Brian Dillon, The Sun Has Turned to Glass: Art and the Crystalline Imagination

Part of the series of talks on Art & Alchemy: Transformation & Contemporary Art A two day conference across Cambridge and Norwich exploring ideas of alchemy and transformation, and the role of crystals in contemporary artistic practice and theory from Graeco-Roman Egypt to Surrealism and contemporary art.

Paul Wood, Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia, The idea of ‘avant-garde’ in the early 20th century  Paul Wood introduces the development of the idea of an avant-garde. He will look at what it meant in the early twentieth century and also discuss some contemporary art historical views on the avant-garde. Further Reading Francis Picabia 1879-1953 (exhibition catalogue), National Galleries of Scotland/Galerie Neuendorf Frankfurt am Main, 1988 Francis Picabia (exhibition catalogue), Musee d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2002 George Baker, The Artwork Caught By The Tail, An October Book, MIT Press, Cambs. Mass., and London 2007