AAU Conference on How to Do Things With Art

Description

This conference argues that we must account for the intensity of art, otherwise we can only explain part of our aesthetic experience. This argument is found in critics as diverse as Brian Massumi, Charles Altieri, and Sianne Ngai. Philosophers such as Alfred North Whitehead, Henri Bergson, and Steven Shaviro have argued that much of our perception is not cognitive but intuitive; we connect to the world through our senses. The conference is part of a larger debate on how to understand our sensory perception of art as part of a larger process. Where most aesthetic and cultural research has focused on matters of meaning, signification, and hermeneutics, this conference asks questions of aisthesis, sensation, and feeling. Not a matter of rejecting earlier findings as simply trying to explore the 'other side' of the experience of art. Cognition and feeling are not distinct but articulated together; their relation changes depending on the specific artwork. Similarly, our bodies are porous to the world around us. Through sensory perception the world reaches into our bodies, just as our bodies extend through the environment. By exploring the sensory experience of art, we can also understand the intersection of art, culture, and politics in new ways. Art becomes a doorway to new experiences, new sensations, and new modes of thought. This process-oriented approach clarifies the need for art and extends current approaches, revealing that thought, act, and creativity cannot be separated. This conference will be a new initiative in this field within the Nordic countries, and also the beginning of a new Nordic research network in the turn to affect. We invite papers on any of the following topics: - Affect and aesthetics - Aisthesis - Process-oriented approaches to art - Movement and/as art - Sensation Focus on any artistic practice from dance, literature, film, digital media, and more are welcomed.

Period	12 Nov 2015 → 13 Nov 2015
Event type	Conference
Location	Aalborg, DenmarkShow on map