A symposium at the Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of
Brighton 14-15th January 2005

The relationship between sculpture and design is relatively unexplored but
a potentially rich field for interdisciplinary attention. The notion that
an appreciation of formal values in sculpture would lead to an equivalent
ability to recognise well-designed goods of manufacture has its roots in
the 19th century. This view was taken forward in subsequent decades by
pioneering educational programmes, by cultural commentators and by critics
positing a direct relationship between modern sculpture and mass-produced
items of everyday use. Making for the market - whether it comprises buyers
of art objects or consumer goods - artists and industrial designers have
shared education, materials, skills and processes. While artists have
explored the sculptural resonances of industrial and three-dimensional
design, so designers have appropriated the forms, language and discourse
of sculpture. Into the 21st century, sculptural values have continued to
shift and sculpture has colonised domestic space, the workplace and the
social environment; industrial design and functional objects now occupy
the gallery. From the earliest ready-mades to multiples, the mass-produced
has found itself re-located, re-displayed and re-interpreted.

This symposium seeks to explore the relationship between sculpture and
design and sculptors and designers. It will consider aspects of education,
authorship, making and manufacture, display, consumption and critical
reception.

The organisers, Catherine Moriarty (University of Brighton) and Gillian
Whiteley (Loughborough University School of Art and Design), invite
proposals for papers which address these themes. Abstracts, no longer than
400 words, should be sent electronically to g.whiteleylboro.ac.uk or
c.moriartybrighton.ac.uk by 1 September 2004.

Supported by the University of Brighton and Loughborough University School
of Art and Design.