[1] Skeuomorphic: The Skeuomorph from the Acropolis to iOS

A skeuomorph, from Greek σκεῦος (vessel) and μορῦή (form), is an object that adopts essential structural features of its predecessor as ornament. While not strictly necessary, these features connect the new to the old, rendering an object recognizable or more palatable to its audience. Examples include stone modillions on Greek temples derived from the structural elements of wooden architecture; printed fonts resembling their handwritten antecedents; faux-wood paneling; and, most topically, touchscreen software that mimics the appearance of three-dimensional items such as notebooks, agendas, and clocks. At the intersection of ergonomics, historicism, and illusionism, the skeuomorph can be revealed as a frequent feature across many historical periods. This session seeks papers that consider instances of skeuomorphism from antiquity to the present, and solicits especially analyses that reach beyond descriptive categories to investigate the motivations, intentions, and ideologies behind seemingly redundant visual continuities that survive at times of technological change.

Chairs: Nicholas Herman, The Courtauld Institute of Art; and Sarah M. Guérin, Université de Montréal, nicholas.hermancourtauld.ac.uk and s.guerinumontreal.ca

For participation requirements and details of the conference, please
see: http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/2015CallforParticipation.pdf

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[2] Global Peripheries: Art Biennials as Networks of Cultural Representation and Contestation

Cristian Nae, George Enescu University, Iasi; and Judy Peter, University of Johannesburg. Email: cristi_naeyahoo.co.uk; judypuj.ac.za

After 1989, many former cultural peripheries have destabilized the existing geo-political distinctions dividing the art historical imaginary, while post-colonial struggles for identity challenged dominant narratives and established new power relations. The concurrent rise of the art biennial as a global phenomenon is one of the intriguing aspects of world art history that may be questioned concerning its importance in advocating hybridization and decoloniality, while at the same time establishing new routes of cultural influence in exchange for the old commercial ones. Papers may address the extent to which art biennials in formerly “peripheral” areas may have contributed to the spread of modernism as a Western product, their discursive functions, ranging from emancipatory cultural practices to instruments of a renewed colonization of language, bodies and time, their relation to the historical large-scale exhibitions, and their impact on the contested term “globalization”, as well as on the construction of contemporary art history.

The full call for papers can be found on the College Art Association website here:

http://www.collegeart.org/proposals/2015callforparticipation

Proposals for papers (please see instructions on the CAA website for what that entails) are due via email to session chairs by May 9, 2014.