Fine art
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BA (Hons) Fine Art
Dean Kenning – Exploratory Diagrams
I propose the term ‘exploratory diagrams’ to describe an approach to diagramming which goes beyond familiar statistical and explanatory diagrams so as to focus instead on how the phenomenal act of constructing a diagram is productive of knowledge rather than being merely a representation of already existing knowledge or ‘information’. Diagramming in this sense has particular relevance for configuring social forces and relations of a more complex, abstract and non-evident nature, and for envisioning new models of being beyond current conceptual and ideological frames. It can also constitute methods of close textual reading and critical reflection relevant to art education. I will discuss these ideas in relation to my own diagrammatic works and methods such as Metallurgy of the Subject, Diagramming Politics, Social Body Mind Mapping, Plato’s Caves and Illustrating Capita
Mara Ambrožič – Diagramming Art’s Institutional Global Playgrounds
The topic of diagramming is introduced as a synthetic approach to the study of neoliberal pressure on the creative and arts sector, with a particular focus on contemporary art institutions (museums, biennials, summits, etc.). Rather than framing diagramming as a simple medium of expression, I will introduce diagramming as a critical methodology to investigate the gap between cultural analysis, critical theory and institutional critique. As a handwriting practice synchronised with the language of thought, it also operates as a critical (post-internet) response to the visualisation of information through (reductive) forms grounded mainly on interferential statistics (based on dubiously gathered information). In addition, when used in to carry out an analysis of representational data (graphs, facts, network analysis maps) and various other representations of the art world system, diagramming can also clarify our understanding of existing models (and of power structures) to stimulate the modification of our predetermined conceptions, opinions and assumptions.