Artistic Research & Experimentation in Digital Media

LSE-MARCEL Half-day Symposium on Artistic Research and Experimentation in Digital Media

www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/events/LSE-MARCEL.aspx

 Date: 9:00am to 1:30pm, 7 July 2010

Venue: Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, King’s College London

 This event is organised by the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, in collaboration with the MARCEL Network (http://www.mmmarcel.org) and the Digital Humanities 2010 Conference taking place 7 - 10 July at Kingʼs College London (http://dh2010.cch.kcl.ac.uk/).

 There is no participation fee. For details about the symposium and to register contact Frederik Lesage at f.lesage@lse.ac.uk. Limited seats are available so please register early.

 Outline:

For some artists, research is a primary form of artistic engagement. But much of the resulting interdisciplinary research seems to take place without a clear and open exchange across related disciplines. It is also unclear what are the ramifications of choosing such an approach to artists’ careers over time and how to promote the positive contributions artists bring to interdisciplinary research.

These issues are further complicated by the multiplicity of contemporary artistic practices. The approaches of artists who choose to work as researchers may vary wildly from the highly subjective and/or politically or philosophically engaged to a more pragmatic or formalist level of appropriation and use. Artists’ interests may also vary from exploring collaborations with highly specialised or even obscure scientific disciplines to experimental engagements in everyday practices. Nevertheless the continued efforts by artists and researchers to develop and strengthen this kind of research suggests that there is considerable value in such exchanges.

As a means of weighing into this debate in a productive way, the Department of Media and Communications LSE and theMARCEL Network have organised this symposium with the aim of addressing the issues surrounding collaborations between artists and research institutions experimenting with digital information and communication technologies.