Disruptions: the political in art now

About

• Symposium: Disruptions: the political in art now

Recorded October 24–25, 2008

Bringing together influential theorists, artists, curators, and educators, this symposium explores the intersections of politics and art in the first decade of the 21st century.

• Open Remarks, Doug Ashford Opening Lecture

Opening Remarks: Elizabeth Smith, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Programs at the MCA, and curator of Jenny Holzer: PROTECT PROTECT. Opening Lecture: Doug Ashford, After 1988: A reflection on the nature of critical practices since Group Material's Democracy project

• Interlude: Gregg Bordowitz, Belief and Volition.

On the conflicting impulses and philosophical contradictions that inform Bordowitz’s work and the role of belief regarding volition-the faculty of power to exert one’s will.

• Panel: Absurdities and Public Interventions

Panelists: Mark Tribe, Carolina Caycedo, Brian Holmes, Salem Collo-Julin.On art and activism, expression and dissent, responsibility, and relations between protest, public space and the public sphere.

• Panel: Everywhere and Nowhere

Panelists: Trevor Paglen, Simon Leung, Robert Pruitt, Eda Cufer. On the politics of locating, understanding, and contextualizing politically invested art, and the tactics artists are employing to activate and reveal new political landscapes.