LJMU History of Art, Level 5 Symposium, at Haus, Liverpool - 23.01.13
As part of their course, level 5 students at Liverpool John Moores University have to produce a symposium. This year the students chose Longing... as their subject of focus.
I think the choice of venue was somewhat obscure (a freezing cold warehouse), but the students did well to make the audience comfortable, by decorating the space and providing refreshments.
Sam Ward’s talk on The Future of Art and it’s Longing to Remain Contemporary, was a highlight of the day. Sam’s presentation style was an engaging combination of dialogue and slides. She addressed the fact that contemporary art is not as shocking as it once was, as most things have already been done, explaining that even the self-proclaimed grandmother of Post-Modernism, Marina Abramovic, finds it necessary to re-enact her old innovative pieces of performance art, as there is simply so few available new ideas to employ. The background to Post-Modernism that Sam gave was clear and interesting.
Another captivating talk was that given by Rosa Foran-Parkinson, who asked To what extent has longing for equality been a catalyst for feminist activity in the work of artists from the 1970s onwards? She listed some starting facts about the subject, such as that in the past ten years Tate Liverpool (http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-liverpool) has displayed the work of 234 male artists in its exhibitions, but only 80 females. She then gave extensive coverage of how women have been depicted in art throughout history – usually as subordinate to men, and how it is only in the past century that people have started to protest this. No discussion of feminist art would be complete without a mention of the Guerrilla Girls (http://www.guerrillagirls.com/). This topic formed a suitable conclusion, answering Foran-Parkinson’s question; the longing for equality has been a catalyst for feminist activity to a very high extent since the 1970s.
Presentations were also given by Rowan Bell on The Importance of Longing in Art, Sophie Hill on 20th Century Subculture, Rebecca Smith on The Concept of Souvenirs, and Kyle Percy on The Longing for Artistic Recognition.
Liverpool John Moores University hosts several symposia each year. For more information visit the university website: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/.
I think the choice of venue was somewhat obscure (a freezing cold warehouse), but the students did well to make the audience comfortable, by decorating the space and providing refreshments.
Sam Ward’s talk on The Future of Art and it’s Longing to Remain Contemporary, was a highlight of the day. Sam’s presentation style was an engaging combination of dialogue and slides. She addressed the fact that contemporary art is not as shocking as it once was, as most things have already been done, explaining that even the self-proclaimed grandmother of Post-Modernism, Marina Abramovic, finds it necessary to re-enact her old innovative pieces of performance art, as there is simply so few available new ideas to employ. The background to Post-Modernism that Sam gave was clear and interesting.
Another captivating talk was that given by Rosa Foran-Parkinson, who asked To what extent has longing for equality been a catalyst for feminist activity in the work of artists from the 1970s onwards? She listed some starting facts about the subject, such as that in the past ten years Tate Liverpool (http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-liverpool) has displayed the work of 234 male artists in its exhibitions, but only 80 females. She then gave extensive coverage of how women have been depicted in art throughout history – usually as subordinate to men, and how it is only in the past century that people have started to protest this. No discussion of feminist art would be complete without a mention of the Guerrilla Girls (http://www.guerrillagirls.com/). This topic formed a suitable conclusion, answering Foran-Parkinson’s question; the longing for equality has been a catalyst for feminist activity to a very high extent since the 1970s.
Presentations were also given by Rowan Bell on The Importance of Longing in Art, Sophie Hill on 20th Century Subculture, Rebecca Smith on The Concept of Souvenirs, and Kyle Percy on The Longing for Artistic Recognition.
Liverpool John Moores University hosts several symposia each year. For more information visit the university website: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/.