Symposium Thought Things

The philosopher Hannah Arendt called works of art thought things; a term that captures the particular interaction between making and thinking, that art works need to come into being. In the wake of the material turn, the traditional opposition between making and thinking as belonging to the likewise opposed realms of practice and theory, has been called into question again by influential thinkers such as Tim Ingold. As part of the ensuing paradigm-shift, ethnographic approaches, practice-led research and artistic research are thriving, promising a closer interaction with thought things. Yet, there is still little agreement on how exactly these forms of research are to be carried out, what the results can or should look like, or how they can best be communicated. Formats of output, for instance, have changed little, as the division between written texts on the one hand and material art objects on the other remains rather stable. Unclear is also how such research impacts on more traditional forms of academic research in the humanities, as research environments like the university and the art academy are certainly more in touch, yet also guard their boundaries. Can these separations dissolve, or are dichotomies needed in order to stimulate exchange?

Confirmed speakers:

• Tim Ingold (Chair of Social Anthropology, Aberdeen)
• Barbara Wittmann (Chair of Art History, University of Frankfurt)
• Sven Dupré (Chair of History of Art, Science and Technology, Utrecht University)
• Jeroen Boomgaard (University of Amsterdam/Gerrit Rietveld Academie)
• Anke Coumans (Professor Image in Context, Minerva Art Academy)
• Katja Kwastek (Chair of Modern & Contemporary Art, Free University Amsterdam)

Click here for more information and free registration (deadline November 5th)