‘On the Brink of Change’ will be a one day symposium at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford, Lincolnshire on Saturday 25th June 2011.

Designed to compliment ‘About Time’, a solo exhibition of work by artist Claire Morgan, this session will bring together fine artists, makers, designers, curators and academics who explore the concept of time, the notion of the ephemeral, or life and death within their work. It will also include those who comment on pending social, political, but more specifically, environmental change.

At this stage, we would like to invite practicing artists, makers, designers, academics and curators to submit proposals for 30 minute papers which relate to these themes. Topics could include, but are not limited to:
Artistic reactions to climate change and ecological concerns
Engagement with pending political and social change
The ephemerality and / or permanence of works and materials, and the ‘lives’ of art objects
The passing of time as portrayed within works of art
The significance of the frozen moment
Mortality and transitions from life to death
Memory
Artistic labour and its significance

A fee and expenses will be available for speakers

To submit a paper for consideration, please send an abstract of 300 words maximum along with a current CV to Louise Carson, louisecarsonhubgmail.com by 5pm on Monday 9th May 2011.

Claire Morgan
Having previously utilised ephemeral materials that decayed over the course of their display, Claire Morgan’s sculpture has come to reflect the issues of climate change and the passing of time in increasingly subtle ways. Utilising materials such as insects, seeds, plastic detritus and taxidermied animals, Morgan presents them in suspended animation. In a professed attempt to change our relationship with the world, natural cycles are frozen in what appears to be a descent towards disaster. As theorist Darren Ambrose has written, ‘Morgan, through the unique affectivity of art, is forcing us to open our vision and sincerely address the question of our origins in the desperate hope of averting the catastrophe to come.’
www.claire-morgan.co.uk