2010 Call for Papers and Artwork

Call for Papers and Artwork

Third Annual Philosophy and the Arts Conference at Stony Brook Manhattan

March 26-27, 2010

Keynote Speaker – Dr. Simon Critchley

Chair of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research

The Masters program in Philosophy and the Arts at Stony Brook University in Manhattan studies the intersections of art and philosophy. In our efforts to further the dialogue between these complexly related fields, we offer this conference as an interdisciplinary event. We welcome participants working in a variety of disciplines and media to respond to this year’s topic:

“Collectively”

During a period marked by globalization, proliferating social networking sites and virtual forums, and a reissued political call for increased civic participation, investigating the nature of ‘the collective’ continues to be a vitally important project. The term ‘collective’ itself is heavily politicized, foregrounding the tension between the individual and the whole. While groups may capitalize upon collective force to secure political visibility and achieve goals, collectivization is often a vehicle of homogenization and silencing. Yet many collectives intentionally jeopardize individual visibility as a form of critique. Artists’ collectives like the Critical Art Ensemble and the Wooster Collective, and philosophical collaboratives such as Deleuze-Guattari, question the value of the singular and identifiable, as well as problematizing the market economy that sustains artistic and academic norms. In any case, the notion of the collective raises questions of authority and agency as they relate to knowledge, ownership, and intersubjectivity. What are the mechanisms through which collectives form, maintain their coherence, and engage with other entities? How do various types of collections—museum holdings, units of information, digital and material objects, or persons—relate to classificatory systems, globalized and virtual commerce, and rapidly evolving technologies?

As collectives arise and disperse, we often find ourselves with a dearth of criteria by which to judge their success and viability. This conference will investigate the forms, motivations, methods, justifications, and consequences of persons and things acting collectively. We encourage submissions from across the artistic and theoretical disciplines that approach these themes from practical and theoretical perspectives. Projects may be collaborative in nature, and may examine the collective as an entity or activity.

SUBMISSIONS:

We welcome the submission both of original academic papers and of artwork for exhibition or performance, relating to the above themes, from graduate students across disciplines. All submissions should be formatted for blind review, and suitable for a 20-minute presentation (approximately 3000 words or 8-11 pages). Please visit the Philosophy and the Arts Conference website at http://www.philosophyartconference.org for complete submission instructions, as well as information on past conferences and regular updates. All submissions must be received by January 13^th, 2010 in order to be considered by the conference review committee. Submitters will be notified of the committee’s decision regarding their work via email no later than February 4^th, 2010.

The conference will take place on Friday March 26^th and Saturday March 27th at Stony Brook Manhattan, 401 Park Ave. South. Feel free to contact the conference coordinator for help with additional questions at philosophyartconference@gmail.com.