Working in Public: Art, Practice and Policy Seminar Programme

Organized by: On The Edge Research, Gray's School of Art, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
With support from Scottish Arts Council and for Seminar 3 at UHI, Inverness, Scotland

www.workinginpublicseminars.org  

This seminar programme aims to develop a new level of thinking in relation to the aesthetics and ethics of art practices that work within the social and cultural spheres of public life. The seminar programme is developed with Suzanne Lacy, an internationally renowned artist in the field of social art practice. Suzanne is currently Visiting Professor at Gray’s School of Art her receiving is funded by the Henry Moore Foundation and the Robert Gordon University. She is analysing her Oakland projects, Suzanne worked with predominantly African American youth in Oakland California for ten years. The intention of this programme is to raise key issues and challenges in this field of practice and offer critical insight into Suzanne's decision making processes.

The seminar consists of three themes; 1) Aesthetics and ethics of working in public, 2) Representation and power, and 3) Quality and imperfection. We aim to run the 2007 programme as a pilot for longer term development of research, critical thinking and learning in the visual arts as they relate to the public sphere.

Seminar 3: Quality and Imperfection in partnership with UHI, Inverness
Date: 19 and 20 June, 2007
Location: UHI Executive Office, Ness Walk, Inverness, IV3 5SQ
Tel: HI~Arts 01463 717 091

Keynote Speakers:
Suzanne Lacy, artist and primary contributor to the programme
Simon Sheikh, art critic, curator and editor of OE critical readers series
Commentators: Robert Livingston, director of HI~Arts
Grant Kester, associate professor of art history at the University of San Diego, California


Tuesday, 19 June, 2007
18:00 – 18:30 Refreshment
18:30 - 20:30 Evening Lecture
Guest Speaker: Simon Sheikh

Wednesday, 20 June, 2007
09:30 – 10:00 Coffee
10:00 - 12:00 Morning Seminar + Critical Questions
Speakers: Suzanne Lacy and Simon Sheikh

1:00 - 3:30 Afternoon Studio Seminar (Open for the core participants only)

Booking is essential for this FREE event.
If you have already reserved a place, please confirm your attendance.
Space is limited and there is already a waiting list.

E-mail to: r.goto-collins@rgu.ac.uk  
Subject heading: Working in Public: Seminar 3

Further Information

Working in Public: Art, Practice and Policy
The programme consists of three seminars + one public event. Each seminar occurs over 1.5 days

1. Evening Lecture: Simon Sheikh as a guest speaker will focus on changing the notion of public sphere. This will be followed by question and answer session.
2. Morning a seminar: Suzanne Lacy will present aspects of the Oakland projects. She and Simon will develop a dialogue exploring particular issues of quality of perfection. This will be followed by a question and answer session.

Seminar 3: Quality and Imperfection
We are all part of the world and ‘imperfection’ is inextricably bound to the aesthetic character of the work of art in the public sphere. What does this mean in a history of ideas that have variously sought the ‘divine’, the ‘utopian’ and the ‘dystopian’? Furthermore what is the relationship between conviviality, conflict and struggle in public life?


Simon Sheikh is an art critic, curator and editor of OE critical readers series, published by b_books Berlin. He is assistant professor of Art Theory and coordinator of the Critical Studies Programme at Malmö Art Academy, Sweden. He is guest curator at NIFCA, Helsinki, Finland. Recent publications include An Introduction to the Socialization of Capital (and How It Fails Us) in Capital (it fails us now) critical readers in visual culture. Berlin: b_books 2006. For further papers see http://eipcp.net/bio/sheikh/


Final event:
A Public Dissemination Event (Sept 2007)
The core group presentation and exhibition with the support of seminar presenters


Organizations:
Project management group:
Public Art Resource + Research, Scotland: Amanda Catto, Head of Visual Arts, Scottish Arts Council with Dr. Fiona Dean fugitivespaces
On the Edge, Gray’s School of Art: Dr. Anne Douglas, Suzanne Lacy, Reiko Goto and a steering/advisory group.
The project is supported by the Scottish Arts Council.