\"Public Disorder: Post-World War II European Art and Its Publics\"
Session at \"Intersections,\" The 35th Annual Association of Art HIstorians
Meeting
2-4 April 2009, Manchester, UK

Noit Banai
Noit.BanaiTufts.Edu
Department of Visual and Critical Studies, Tufts University/School of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Bosto

Hannah Feldman
H-feldmannorthwestern.edu
Department of Art History, Northwestern University

Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words to the above email
addresses by 10 November 2008.

Following the end of WWII, artists across Europe, both east and west, sought
to re-imagine the identity of the public. The internationalist utopia of the
historical avant-garde had not come to pass, the populism of the national
socialist model had been discredited by Fascism and Nazism, and it was yet
unclear what shape the burgeoning commercial public would take in either
soviet block or western nations.

This panel seeks to foster a multidisciplinary conversation on the problem of
the post-WWII \'public disorder.\' This necessitates crossing disciplinary
boundaries in order to 1) assess the relevance of current theories of the
public and counter-public spheres in relation to the art production of this
period; 2) develop new models of mediation to elucidate the relationship
between artistic practice and the socio-political sphere and to elaborate on
the models of publicity that emerged within the specific conditions of
individual countries; 3) identify intersections between post-WWII paradigms
of the public and their contemporary reception and critique. It might also
entail considerations of art works that deliberately disdain public
aspirations to explore the realm of privacy as a potential locus of political
engagement.

For example, what practices and sites did artists employ to engender a new,
often multiple, public body? How did this endeavour intersect with specific
historical events - i.e., the various wars of independence, establishment of
the European Community, construction of the Berlin Wall, events of 1968? We
seek papers that engage with specific case studies, employ new theoretical
approaches, and develop original methodological models.