Call for Papers: The Politics and Aesthetics of Error

Panel title: The Politics and Aesthetics of Error

Deadline for abstracts:  Monday 6th November 2017

When: 5th – 7th April 2018

Where: The Association of Art History 2018 Annual  Conference: Courtauld Institute of Art and Kings College, London

Responding to the election of George W. Bush, the ‘war on terror’ and subsequent domestic anti-terror legislation, art activists declared that we were living in a time of political, economic and environmental error. The Errorist International was established to embrace error and establish an ‘international network’ in its name. Conversely, the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA) waged a ‘war on error’, referring to G8 politicians as the ‘world’s most dangerous “errorists”’.

These interventions reflected a long-standing relationship between art and error. For example, psychoanalytic interpretations of the gaffe or the slip of the tongue provided the inspiration for Surrealist automatic writing and the production of ‘exquisite corpses’; or the field of ‘glitch aesthetics’, which explores artistic possibilities that arise from random computer or electronic malfunction.

Recent political developments in Britain and the USA invite accusations of a politics driven by error (‘misinformed’ voters, ‘post-truth’ politicians, ‘fake news’ agencies etc.). This session invites discussions on how error has, can or might be addressed aesthetically, philosophically and politically, in order to explore possible roles for aesthetics in interpreting political error, and the political ramifications of aesthetic error.

Papers might address the following themes:

1. Ruminations on the relationship between ‘error’ and ‘terror’.
2. How art can be of service to understanding political errors and imagining new political alternatives.
3. Psychoanalytic interpretations of visual gaffes in any form of visual culture from any period – but especially from recent politics.
4. Considerations of aesthetic errors as disruptions – wanderings off the ‘correct path’ and the political opportunities this enables.

To offer a paper, please email your proposals directly to Martin Lang at mlang@lincoln.ac.uk.

You need to provide a title and abstract (250 words maximum) for a 25-minute paper (unless otherwise specified), your name and institutional affiliation (if any). Please make sure the title is concise and reflects the contents of the paper because the title is what appears online, in social media and in the printed programme.

You should receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your submission within two weeks.

Full conference details and other abstracts can be viewed at: https://www.forarthistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CONF2018_CALL_FOR_PAPERS.pdf