[artinfo] Philosophy of Art Today, International Conference, Moscow

[Oliver Grau]

International Conference Philosophy of Art Today, 
Moscow, November 27-29th, 2014

Organized by the Polytechnic Museum and Art Foundation Moscow Biennale.
Venue: State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

What would a systematic philosophy of art look 
like today - in an epoch of technological 
transformation and establishing close 
relationships of artists and curators with the 
specific scientific fields of expertise? Given 
the dispersion of the arts, the multiplicity of 
their practices and technologies, and their 
shifting institutional and socio-historical 
frameworks, is such a thing at all feasible? What 
is the interrelation of the classical art history 
with the new media, technological and scientific 
art? A philosophy that takes its point of 
departure in the specificity of the arts, or even 
attempts to develop its concepts out of the 
encounter with singular artworks, may risk losing 
sight of the general issues of the contemporary 
world, which could be solved by approaching 
philosophy of technology and science. On the 
other hand, theories starting from concepts that 
seem to promise universality, such as judgment, 
or the idea of a specificity of aesthetic 
experience, often end up in general claims that 
have little connection to the arts and 
artworks. If such a philosophy, which would bring 
together the universal and the particular, were 
at all possible, from where would it draw its 
tools and concepts? Consider the ontological 
status of art, technology and science in general 
as poly-structural system? And how would it 
locate itself in relation to our own historical 
moment, and to the problem of the historicity of 
concepts, which seems to foreclose definitions 
that are not themselves part of the historically 
changing forms of art?

Speakers include: Oliver GRAU (Austria/Germany), 
Timothy DRUCKREY (US), Nina MÖNTMANN (Germany), 
Erkki HUHTAMO (Finnland, US), Alexander 
GARCIA-DUTTMANN (Germany), Matthew KENYON (US), 
Maria LIND (Sweden), Olga KISSELEVA (Russia), 
Christopher FYNSK (US, UK), Sven-Olov WALLENSTEIN 
(Sweden), Irina ARISTARKHOVA (Russia/US), Joseph 
BACKSTEIN (Russia).

Detailed schedule and online registration: 

<http://polymus.ru/en/museum/pros/calendar/filosofiya-iskusstva-segodnya/>http://polymus.ru/en/museum/pros/calendar/filosofiya-iskusstva-segodnya/

Besides the daytime professional sessions, 
evening public lectures will be hold within the 
conference "Philosophy of Art Today".

Participation in the conference is free. Pre-registration is required.

The conference is supported by the Embassy of 
France and the Embassy of Finland in Russia.

Polytechnic Museum in Moscow is one of the oldest 
science museums in the world and the biggest 
museum of science and technology in Russia. A 
large-scale state-level innovative program of the 
Polytechnic Museum modernization was started in 
2010. In the framework of the project a 
principally new museum and educational centre 
comprising the greatest scientific, technical and 
societal achievements based on the advanced 
museum technologies will be constructed by 2018. 
In 2014 Polytechnic Museum launched of the 
Polytech.Science.Art program, dedicated to one of 
the most significant phenomenon of contemporary 
culture - interdisciplinary collaboration between 
artists, scientists and technology specialists. 
The program started with a series of workshops 
and lectures of international and Russian 
experts, and will be developed in the following 
years through exhibitions, artist-in-residency 
program, conferences and special projects. It is 
curated by Natalia Fuchs (MediaArtHistories, 
Donau Universität/Cultural Management, University 
of Manchester), she is also in charge of 
interdisciplinary projects of the Polytechnic 
Museum.

Moscow Biennale is one of the most representative 
events in the sphere of contemporary art and 
culture in Eastern Europe. The last edition of 
Moscow Biennale curated by Catherine de Zegher 
took place on September 20 - October 20, 2013. In 
previous years Moscow Biennale was curated by 
Nicolas Bourriaud, Rosa Martinez,  Iara Boubnova, 
Daniel Birnbaum, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jean-Hubert 
Marten and Peter Weibel. Moscow Biennale aims at 
offering not only an important visual experience 
but also a space for discussions and theoretical 
research. Therefore talks, conferences and 
symposiums are an integral part of its program. 
Among the speakers of this philosophical 
conference in previous years were such 
distinguished scholars as Giorgio Agamben, 
Jacques Rancière, Saskia Sassen, Christoph Menke 
and many others.

More information:

Natalia Fuchs / çýÚýθþ îÛÍÒ
Interdisciplinary Projects Curator
Polytech.Science.Art: çýÛÍý.àÒÍÛÒÒÚ’Ó.ížÌÓÎÓ“ËË 
Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia
Cell: +79104320152
Email: <mailto:nfuchs at artypical.com>nfuchs at artypical.com
<http://www.polymus.ru>http://www.polymus.ru; 
<http://artypical.com>http://artypical.com
<http://www.facebook.com/polytechscienceart>http://www.facebook.com/polytechscienceart