Art Image Politics Conference

http://www.hansardgallery.org.uk/education/conferences.html

This exciting conference features guest papers from postgraduates as
well as early career researchers and artists. There are a number of
free student bursary places for those who wish to attend. The full
ticket price is £10.00, which includes refreshments, buffet lunch and a
free copy of the David Cotterrell: Monsters of the Id exhibition
catalogue.

Registration is now at the John Hansard Gallery from 9.30-10.00am.

Speakers:
Roger Kneebone Professor of Surgical Education at Imperial College
London Gunther Kress Professor of Semiotics and Education at the
Institute of Education, University of London

David Cotterrel Artist, Monsters of the Id

Michaela Crimmin Course Tutor, Art in the Public Domain, Curating
Contemporary Art Programme, Royal College of Art
Carina Brand Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation,
University of Wolverhampton

Mafala Dâmaso Department of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of
London

Ian Kirkpatrick Southampton-based artist and researcher

Neja Tomšič Researcher / curator at MoTA – Museum of Transitory Art,
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Georgina Williams Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton

Panellists:
Matthew Cornford Artist, Cornford & Cross

Hydar Dewachi Photographer, artist and engineer

Ian Gwilt Professor of Design and Visual Communication, Sheffield
Hallam University

Michaela Crimmin
Helen Sloan (Chair) Director, SCAN

Context and Content
Nation States, world power, economic models, the role of the citizen
have all been in a state of change and flux over the last ten years.
Historically art has been a good reflection of change and in some cases
has led the way in reworking policy.

There is a resurgence of art work around new political agendas that
either reflects directly current world themes or employs predominant
new technologies or other materials and concepts inventively to make
more subtle comment. While, since its inception, the photographic image
has been questioned for its ‘truth’, it is now accepted that images are
routinely manipulated and mediated in order to convey a message or
context.

This one day symposium will address the ways that artists in 21st
Century are using new technologies, reflecting new political agendas,
and are constructing imagery or concepts to represent the current world
situation. Papers will explore issues surrounding the following themes:

Image Manipulation and Politics – How much has the ubiquity of image
manipulation changed views on current affairs and their authenticity?
How have artists responded to this?

Hacking, art and the political agenda – Artists have in the post WWII
decades manipulated software and hardware to convey ideas and concepts.
How are they responding now? How are they dealing with the
standardisation of proprietary software and hardware? Is the current
trend in content and platform separation appropriate for artists?

New display technologies, art and politics – After decades of working
within the constraints of the screen or photographic image, artists are
beginning to look at new forms of display. How have artists used new
display devices as a conceptual tool? Which artists alongside David
Cotterrell are using new displays to convey meaning?

New Politics and Artist Responses – Artists are beginning to emerge
that embody strong political ideas in their work. How are they
responding across a range of media? How is this different from previous
work that has a strong political agenda?

Convened by John Hansard Gallery with SCAN (digital and
interdisciplinary arts agency) as part of the extended programme for
the exhibition David Cotterrell: Monsters of the Id
http://www.hansardgallery.org.uk/exhibition/future.html
(11 Feb – 31 March, 2012)