too contaminated, too ideologically, too dogmatically, too discursively loaded" to be used in the same way as Greenberg had used it.
The impact of Krauss's essay was immediate and far-reaching. Her ideas resonated with artists, critics, and scholars who were struggling to make sense of the rapidly changing art world. By challenging traditional notions of art criticism and theory, Krauss opened up new possibilities for thinking about the medium of photography and its relationship to other art forms. rosalind krauss reinventing the medium pdf
You might read “Reinventing the Medium” and wonder if it is merely an artifact of 1990s theory. On the contrary, its relevance has exploded.
The centerpiece of Krauss’s argument in "Reinventing the Medium" is the work of Irish artist James Coleman. Krauss uses Coleman’s work to demonstrate exactly how an artist can reinvent a medium using a commercial, non-art technology.
They aren't just making "hybrids." They are using the conventions of one medium to critique or expose the conventions of another. They are conscious of the "ghosts" of painting, film, and theater, and they summon those ghosts to create something new. : Many art history departments host the PDF for syllabus use
To appreciate “Reinventing the Medium,” one must first understand the state of art theory it was reacting against.
[Commercial Slide-Tape Projector] │ ▼ (Adopted by the Artist) [Exploration of Constraints] ──► (Discontinuity, Narration, Stillness vs. Motion) │ ▼ (Result) [Reinvented Medium / Aesthetic Significance]
: Uses the slide projector and advertising formats as a reinvented medium. William Kentridge As Todd Haynes notes, "the very idea of
Ironically, searching for the "Rosalind Krauss Reinventing the Medium PDF" is a perfect example of her thesis. The PDF is a technical support . It is a specific format (Portable Document Format) with its own recursive rules: hyperlinks, searchability, fixed pagination, and the scroll wheel.
While the full text is not freely available on an open website, you can access or read it through several legitimate channels. The official citation is: