Aisthesis and the Common: Reconfiguring the Public Sphere proposes an interdisciplinary investigation into contemporary art’s renewed engagement with the public sphere. Bringing together artists, designers, art historians, curators, philosophers and media studies scholars, the colloquium examines the place and role of aisthesis (αἴσθησις) — the faculty of perception by the senses and the intellect — in emerging models of the public sphere.
With the working hypothesis that art offers a unique realm for the configuration of public spheres today, the colloquium asks: How is the public sphere rethought aesthetically (in terms of forms, media, materialities and sensibilities) in contemporary art? And how does an artistic public sphere succeed in permeating a political public sphere?
Keynote speakers (via Skype): Jean-Luc Nancy ● Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
Rethinking the Common: Santiago Zabala ● Pierre Dardot
Sound Atmospheres: Frances Dyson ● Caleb Kelly
Sculpting the Common: Nadia Myre ● Romeo Gongora ● Marjetica Potrč
Sharing Space: Nermin Saybasili ● John Paul Ricco
Virtualized Spaces: Adriana de Souza e Silva ● Gerard Goggin
The Digital Common: Dominique Cardon ● Dietmar Offenhuber
Critical Cosmopolitanism: Nikos Papastergiadis ● Marsha Meskimmon
Registration, program, livestream: www.aisthesis.ca
Media@McGill is a hub of research, scholarship and public outreach on issues and controversies in media, technology and culture, whose activities are supported by the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation: www.media.mcgill.ca
Media@McGill Colloquium Partners: Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; McGill University – Dean of Arts Development Fund, Department of Art History and Communication Studies Speaker Series, Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC), Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF), Grierson Chair in Communication Studies, James McGill Chair in Contemporary Art History, James McGill Chair in Culture and Technology, Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy