UAAC/AAUC Conference, Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta

Session
Askance Perspectives: Reassessing the Aberrant in Art and Architecture (1500-1900)

According to early-modern formulations, the aberrant was not a category defined by binaries of holistic normativity and its flawed, monstrous opposite. Rather, it alluded to a variety of phenomena, from the illusory displacements of celestial bodies to optical distortions and chromatic irregularities. In the eighteenth century, the ab- (away) errare (wander) connotations of the term were internalized to describe the sporadic meanderings of the rational mind into whimsy and caprice. This session seeks papers that explore early-modern conceptions of the aberrant as illustrated by unexpected anomalies or irregularities in media, techniques, and/or representational strategies. By recuperating aberration as a productive conceptual category, how can we redefine current understandings of art and architectural practice between 1500-1900? Topics to consider include: the extra-rational, optical illusions, accidents, oblique perspectives, shifts in scale or media, temporary/transient spaces, images of Saturnalia/The World Upside-Down, architectural fantasies, and chromatic distortion.

Please submit abstracts (150-word maximum) for 20-minute papers directly to the session chairs, along with a brief curriculum vitae that specifies your rank and institutional affiliation (if applicable).

http://www.uaac-aauc.com

Session Chair: Tara Bissett, University of Toronto, Email address: tara.bissettmail.utoronto.ca

Session Chair: Rose Logie, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Email address: rlogiesaic.edu