CFP, Conference Panel, "Wild Combination," UAAC, Banff, AB 2023

Session Title: Wild Combination

A theory in mycology suggests that the psilocybin mushroom, when consumed in large doses, can speak through their host via their brain and senses. The fungi, without hands to “manipulate the world,” partner with their host, wearing their mind like a hat, allowing for richer combinations and possibilities than can be afforded by either entity alone (Sheldrake 2020). The mushrooms are a natural demonstration of Spinoza’s ethics, a philosophy of combination between entities where bodies increase or diminish in strength as they assemble, come apart, and assemble differently with other bodies in the world. In art, practices of creation, research, and in situ involvement provoke these ranging combinations when artworks speak by engaging the brain and senses of their maker/thinker/visitor (Deleuze 1981/2003; Marks 2002; Hoogland 2014). Like the mushroom and the host, our encounters with art can be a benefit as much as they can be vexatious, nonetheless opening possibilities that could not be explored without collaboration. This session invites case studies, creative presentations, artist talks, or philosophical investigations that explore the effects of good combinations, bad combinations, queer, natural, or wild combinations with/in art.

Mots clés | Keywords: Art, Contemporary Art, Spinoza, affect, embodied analysis, interconnection, enchantment, disenchantment, Reception Aesthetics, Aesthetics

This session is an invitation for panel presentations for the forthcoming Universities Arts Association Congress (UAAC-AAUC), taking place in Banff, AB, October 19-21, 2023.

Submission Deadline is May 31, via email. To submit, please see the below details:

Conference Regulations                  

1. Proposals must be sent directly to the chair(s) of the session, roundtable, or workshop. Please apply directly to Yani Kong, yani_kong@sfu.ca

2. Applicants may not submit proposals to more than two sessions, roundtables, or workshops. If submitting two proposals they must advise the chairs of both sessions.  

4. Submissions must include: 

◻ the applicant’s email address  

◻ the name of the applicant  

◻ the applicant’s institutional affiliation

◻ a brief biography (150 words maximum) 

◻ title of proposal  

◻ a proposal (300 words maximum)

◻ up to 3 images 

5. Submissions must be submitted using the “Call for Papers” form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WJebVCv3lMZDpsRhk3LvAo8mCpgEycd70ygVYVK69mo/edit

6. There are no hybrid options.

7. Proposals may be submitted by current members or non-members of UAAC. Non members must become members of UAAC and pay registration fees in order to present a paper at the conference. Membership dues and registration fees must be received by September 18, 2023.  

8. Proposals are invited from permanent and contractual faculty, independent scholars and artists, and graduate students (examples: PhD, MFA, MDes, etc.) who are engaged in the visual arts (studio practice, art history, visual culture, material culture, museum studies, art conservation, etc.).