Introduction (Unframing/Reframing in the Contemporary Visual, Performing, and Media Arts)

Over the last two decades, the notion of the frame has been radically challenged in the visual, performing, and media arts, particularly as a consequence of the introduction of two mutually related concepts: ‘unframing’ and ‘reframing’. While the first refers to the gesture of ideally getting rid of any framing device, the second offers alternative ways to contextualise objects, acts, and images in time and space. In the issue these two concepts are examined from an interdisciplinary perspective, connecting the visual arts with performance and media studies, and following both a theoretical and a practice-based approach.