News tagged:

North America

  • CFP: esse magazine issue: Geopolitics

    Deadline: Sep 1, 2015

    esse magazine: Geopolitics

    In this issue, esse wishes to explore how complex natural and political phenomena that contribute to redefining traditional geographic borders affect the visual arts. Responsible for the dynamic analysis of the interactions between geography and state policy, geopolitical science provides a broad perspective on cross-disciplinary phenomena linked with relationships of power and domination, and allows us to observe the opposing forces that are transforming the current global landscape: the globalisation of trade, climate change, mining and mineral processing, population migration, the increasing speed of communications and transport, aerial surveillance, reinforcement of borders, and cultural and language diversity are all matters of serious concern for today’s artists. For example, the recent land claims in the Arctic between neighbouring countries, including Canada and Russia, or the proliferation of natural disasters in recent years testify to the dramatic impact of climate change on reshaping the world map. It is therefore timely to ask: How are these new cartographies conceptualized, realized and represented today? More specifically, where do contemporary art and visual culture stand vis-à-vis this representation?

    Other interrelated areas of research emerging from this complex issue range from the construction of identity, collective cultural memory, to strategic military positioning, and the relationships between the “centre” and “margins” of inhabitable areas. Considering that geopolitics questions the influence of geographical realities (topography, climate) on social organizations and political choices, what are the repercussions on art and culture in particular? Conversely, does art have influence on the geopolitical context, and if so, to what effect? Does increased global mobility affect artistic practices and their transmission? What are some examples of meeting and sharing in which open borders and exchange generate new knowledge?

    Diverse as they are, geopolitical reflections in the field of art can extend to artworks and their modes of production, dissemination and reception. What stance are artists taking in face of the globalized standardization of production? Is art critical of global homogenization? Does it embrace a culture of diversity? How does art contribute to the geopolitical context? How does it transgress, transform, and reconfigure geographic, ideological, and aesthetic boundaries?

    esse is interested in texts that examine how these geopolitical concerns are addressed in art and theoretical art discourse.

    Send your text (1,000 - 2,000 words, footnotes included) in US letter format (doc, docx, or rtf) to redaction@esse.ca before September 1, 2015. Please include a short biography (50-80 words), an abstract of the text (100 words), as well as postal and e-mail addresses. We also welcome submissions (reviews, essays, analyses of contemporary art issues) not related to a particular theme (annual deadlines: September 1, January 10, and April 1).

    Comprehensive editorial policy can be consulted online at http://esse.ca/en/callforpapers

    All texts are submitted to the editorial committee, which reserves the right to accept or refuse a submission. The selection criteria are based on the quality of analysis and writing, the pertinence of the text to the edition (theme) in question, and the relevance of the corpus of artworks and artists analyzed. A text may be rejected due to the large number of submissions for a given edition. The selection process may take up to six weeks. The editorial committee’s decision is final.

    The author agrees to submit an original and previously unpublished text. Unless agreed otherwise, the editorial committee does not accept texts that represent a potential conflict of interest between the writer and the content of the article (for example, texts by artists on their own practice, by curators of exhibitions or events, or by gallerists representing a particular artist).

  • Visual Conversations with France (Midwest Art History Society, St. Louis, April 3-5, 2014)

    Call For Papers: Session at the Midwest Art History Society Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO
    April 3 - 5, 2014

    Deadline: Dec 16, 2013

    International Currents and Global Impressionism: Visual Conversations with France

    http://www.mahsonline.org/callforpapers_2014.asp

  • Art's Productive Economies (Toronto, 20 Mar 14)

    Call For Papers: 2014 Wollesen Memorial Graduate Symposium,
    A one-day graduate symposium hosted by the Graduate Union of Students of Art
    University of Toronto, March 20, 2014

    Deadline: Jan 1, 2014

    Art Work: Art’s Productive Economies