Public Culture in the Visual Sphere

The UC San Diego Visual Arts Department is hosting a series of lectures and panels investigating contemporary theories, practices and debates in the making and reception of public culture as they move through the visual sphere.

http://visarts.ucsd.edu/html/splash.html

Curated by John C. Welchman
In collaboration with the Visiting Artist Lecture Series committee 2009-10 (Anya Gallaccio, Teddy Cruz, Kyong Park, Suzanne Wright); the Public Culture graduate committee (Edward Sterrett, Orianna Cacchione, Cara Baldwin, Katrin Pesch, Sara Mameni, Tara Zepel), and Jordan Crandall.

Supported by the Visual Arts Department, UCSD; Dean of Arts and Humanities, UCSD; SoCCAS [Southern California Consortium of Art Schools]

Collaborations with the Master of Public Art Studies Program, USC Roski School of Fine Arts; English and Comparative Literature, UCLA; the graduate MFA program at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena; Calit2 [California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology]; and the Athenaeum, La Jolla.

Schedule of Events: All events take place at the UC San Diego Visual Arts Facility, Performance Space Thursdays @ 6:30 pm unless otherwise noted

Jan. 7 Take off: What is Public Culture? [panel]

Anya Gallaccio "What is Public Culture?"

Kyong Park "Anyang Public Art Project 2010: constructing a research-based, multi-disciplinary, community participation and process-oriented urban project in Korea"

Cauleen Smith "When Documentary Seems Like a Lie"

Teddy Cruz "Practices of Encroachment"

Jordan Crandall "New Media and Public Culture"

Moderated by John C. Welchman

Jan 14 Pros and Cons: Graduate Research in Public Culture [panel]
pros* Issue Zero Launch

Nicole Holland "Private as Public in the USSR"

David Mather "Mass Forms, Mass Agency in the Early 20th Century"

Sheryl Oring "I Wish to Say: Free Speech and Democracy"

David White "'Network' as a Tool for Neighborhood Engagement"

Rayanne Tabet "After the Flood: Reversing the Trans-Arabian Pipeline"

Cara Baldwin "We are the ones we've been waiting for"

Moderated by Edward Sterrett

Jan. 21 Public Culture and Democracy [panel]

Cynthia Truant [UCSD, History]
"Citizenship: constructions and contestation in France, 1700-1900"

Grant Kester [UCSD, Visual Arts]
"Democracy, Virtuality and Public Culture"

Marcel Henaff [UCSD, Literature and Political Science]
"Grace, the work of art, and public space"

Jan. 28 Claire Bishop [City University, New York]
"How do you bring a work of art to life?: Contemporary Art and/as Pedagogy"

Feb. 4 Steven Graham [University of Durham, UK; co-sponsored with Art Center, Pasadena]
"Cities Under Siege: The New Military Urbanism"

Feb. 18 Boris Groys [New York University; co-sponsored with USC]
"Visiting Time: Contemporary Time-based Art"

WEDS Feb. 24 Vito Acconci
"From Words to Actions to Architecture"

Feb. 25 Brian Holmes
"Intellectuals and Social Movements: Doctrine - Debate - Defense - Invention"

March 4 Where is the Public Option? [panel]
[co-sponsored with and hosted by the Athenaeum, 1008 Wall Street La Jolla, CA 92037]

Rebecca Solnit
[writer and essayist, San Francisco]

Rick Lowe
[Project Row House, Houston]

Matt Coolidge
[Founder and Director, Center for Land Use Interpretation]

Suzanne Lacy
[Otis College of Art, Los Angeles]

Moderated by Teddy Cruz

March 11 Town Hall/Manifestos/Open Mic.
Moderated by Kyong Park and John C. Welchman

Modifying LA

Staying in Echo Park in Los Angeles recently, each day passing by this church fitted with some surprising elements, the forms start to supplement the conditions of the building. Nestled into the existing form and shape of the building, the elements function as additional seating, table structures, planting pots, and potential stairs, modifying the existing arrangement.


The insertion of these additional elements unfold a poignant suggestion for acts of modification that append additional forms, stage new configurations, and allow other movements into and around buildings. Urban furniture then may function as means for such elaborations, figuring possible itineraries for what it means to take a seat.