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

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

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

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

Lara Perry, The substance of the subject: representing identity in contemporary portraiture  Many of the starkest examples of 'performed' gender in contemporary art have been delivered through the genre of portraiture: the works of Cindy Sherman and Yasumasa Morimura can certainly be understood to work in this context.

Gilda Williams, Factory Girls and Superstars: Warhol's Women in the 1960s  Gilda Williams discusses the construction of women's identity in Warhol's Factory, which, despite being often described as a 'boy's club’, counted numerous fascinating, often beautiful women among its regulars, including Jane Holzer, Edie Sedgwick, Brigid Berlin, Ultra Violet, Dorothy Dean, Mary Woronov, Viva and innumerable others.

Gill Perry, Gender, Performance and Play: An Introduction  Professor Gill Perry reviews some of the issues for the day, exploring the relationship between gender, performativity and play. This programme maps out the wide range of practices and theories associated with the labels 'performance', 'performance art' and 'performativity', providing a toolkit with which to explore some of the practices involved.

Marko Daniel, Introduction  This study day explores the various ways in which performance has been used in recent art, focusing on a range of media including photography, performance, installation, video art and painting.

Matthew Gale, Ian Christie, Gill Perry and Dawn Ades, Discussion 2  A video recording a discussion from the Tate Modern Surrealism and Film Study Day conference

Discussion 1 A video recording of a discussion from the Tate Modern Surrealism and Film Study Day