The Speculum of Hyperrealism, toward the Displacement of the Social

The disciplines of sociology and aesthetics have seen a renewed interest in morality and ethics in recent years. Recognizing that artworks can serve as moral critiques, as a speculum of observation, and as social and cultural critics, this paper seeks to apply some insights from relational sociology to the field of hyperreal arts by exploring the ways in which moral claims are expressed, evaluated and negotiated by and through the works of hyperrealist artists. Art is located in human interactions and their social contexts. Central to it are inter-subjectivity, being together, being humans, the encounter and the collective elaboration of meaning, based on models of sociability, meetings, collaborations and places of conviviality.