Artists, regardless of their cultural and geographic positioning, have faced choices and material limits, beyond simple lack of access to materials, patrons, academic training, exhibition spaces, etc. We are interested in considering the politics and possibilities within artistic media, techniques, and practices. How did artists navigate these choices and what are the visual and material ramifications? Can materials have politics? Is there a materiality of settler colonialism? Is there a materiality of resistance to settler colonialism?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, such questions might be answered through close looking at an extant object in a museum or archival collection. Two years later, access to institutions and the objects they currently steward remains highly limited, and those interested in materiality must use notes from prior visits or rely on high-quality photographic reproductions from the institution. This both opens and closes doors; the type of close looking a high-quality photographic reproduction fosters is different from close looking at an object. One can be both closer to the object but also farther away. One sees new details but also loses sight of scale and dimensionality.

Graduate students and recent graduates are invited to submit proposals for 5 to 7 minute digital close-looking presentations on an art object of their choice. There will be time afterward for questions and discussion in a group workshop format. There may be more questions than answers! The workshop, hosted by the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University, will occur virtually via Zoom on the 24th March, from noon to 1.20 p.m. EDST. We particularly encourage submissions for media beyond traditional oil painting or sculpture.

Timeline:
To apply, please send a brief abstract (no more than 250 words) and a C.V. to Joseph Litts (jlittsprinceton.edu) by the 15th February.
Applicants will be notified by the 20th February.
Workshop to occur via Zoom on the 24th March, noon to 1.20 p.m. EDST.
Please direct all questions to Joseph Litts, jlittsprinceton.edu