Clark Symposium: Ahistoric Occasion: The Uses of History in Contemporary Art

February 23, 2007 - February 24, 2007

This two-day symposium, convened by the Clark's Research and Academic
Program in association with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
(MASS MoCA), is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Ahistoric
Occasion: Artists Making History, on view at MASS MoCA from May 27, 2006,
through April 22, 2007. The symposium will bring together scholars and
exhibiting artists to discuss the role of history in contemporary art
practice, examining the significance of representation in historical and
cultural memory.

The role of history has increasingly become a source of heightened public
interest and debate. This might best be exemplified by the rise in
historical reenactments, ranging from the Battle of Lexington to World War
II, which have become a popular form of public ritual. Visual artists have
increasingly performed their own reenactments, re-staging a 1984 miner's
strike in Northern England, for example, or a 1968 political performance in
West Berlin. In considering historical reenactment and its emergence in
contemporary art, this symposium will focus on the uses of history within a
larger social, political, and cultural context.

Participants will discuss the visual techniques that illuminate repressed,
obscured, and dismissed moments in the timelines of global history. How does
a society remember? What is worth remembering? And, ultimately, what are the
functions of history? All of these questions will be explored in an extended
analysis of key exhibited works from Ahistoric Occasion.

Speakers include Martin Jay, Carrie Lambert-Beatty, Steven Nelson, and the
artists Jeremy Deller, Greta Pratt and Paul Chan

Program

Friday, February 23
at Mass MoCA

6:00 pm
Welcome and introductions
Nato Thompson
Curator, Ahistoric Occasion: Artists Making History, MASS MoCA

6:15 - 7:00 pm
Tour of exhibition
Nato Thompson

7:15 - 8:30 pm
Keynote lecture
Martin Jay
Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor and Chair of the History Department,
University of California, Berkeley
Aesthetic Experience and Historical Experience in a Twenty-First Century
Constellation

The lecture will be followed by a question and answer period.

Saturday, February 24
at the Clark

8:30 am
Symposium registration

9:15 am
Conference introductions
Michael Ann Holly
Director, Research and Academic Program, Sterling and Francine Clark Art
Institute
Nato Thompson
Curator, MASS MoCA

9:30 - 11:30 am
Panel discussion (Session 1)
The Uses of History: Exploring the Role of History at the Beginning of the
Twenty-First Century
Moderator: James Meyer
Winship Distinguished Associate Professor of Art History, Emory University;
Contributing Editor of Artforum

Steven Nelson (Assistant Professor of African and African American art
history, UCLA) and Daniel Rosenberg (Assistant Professor of History in the
Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon and catalogue
essayist for Ahistoric Occasion) in conversation with exhibiting artists
Paul Chan and Greta Pratt.

11:30 am
Open discussion

12:30 - 2:00 pm
Lunch

2:00 - 4:00 pm
Panel discussion (Session 2)
Exploring the Rise of Reenactment as a Form of Public Memory
Moderator: Nato Thompson
Curator, MASS MoCA

Carrie Lambert-Beatty (Assistant Professor of Visual and Environmental
Studies and of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University) in
discussion with exhibiting artists Jeremy Deller and Allison Smith.

4:00 pm
Open discussion and conclusions

5:00 pm
Closing reception

Tickets are USD 25 (USD 15 for students and members. Free for Williams
students and faculty.) To register, please complete and return the
registration form via mail or fax.

program on the Clark Website at
http://www.clarkart.edu/make_a_visit/event_detail.cfm?ID=8492&nav=3