Symposium Feedforward. The Angel of History
Cleaning up after the 20th century. What is progress now?
Feedforward. The Angel of History addresses the current moment in history where the wreckage of political conflict and economic inequality is piling up, while globalized forces– largely enabled by the “progress” of digital information technologies — inexorably feed us forward.
The exhibition title references Paul Klee’s painting Angelus Novus, which Walter Benjamin famously interpreted as an “angel of history” transfixed by the wreckage of the past that is piling up in front of him while being propelled backwards into the uncertain future by a storm from paradise (progress).
The Symposium brings together theorists and artists, who will explore via panel discussions the five primary themes presented in the exhibition: the “wreckage” of the 20th century created by wars and conflict; the countermeasures of surveillance and repression that the state as well as global capital set up in an to attempt to maintain control; the aesthetics and symbolic language of the media of our times; the forces of economic globalization such as outsourcing and migration; and the possibilities of reconstruction and agency.
Programme
Friday October 23rd
10:30 – 12:00 The Angel of History: Art and the Language of Media
Moderated by Christiane Paul, Steve Dietz, Exhibition Curators Speakers: Margot Lovejoy (Artist), Tamiko Thiel (Artist), Chris Baker (Artist) Coffee break
12:30 – 14:00 Art = Kapital | Art and Global Economics
Moderated by José Carlos Mariategui (Teórico de Nuevos Medios) Speakers: Stephanie Rothenberg (Artist), Angus Cameron (Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Leicester), Tiziana Terranova (Associate Professor in the Sociology of Communications, Università degli Studi di Napoli ´L´Orientale)
Lunch break
15:30 – 17:00 Art and Conflict: Representing the Wreckage Moderated by Christiane Paul, Steve Dietz, Exhibition Curators Speakers: Piotr Szyhalski (Artist), Naeem Mohaiemen (Artist), Barbara Fluxá (Artist), Esther Leslie (Professor of Political Aesthetics, University of London)
17:30 – 18:45 Countermeasures: Surveillance / Sousveillance and Simulations of History
Moderated by Christiane Paul, Steve Dietz, Exhibition curators Speakers: Hasan Elahi (Artist), Konrad Becker (Artist), Marco Peljhan (Artist), Nonny de la Pena (Artist), Peggy Weil (Artist), Christian Huebler- Knowbotic Research (Artist), Tom Levin
Saturday October 24th
10:30 – 12:00 What Now? Art, Cultural Production Moderated by Jaron Madirolas , Clara Piazuelo (YProductions) Speakers: Tere Badía (Investigadora y Organizer on Culture), Emmanuel Rodríguez(Investigador y Cofundador de la Universidad Nómada), Graham Harwood (Artist) Descanso Coffee break
12:30 – 14:00 What now? Art, Activism, and the Possibilities of Democracy
Moderated by Eric Kluitenberg (Independent Writer, Theorist and Organizer on Culture, Media and Technology) Speakers: Daniel G. Andujar (Artist), Fernando García Dory (Artist), Carlos Motta (Artist), Ali Momeni (Artist)
Lunchbreak
15:30 – 17:00 Moderated roundtable with select participants across panels
Registration
Registration:Fee: 20€. 10€ for students.For registration please contact simposio@laboralcentrodearte.org or call +34 985 185 577
Deadline: 19th October 2009
LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial offers five grants to attend the symposium, all interested should address a motivation letter and CV by Friday 2ndOctober to simposio@laboralcentrodearte.org The students of Innovation in Digital Art and Culture, course organized by LABoral in collaboration with Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and Universidad de Oviedo (UNIOVI) might attend the symposium free of charge, obtaining 1 elective credit.
