CFP 03.09.2011

Parallax, issue: What Moves Us?

Eingabeschluss : 26.09.2011

Gavin Grindon, Kingston University

CALL FOR PAPERS: Parallax
What moves us? Affective micro-politics in art and activism

Over the past decade, creative modes of dissent have been increasingly
capturing the imagination of social movements, the academy and gallery
curators. From the inclusion of protest footage in international art
biennales, to a growing canon of cultural studies literature and an ever
proliferating toolbox of performative practices in radical (and not so
radical) left campaigns, the sexiness of creative politics seems
undeniable. And why not? As many of these campaigns attest, pleasurable,
fun, colourful and participatory politics can both spark public
enthusiasm and articulate a strong message of hope and resistance. While
much discussion has taken place around the general paradigm of creative
modes of dissent, there has been less exploration of the affective and
micropolitical aspects that underpin them and that are essential to
their communicative and connective operations.

This special issue intends to address this gap by going beyond
description to examine not just the forms and effects of such dissent,
but also how they work and why. At the same time it seeks to take into
account moments of conflict, tension and failure, moments when creative
dissent prompts more disjunction than commonality, resentment or
antagonism than interaction. Because practice is key to such forms of
dissent, this special issue differentiates itself from more conventional
analyses by focusing on the playing out of these moments and situations.
We propose that such modes, when so heavily based in a politics of
affect, can best be written about from perspectives informed primarily
by various types of participatory action and militant research. Our
contributors will explore the creative modes of dissent they themselves
work with, drawing on primary texts, interviews, participatory action
research and critical self-reflection to draw out the tensions and
possibilities produced in these practices which traverse the
institutional territories of art and politics. We will ask of all of
them the crucial questions ‘how does it feel?’ and how the affects of
these practices are tied to their effects.

We are seeking submissions of 5000 – 7000 words in length (including
footnotes). These can consist of conventional academic analysis and
enquiry, or may be more experimental in form.

Submissions can address issues such as:
. The organisation of creative dissent
. The tension between the momentary event and ongoing process
. How and why creative dissent communicates with people, or doesn’t
. The role of affect, performance and materiality in understanding
creative action
. Community building and subject-formation
. Overlaps and tensions between discourses of social movements, art and
the media which surround these practices
. The uses and tensions of institutionalisation
. The role of ‘creativity’ in activism
. Failure, success and the problem of measure
. The sustainability of creative action
. The politics and ethics of creative activism

Abstracts for papers are due by 26 Sept 2011.
Please email proposals to akanngieseryahoo.com and
gavingrindongmail.com

Quellennachweis:
CFP: Parallax, issue: What Moves Us?. In: ArtHist.net, 03.09.2011. Letzter Zugriff 29.03.2024. <https://arthist.net/archive/1757>.

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