Call for papers
Unruly Engagements: On the Social Turn in Contemporary Art and Design
Conference, Cleveland Institute of Art

What does it mean in contemporary art and design to be socially engaged? Are we talking about art that resists the conventional structures of the art world as a continuation of the critical interlocution of institutions; art that reimagines a new, unwieldy public sphere of social activism in the face of media spectacle and profit motives? Or can social practices in art reconcile aesthetic bearing and focus with external forces or agencies with regard for communities, perhaps affecting a timely catalyst for change? The recent spate of publications on what has been variously called community-based art, participatory art, collaborative art, relational art, social practice or socially engaged art, indicates that such questions have provoked a variety of studies that intellectually tackle the "social turn."

This conference proposes to examine various approaches to social practices in both art and design in an effort to understand the concepts, terms, and varieties of engagement of the past two decades or so. Among our primary objectives is to facilitate public discourse on the feasibility of interventionist projects in art and design in urban environments, with special attention to “rust-belt” cities like Cleveland.

We invite presentations of conventional and unorthodox forms from artists, designers, and scholars on the topic. Prospective participants may submit proposals for short papers or examine specific works or activities that address the questions as noted. Suggested related themes may include but are not limited to:
· Socially engaged art and the new public sphere
· Artists as activists: voices from the Great Lakes region
· Historical precedents and present strategies of social practice
· Urban design and design in the city as force for change
· Aesthetics, ethics and politics
· Student agency and society: 21st-century visions of the art school

Please submit PDF formatted abstracts of no more than 650 words, along with letter of interest and CV to:
Gary Sampson and José Carlos Teixeira. Email: unrulyengagementscia.edu

Deadline for proposals: June 23, 2014

For more information, visit http://www.cia.edu/academics/community-works/conference