Key Speakers
Conference Sessions
Intercultural Affectivity
Relationality in Aesthetics
Against Conviviality
Aesthetics and Interdisciplinarity
Intermedial Relations in Curatorial and Artistic Practice
Histories and Theories
Media and Process
Framework and Foci
A significant trend in contemporary thought holds that the links between things are more important than the meaning of an object in isolation. Michel Serres argues that we no longer need ontology but desmology (desmos = link).
Within contemporary art theory there has been a shift away from the study of meaning toward the study of process: in Deleuze’s words, art is defined not by what it means but by what it does. Nicolas Bourriaud has coined the term ‘relational art’, proposing that the art object is no longer materially or conceptually defined, but relationally. Artists, curators and theorists have long understood that context – both physical and cultural – is fundamental to the perception of art. International ‘biennale’ exhibitions that survey contemporary practice provide a structure in which the issues of relationality become unavoidable: how does an artwork change when it is transplanted to a new setting and viewed in a new cultural, social or political context; and how do we understand the relations between different works, juxtaposed in an exhibition? Postcolonialism and theories of globalisation have provided a framework for identifying new kinds of transcultural relationships in the arts - but what kind of aesthetics does this call for? In addition to Bourriaud’s ‘relational aesthetics’, theorists - as well as curators and artists - have advanced concepts such as ‘empathy’ as critical terms for understanding visual art dynamics.
Building on the previous AAANZ NSW Chapter conferences, this conference will focus on new understandings of the dynamics of art, and of the 'links between'. The conference sessions will highlight different concepts or tropes of relationality such as interculturalism, transnationalism/globalism and subjective relations such as 'empathy'.
Earlybird, student and one day registrations available. - REGISTER NOW ONLINE
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road
The Domain, Sydney NSW 2000
AUSTRALIA
Enquiries - telephone Art Gallery Society: 02 9225 1878 or Donna Brett: 02 9225 1615
Email Donna Brett: donnab@ag.nsw.gov.au
PARKING: Parking in the area is limited.
The nearest train stations are Martin Place and St James.
AAANZ Ethics and Aesthetics Conference 2003 > | 
