[rohrpost] Philosophy of Art Today, International Conference, Moscow, Nov. 27-29th

[Oliver Grau]

International Conference Philosophy of Art Today, Moscow, November
27-29th, 2014


Organized by the Polytechnic Museum and Art Foundation Moscow Biennale. 
Venue: State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.


What would a systematic philosophy of art look like today - in an epoch
of technological transformation and establishing close relationships of
artists and curators with the specific scientific fields of expertise?
Given the dispersion of the arts, the multiplicity of their practices
and technologies, and their shifting institutional and socio-historical
frameworks, is such a thing at all feasible? What is the interrelation
of the classical art history with the new media, technological and
scientific art? A philosophy that takes its point of departure in the
specificity of the arts, or even attempts to develop its concepts out of
the encounter with singular artworks, may risk losing sight of the
general issues of the contemporary world, which could be solved by
approaching philosophy of technology and science. On the other hand,
theories starting from concepts that seem to promise universality, such
as judgment, or the idea of a specificity of aesthetic experience, often
end up in general claims that have little connection to the arts and
artworks. If such a philosophy, which would bring together the universal
and the particular, were at all possible, from where would it draw its
tools and concepts? Consider the ontological status of art, technology
and science in general as poly-structural system? And how would it
locate itself in relation to our own historical moment, and to the
problem of the historicity of concepts, which seems to foreclose
definitions that are not themselves part of the historically changing
forms of art?


Speakers include: Oliver GRAU (Austria/Germany), Timothy DRUCKREY (US),
Nina MÖNTMANN (Germany), Erkki HUHTAMO (Finnland, US), Alexander
GARCIA-DUTTMANN (Germany), Matthew KENYON (US), Maria LIND (Sweden),
Olga KISSELEVA (Russia), Christopher FYNSK (US, UK), Sven-Olov
WALLENSTEIN (Sweden), Irina ARISTARKHOVA (Russia/US), Joseph BACKSTEIN
(Russia).

Detailed schedule and online registration: 
http://polymus.ru/en/museum/pros/calendar/filosofiya-iskusstva-segodnya/


Besides the daytime professional sessions, evening public lectures will
be hold within the conference "Philosophy of Art Today".


Participation in the conference is free. Pre-registration is required.


The conference is supported by the Embassy of France and the Embassy of
Finland in Russia.


Polytechnic Museum in Moscow is one of the oldest science museums in the
world and the biggest museum of science and technology in Russia. A
large-scale state-level innovative program of the Polytechnic Museum
modernization was started in 2010. In the framework of the project a
principally new museum and educational centre comprising the greatest
scientific, technical and societal achievements based on the advanced
museum technologies will be constructed by 2018. In 2014 Polytechnic
Museum launched of the Polytech.Science.Art program, dedicated to one of
the most significant phenomenon of contemporary culture -
interdisciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists and
technology specialists. The program started with a series of workshops
and lectures of international and Russian experts, and will be developed
in the following years through exhibitions, artist-in-residency program,
conferences and special projects. It is curated by Natalia Fuchs
(MediaArtHistories, Donau Universität/Cultural Management, University of
Manchester), she is also in charge of interdisciplinary projects of the
Polytechnic Museum.


Moscow Biennale is one of the most representative events in the sphere
of contemporary art and culture in Eastern Europe. The last edition of
Moscow Biennale curated by Catherine de Zegher took place on September
20 – October 20, 2013. In previous years Moscow Biennale was curated by
Nicolas Bourriaud, Rosa Martinez,  Iara Boubnova, Daniel Birnbaum, Hans
at offering not only an important visual experience but also a space for
discussions and theoretical research. Therefore talks, conferences and
symposiums are an integral part of its program. Among the speakers of
this philosophical conference in previous years were such distinguished
scholars as Giorgio Agamben, Jacques Rancière, Saskia Sassen, Christoph
Menke and many others.


More information:


Natalia Fuchs / Наталья Фукс
Interdisciplinary Projects Curator
Polytech.Science.Art: Наука.Искусство.Технологии 
Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia
Cell: +79104320152
Email: nfuchs at artypical.com
http://www.polymus.ru; http://artypical.com
http://www.facebook.com/polytechscienceart