[1]
From: Jessica Barker <jessica.barkercourtauld.ac.uk>
Subject:Ritual and Sensory Experience in Medieval Sculpture

Fixed to the facades of great buildings, or nestled within an elaborate
architectural surround, medieval sculpture has a reputation as being
static, immovable and durable. This session seeks to challenge these
assumptions by examining the sensory environment of medieval sculpture and
its relationship to ritual and performative practices.

Medieval rituals utilised a variety of objects and materials, and
stimulated multiple senses through visual, musical and physical aspects of
devotion. As incense burned and music filled the air, sculpture often
provided a visual and tactile complement to these sensory experiences. The
interactive role of sculpture is paramount for understanding the social
qualities of medieval ritual and its bodily–kinaesthetic relationship to
sacred space. Sculpture provides a tangible link to the study of ritual
performance and a means of accessing the ephemeral activities central to
medieval life. This session sets out to provide stimulating conversations
on the study of medieval sculpture beyond the visible qualities of the
medium.

Paper topics in this session might include examinations of the ritual
context of funerary monuments, liturgical props, processional sculpture,
reliquaries, cult statues and devotional objects, among others. We are also
interested in papers that consider pedagogical approaches to ritual and
offer new methodologies for their study. To supplement this session, we
would like to propose a visit on the following day to Loughborough’s All
Saints with Holy Trinity parish church to continue this conversation in a
medieval space.

This session is facilitated by the Henry Moore Institute, a centre for the
study of sculpture. It will incorporate the expertise of medieval sculpture
scholars, including Dr Peter Dent (Bristol University and co-editor of
Sculpture Journal) and Dr Stacy Boldrick (University of Leicester), who
will serve as respondents to this session.

Please email your paper proposals straight to the session convenor(s),
Elisa A Foster (elisa.fosterhenry-moore.org) and Jessica Barker
(jessica.barkercourtauld.ac.uk). Provide a title and abstract for a 25
minute paper (max 250 words), including your name, affiliation and email.

[2]
From: Dr Rowan Bailey <r.baileyhud.ac.uk>
Subject: The Power of Plasticity

Plasticity is a powerful yet elusive concept of formation in the histories,
theories and practices of making. In its traditional sense, it has been
synonymised with the noun ‘plastic’ – the plastic arts of sculpture
and architecture within the modern schema – and the adjective
‘plastic’ – the material and aesthetic registrations of a state of
being malleable, pliant, ductile and adaptable. More recently, plasticity
has gained cultural currency in science as a tool for articulating the
brain’s thinking activity. The reception of plasticity within the
histories of art, visual and material culture thus covers a broad and
diverse spectrum. It not only refers to a condition of aptitude within the
mind of the practitioner – derived from the Greek plassein: ‘to mould
or form’ – it also registers the transformation of materials from the
molecular to the microscopic, the psychic to the aesthetic.

Whether operating through different tropes of formation in art
historical/art writing, as material transformations in and through the
making process, or as environmental states for the production and reception
of form, this session seeks to explore the varied use, application and
agency of the term ‘plasticity’ in a trans-disciplinary expanded field.

The panel proposes to address three dimensions to plasticity and their
potential intra-relations, reflecting on objects of visual and material
culture to bring about new configurations of plastic thinking in practice.
Contributions that move beyond this framework are also welcome:

Plasticity as a dynamic condition for the production and reception of form

Plasticity and the transformation of materials

Plasticity as a thinking tool in art, visual and material culture

https://www.hud.ac.uk/research/researchcentres/st/

Please send abstracts to:
Dr Rowan Bailey - r.baileyhud.ac.uk

[3]
From: Jorgelina Orfila <jorgelina.orfilattu.edu>
Subject: Art History and Animation

Modern and Contemporary Art History Through the Lens of Animation

The art historians who in the interwar period extended art history’s
disciplinary field of study to encompass modern art, adapted the
methodologies and classificatory tools they had inherited (which had been
developed for the study of old master s’ art) to the demands of the new
art. Nevertheless, these scholars tended to circumscribe their attention to
modern artists’ output in traditional techniques (painting, drawing,
sculpture, engraving) disregarding creators’ interest in new media such
as film. The institutionalization of film studies in the 1960s reinforced
the understanding of cinema and the fine arts as discrete fields of
practice and theorization.

A form of cinematic representation, animation differs from live action film
in that the animated form involves the “sustained creation of a self
evidently artificial, constantly evolving but pertinent aesthetic of
pictorial mediation”(Wells). Most animators use art media such as oil
painting, watercolor, collage, sculpture, drawing, and etching for the
production of their primary images. Animation scholar Suzanne Buchan
advocates that animation theory be considered both fine-art practice and
cinematic representation as central to animation. Furthermore, she notes
that animation increasingly permeates today’s digitized visual culture.

Animation and animation theory offer a stimulating standpoint from which to
rethink modern and contemporary art history. This session invites scholars
to explore the intersection of animation and modern and contemporary art
since the turn of the twentieth century. Contributions might examine
instances where both artistic practices coalesced or influenced each other.
We also welcome papers that consider the propinquity between animation
studies and the discipline of art history.

Convenor: Dr. Jorgelina Orfila
Email: jorgelina.orfilattu.edu
Please email 250-word paper proposals, including your name, affiliation
and email, to the convenor by 7 Nov 2016. Full guidelines at
http://www.aah.org.uk/annual-conference/sessions2017/