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

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

Ian Christie, 'The marvellous is popular!' Dalí in the context of Hollywood surrealism  Surrealism started as a revolt against the idea of elite avant-gardism, and even if it eventually became a new avant-garde, its adherents maintained an enthusiasm for popular culture, including mainstream and genre cinema, becoming arbiters in this field. This presentation examines two strands in Hollywood cinema to which Dalí, like other Surrealists, was drawn – the carnivalesque and the erotic-romantic – and will also consider the Freudian morality drama, to which he eventually contributed. Further Reading

Carey Young, Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia, Imagination Engineering  Using a variety of media including video, performance and photography, artist Carey Young uses found tools, language and training processes from the worlds of the multinational corporation and global law firm and diverts them into an artistic context from which she explores ideas of autonomy, duration, intimacy and dissent.

Jason Gaiger, Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia, Incidental and Integral Beauty: Duchamp, Danto and the Intractable Avant-Garde  It is widely accepted that the radical avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century abjured beauty, thereby effecting a decisive break with the art of the past. Duchamp is accorded a leading role in this process insofar as he rejected the satisfactions of ‘retinal pleasure’ in favour of an art of ideas.

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