[1]
From: Rebecca Whiteley <rebecca.whiteley.12ucl.ac.ul>
Date: Oct 5, 2017
Subject: CFP: Body as Architecture/Architecture as Body

Body as Architecture/Architecture as Body

Co-convenors:
Kelly Freeman, University College London, k.freeman.11ucl.ac.uk
Rebecca Whiteley, University College London, rebecca.whiteley.12ucl.ac.uk

[J]ust as the head, foot, and indeed any member must correspond to each other and to all the rest of the body in a living being, so in a building [...] the parts of the whole body must be so composed that they all correspond to one another. – Leon Battista Alberti, De re aedificatoria (c. 1450).

There has, since classical antiquity, been a complex set of correspondences between the human body and the designed building. Such interactions spring from the enduring art-theoretical ideal whereby art and architecture should imitate nature, as well as from broader cultural, medical and anatomical thinking wherein the body is described in terms of architecture and domestic arrangement. Throughout recorded history, architects have turned to the proportions, structures, processes, and narratives of the human body when designing built spaces. Likewise, artists and writers working in anatomy, medicine, politics and literature, to name a few, have turned to the shape, design and spaces of the building when discussing and explaining the body. Our panel will explore how this enduring correspondence has been expressed and shaped by visual culture. We encourage papers that treat as broad an array of visual and theoretical material as possible: from art theory and architecture to anatomical print. Papers may wish to address one of the following themes: the body's architecture, organic and anatomical theories and representations in architecture, metaphors of bodies and buildings, the (gendered) materiality and form of the body and of architecture. We intend to set no limits on geography or period, and to convene a session with as wide a scope as possible. In response to the theme of 'Look out!', we hope to bring together a variety of disciplines – from art history and architecture, to literature, history of science and medicine – and to bring different theoretical and disciplinary approaches into conversation.

Proposals for 25-minute papers (250 words max) should be sent to the convenors by 6th November.

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[2]
From: M Foot <mfootexseed.ed.ac.uk>
Date: Oct 14, 2017
Subject: CFP: Seeing and Hearing the 'Beyond'

Seeing and Hearing the 'Beyond': Art, Music, and Mysticism in the Long Nineteenth Century

Session Convenors:
Dr. Michelle Foot, University of Edinburgh – History of Art (Scotland) mfootexseed.ed.ac.uk
Dr. Corrinne Chong, Independent Researcher – History of Art, Word and Music Studies (Canada) corrinnecareensgmail.com

This interdisciplinary session will explore the dialogue between art and music in addressing the subject of mysticism in the long nineteenth century (1789 – 1918). To counteract the positivist current that gained momentum during the period, artistic circles gravitated towards mystical means that initiated the beholder and listener into truths that transcended the world of external appearances. The session seeks to gauge the scope of different interpretations of mysticism and to illuminate how an exchange between art and music may unveil an underlying stream of metaphysical, supernatural, and spiritual ideas over the course of the century.

The multiple facets of mysticism manifested across a diverse range of styles, aesthetics, and movements. As esotericism saturated America, Europe and Britain, the Romantics and Symbolists responded to mystical beliefs expressed in Swedenborgianism, Spiritualism, Theosophy and Occultism while drawing on exposures to Eastern religions. Re- interpretations of pagan mysticism prompted the rediscovery of Folkloric primitivism. Meanwhile, Catholic and evangelical revivals alongside renewed interest in Medievalism revitalised Christian themes. In practice, the proliferation of occult revivals at the fin-de-siècle permeated the thematic programmes of artists and composers. Wagner's operas underscored the link between music, myth, and mysticism through the synthesis of the arts: the Gesamtkunstwerk. Subsequently, Syncretism in mystical philosophies was paralleled by formal correspondences in the visual arts, especially in their “rhythmical” qualities. Synesthesia would instigate the development of abstraction.

This session invites submissions that extend on these ideas by investigating how the interconnectedness between art and music was able to evoke and be inspired by mysticism. Papers drawn from other periods that examine the origins and newer forms of mystical appropriations will be considered, and those which incorporate perspectives across the spectrum of visual culture and musicology are particularly welcome.

Proposals responding to the session abstract should be emailed direct to both the session convenors. Please provide a title and abstract (250 words maximum) for a 25-minute paper, your name and institutional affiliation (if any).

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[3]
From: Danielle Child <d.childmmu.ac.uk>
Date: Oct 14, 2017
Subject: CFP: Deskilling or the Displacement of Skill

Deskilling or the Displacement of Skill: Artistic production outside of the studio

Convenors:
Dave Beech, Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg and Chelsea College of Art, London, dave.beechakademinvaland.gu.se
Danielle Child, Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, d.childmmu.ac.uk

This panel proposes that in art deskilling did not happen. Labour history refers to the disappearance of skill with the arrival of mechanisation, automation and the technical division of labour. In art, we contend, skill did not disappear; rather, it was displaced from the artist to commercial producers, assistants, technicians and other fabricators. The contracting out of skilled work is not new to artistic practice; historically, it is visible in artisanal guilds and renaissance workshops. The literature of art during the 1960s suppressed contracting out and other dimensions of skilled labour to focus exclusively on the author. Those accounts that have acknowledged the apprentice, the journeyman, the studio assistant, the facilitator often limit themselves to the melodramatic revelation that artists since Duchamp do not make their own works, and express moral outrage that artists exploit unacknowledged assistance.

This panel wishes to 'look out', beyond the author and the studio and examine the role of the unnamed journeyman or 'contractor' in the creative process. Papers are invited that examine critically those modes of art-producing labour external to the figure of the artist both before the period of so-called 'deskilling' and after.

The panel welcomes contributions from a range of historical and geographical perspectives. Suggested topics include: the historical transition from artisan to author; Western and non- Western contracted labour; the displacement of skill in other fields of artistic production (e.g. architecture, dance and theatre); the role played by 'contractors' in preserving the authority of the artist; the accommodation of skill within Foucault's concept of the author; the role of gender within hierarchies of creative production.

If you would like to propose a paper, please email your proposals direct to the session convenor(s).

You need to provide a title and abstract (250 words maximum) for a 25-minute paper (unless otherwise specified), your name and institutional affiliation (if any).

Please make sure the title is concise and reflects the contents of the paper because the title is what appears online, in social media and in the printed programme.

You should receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your submission within two weeks.