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Event date
Saturday, June 25, 2005 - 12:00

Kathy Battista, Women Artists, Pain and Self-Portraiture  Kathy Battista explores how women artists have used pain (both physical and emotional) as a medium. She considers three historical moments: Frida Kahlo’s works from the 1940s including Without Hope, 1945, Tree of Hope, Keep Firm, 1946, and The Broken Column, 1944; feminist artists Hannah Wilke and Jo Spence’s work from the late 1980s and early 1990s including Intra Venus (Wilke) 1993 and Narratives of Dis-ease (Spence) 1989; and Tracey Emin’s work from the late 1990s.

Event date
Saturday, June 25, 2005 - 12:00

Gill Perry, Introduction to the Themes of the Day  Germaine Greer has described Kahlo as 'the first ever true performance artist'. Gill Perry considers this claim in relation to recent debates about the meanings of performance art, and in comparison with the activities of a later generation of women artists, including the work of Carolee Schneemann, Ana Mendieta and Hannah Wilke from the 1960s and 70s.

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Sophie Howarth, Ian White and Claire Bishop, Discussion 2  The speakers consider how changing Utopian ideologies have motivated artists, architects, designers and filmmakers in Europe and America over the last hundred years. The topics covered include the pioneering first wave of abstract art in the early twentieth century, visions of Utopia in avant-garde film, and post-modern explorations of the concept of Utopia by contemporary artists

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Claire Bishop, Cinema, Utopias and Microtopias  Claire's talk addresses the idea of Utopia as it has been played out in contemporary art since the 1990s, focusing in particular on the notion of the work of art as a 'microtopia'. She makes reference to two contemporary artists: Rirkrit Tiravanija and Thomas Hirschhorn. Further Reading Relational Aesthetics, Nicolas Bourriaud, Paris: Presses du Réel, 1998. Thomas Hirschhorn, Carlos Basualdo, Alison Gingeras et al, London: Phaidon, 2004. Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics, Claire Bishop, October no.110, 2004.

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Ian White, Cinema, Cinema, Utopia  Ian's talk considers representations of Utopia in classic and experimental cinema asking how these reflect not only the general idea and operating principles of an avant-garde but also how they mimic the way in which the cinema auditorium itself functions. Further Reading Close Up 1927-1933, ed. James Donald, Anne Friedberg, Laura Marcus (Cassell, London 1998) The Great Art of Light and Shadow; Archaeology of the cinema, Laurent Mannoni (University of Exeter Press, Exeter, 2000) A History of Experimental Film and Video, A.L. Rees (British Film Institute, London 1999)

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Sophie Howarth, Introduction 2  This study day explores Utopian beliefs in the power of culture to transform both the individual and society at large.

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Tim Benton, Sophie Howarth, Paul Wood, Gill Perry and Achim Borchardt-Hume, Discussion 1  This study day explores Utopian beliefs in the power of culture to transform both the individual and society at large

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Achim Borchardt-Hume, Albers and Moholy-Nagy  Achim's talk explores Josef Albers and László Moholy-Nagy's shared belief in art being not just an aesthetic but an ethical experience. Both detested romantic notions of art as self-expression and instead were concerned with the contribution art and artists could make to the positive development of modern society. Imbued with democratic aspirations, they challenged traditional notions of art as the preserve of a bourgeois elite, and sought a unity of art and life. Further Reading Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World, ed. Achim Borchardt-Hume, Tate 2005

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Tim Benton, Le Corbusier  There is a preconception, backed by a growing literature, that Modernist architects had trouble meeting the psychological and physical need for comfort and enclosure of ordinary people. Architects tend to perceive architectural value in visual terms whereas, for most people, the other senses are more important in producing a sense of well-being. Furthermore, Modernism imposed an attitude to the use of 'modern' materials which gave Modernist houses the appearance of being 'unnatural' and abstract.

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Paul Wood, On Dreams and Plans  Paul's talk is an introduction to the notion of 'Utopia' and its meaning in 19th century socialism, with reference to how it played in the early 20th century avant-garde. He contrasts idealism and materialism in the avant-garde, with a focus on debates in Russia after the revolution of 1917. Further ReadingThe Challenge of the Avant-Garde, edited by Paul Wood, Yale U.P. 1999 Art of the Avant-Gardes, edited by Steve Edwards and Paul Wood, Yale U.P. 2004 Imagine No Possessions, Christina Kaier, MIT Press 2005 The Artist as Producer, Maria Gough, Univ of California Press 2005

Event date
Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 13:00

Sophie Howarth, Introduction  This study day explores Utopian beliefs in the power of culture to transform both the individual and society at large.

Event date
Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 12:00

Steve Edwards, Nigel Warburton, Marko Daniel, Kathe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo and Frances Morris, Plenary Discussion  At this study day leading curators and art historians discuss the relationship between exhibitions, museum collections and art history

Event date
Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 12:00

Kathe Kollwitz and Frida Kahlo, The Guerrilla Girls  We're feminist masked avengers in the tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Wonder Woman and Batman. How do we expose sexism, racism and corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture? With facts, humour and outrageous visuals. Our work has been passed around the world by our tireless supporters. We've appeared at over 90 universities and museums in recent years, as well as in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bitch, Mother Jones and Artforum; on NPR, the BBC and CBC; and in many art and feminist texts.

Event date
Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 12:00

Marko Daniel and Frances Morris, Tate Modern - A Case Study  This paper reviews the controversial opening display of the permanent collection at Tate Modern which embraced a thematic, as opposed to chronological structure, as well as the principle of rotating displays. It discusses the recent rehang of the collection which departs from the opening display in significant ways while it also continues to address the same challenges and builds on and develops a number of its principles.

Event date
Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 12:00

Nigel Warburton, Juxtapositions  Art galleries select and display material objects, typically unique works, in specific locations. Viewers experience these, consciously absorbing curators' interpretations from descriptions and captions, often forearmed with preconceptions about what they are seeing. Particular juxtapositions affect the viewer in a range of ways many of them semi- or pre-conscious. Philosopher Nigel Warburton considers some of the issues raised by juxtaposition using examples from the recent Tate Modern re-hang.

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