Call for Panelists – Updated Deadline!
The Rocky Mountain Printmaking Alliance is hosting Watershed the 3rd Biennial Symposium April 14-16, 2016 in Boise, Idaho Visit www.
“The Rocky Mountain Printmaking Alliance was established to foster education, promote communication and create community between academic professionals, independent presses and individual artists within the region. Through outreach and education, the Alliance serves to strengthen connections, encourage discussion and advance regional awareness surrounding the varied art and artists of printmaking.”
Mission Statement
Deadline for submissions: February 1, 2016
Please contact the relevant organizer for details on submissions.
Panel one.
Mary Hood, Associate Professor. Arizona State University. mary.hood@asu.edu
www.hoodmary.com
Post Appropriation
Appropriation takes as its premise that all cultural artifacts are the result of a re-mixing of past ideas and forms. Originality does not exist in the sense that everything written, thought, said, or seen must necessarily be the result of the intersection of one’s imagination with one’s engagement with cultural and historical influences. Historically there has been a steady influence of appropriated images, ideas, language, sociologies, and philosophies within cultural and intellectual dialogue in a post modern, post digital world that is prevalent within contemporary art practices. Whether mechanically and/or digitally mediated, processes, content, and concept, from traditional analog practices such as printmaking, painting and sculpture to new media practices such as digital imaging, video and installation, have incorporated historical influence in some manner. A casual glance though any contemporary art magazine, such as Artforum in the United States, clearly demonstrates this statement. There are countless examples, both nationally and internationally where artists have chosen to use, without disguise, the work and ideas of another artist to create new forms of knowledge that are then reinserted back into culture. The big question here is, are we, with the constant influx of images, sounds, writing, and digital culture, at a watershed moment in which we re-evaluate our use of open source images and alter our discretionary perspectives on how we use this material?
This panel is seeking contributions from authors to address the questions surrounding the idea that appropriation occurs in response to an original as a responsive gesture in the form of visual language easily mitigated by the ubiquitous availability of digital tools and processes. Proposed papers will asks where does the concept of originality originate? Or, rather, where can the concept of intellectual property trace back its lineage? And why, in our post consumer, post commodity, post appropriation culture would we continue to care? There are several examples this panel can explore such as historical precedents in culture and societies, advancements in digital photography, legal and ethical issues of appropriation, the role of printmaking in post digital practices, as well as other ideas and images cultivated within a digital culture. The collective ownership of images and ideas that has become dominant in digital culture will be examined here for its cultural exchange and identity of purpose.
Panel two
Justin Diggle. University of Utah. justindiggle@hotmail.com
Turning Point.
Artists develop and change their ideas and direction continuously. This is a reflection of how we explore themes, make new connections or utilise different mediums, and is a natural component to making work.
This panel questions the motivations behind the creation of artwork and specifically seeks to draw attention to the various impetuses behind a specific and significant conceptual change in an artist’s output. This may be a defining critical watershed in the development of an artist that may entail a new approach to materials and processes, require collaborating with others and possibly lead to new formats for exhibiting, or new interactive techniques for engaging an audience.
Altering ones practice can certainly be challenging and there are new problems to overcome, from new research methods to the final visualization of the artwork, and initial efforts may not always be promising. Ultimately it can be a stimulating and rewarding experience that leads to whole new bodies of work.
Submissions are invited from Artists/Printmakers who have experienced a need to alter the direction of their practice. This decision may have been influenced by political events, social issues, environmental concerns, cultural influences, medical complications, and a change in location or personal beliefs. We also live at a time where we are more connected than ever before and the spread of ideas and the ability to connect with others is almost instantaneous. Does the availability of information, or the way it can be accessed create an atmosphere for a different kind of enquiry?
This panel will concentrate on the ideas that instigated this change, and although this may have required an important adjustment in the use of materials or processes, the emphasis should be on the motivating factors and subsequent conceptual development and realization of the work.