[1] Rock Hard: The Materiality of Stone in Pre-Electric Italy

From: Lindsay Alberts <lalbertsframingham.edu>
Date: Feb 05, 2017

Panel Organizers:
Lindsay Alberts, Framingham State University
Susan Barahal, Tufts University

This panel aims to promote discussion and exploration of the materiality of works of art involving stone produced in the Italian peninsula in the centuries before the development of electrically-powered tools. The panel organizers welcome research addressing works of art and architecture in which the use of stone, whether marble, porphyry, precious gems, or more local stones such as tufa or sandstone, contribute materially to the meaning of the works, whether in relation to the difficulty of working the material, contemporary understandings of the stones themselves, in their final appearance, or any other aspect of interpretation.

Topics could include but are not limited to
- pietre dure and commesso works (whether part of larger architectural settings, portraits, or as decorations in furniture)
- paintings on stone
- stones in works of art obtained from exotic sources, including but not limited to spolia, souvenirs of pilgrimage, or excessively distance sources
- the movement of marbles and other stones across the Roman Empire and their associations in later periods
- the use of local stones in civic architecture
- stone veneers
- pavements and flooring

Please see the SECAC conference website for online paper proposal submissions and requirements;
https://secac.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/secac/conference/secac-2017-call-for-papers.pdf

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[2] Making Sense of Color: Material and Immaterial

From: Roja Najafi <rojanmngmail.com>
Date: Feb 06, 2017

Session Chair: Roja Najafi, Ph.D. / Curator / Strake Jesuit Art Museum / rnajafistrakejesuit.org

Color crosses boundaries of sensation, perception, and experience. This session will explore the material and immaterial role of color in figurative, abstract, and non-objective works of art. Color –whether it is in service of representation, expression, and emotion, or as an independent element to be experienced itself— traverses between material and immaterial dominions. Considering scientific theories of vision as well as aesthetic choices of artists based on observation, sensitivity, or felt experience color bridges between materiality and immateriality. This session aims to reinvigorate inquiries into the forms and functions of color in visual arts across centuries and invites contributions from both artists and art historians. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): interactions of color, light, pigment, and surface, theories of color and vision, strategies of aesthetic effects of colors, color and meaning, color, luxury and spirituality, color and spatial perception, etc. Proposals exploring various aspects of color focusing on a single color are encouraged.

Paper proposal deadline: APRIL 20, 2017, midnight, edt
Abstracts, maximum of 200 words, should be prepared before you complete
the online paper proposal form.
Please see the SECAC conference website for online paper proposal submissions and requirements;
https://secac.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/secac/conference/secac-2017-call-for-papers.pdf

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[3] "Every science should become art": Visualizing Science in the Long Nineteenth Century.

From: Naomi Slipp <nslippbu.edu>
Date: Feb 07, 2017

The long nineteenth century saw the rise and professionalization of the modern sciences, which reshaped how citizens imagined the universe and their places within it. From medicine's professionalization and the establishment of disciplines such as anthropology, pathology, biology, astronomy, and chemistry, to the publications of Charles Darwin, Louis Agassiz, and Rudolph Virchow, the long nineteenth century was transformed by science. Illustrated publications, periodicals, visual materials, artworks, pedagogical tools, including models, instructional charts, and diagrams, alongside organizations, societies, and departments of higher learning, helped to encourage, support, and cement the institutional and disciplinary hegemony of these newly professionalized scientific fields.

While science is often framed as the objective antithesis to subjective artistic expression, this panel seeks papers that instead probe their interconnectedness. We aim to explore the ways artworks aided the dissemination of scientific ideas, supported new theories or critiqued previous ones, visualized knowledge, and contributed to the rise of modern science from c. 1780-1914. Papers that are trans-national or address the global dissemination of scientific ideas are particularly welcome. Through this forum, our session seeks to understand how the visual arts contributed to scientific developments, promoted disciplinary agendas, and facilitated scientific understanding across diverse representational modes during this transformative period.

Session Chair: Naomi Slipp, Assistant Professor of Art History, Auburn University at Montgomery; Contact: nslippaum.edu

For more information on submission and requirements, see: https://secac.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/secac/conference/secac-2017-call-for-papers.pdf