British Art and Natural Forces

Ella Fleming Announcement
Location
United Kingdom
Subject Fields
British History / Studies, Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Contemporary History, Environmental History / Studies, Fine Arts

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
A multi-part programme of research events that focuses on the encounter between artistic or art historical practice and the forces of the natural world, and places such encounters in both contemporary and historical perspectives.

BRITISH ART AND NATURAL FORCES
A STATE OF THE FIELD RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Deadline 30th June 2020 |  The Paul Mellon Centre

In the year 2020, the Paul Mellon Centre marks its 50th anniversary as an institution dedicated to the study of British art and architecture. It is a year in which artistic practice and the practice of art history have met with the unprecedented force of a global pandemic. In the midst of this crisis, the PMC is initiating a major, multi-part programme of research events that focuses on the encounter between artistic or art historical practice and the forces of the natural world, and places such encounters in both contemporary and historical perspectives.
 
In doing so, we hope not only to respond to the exigencies of the current moment, but to foreground some of the most vital activities and conversations taking place within the field of British art studies. In recent years, scholars have concentrated with new intensity on the overlaps between artistic, geophysical, biological and ecological bodies of knowledge.
 
The theme also speaks to many of the new interdisciplinary collaborations that are currently shaping art-historical practice, which have seen scholars of the visual arts working across different subject-fields to explore natural histories, indigenous forms of knowledge, animal studies, concepts of the post-human and revitalized theorisations of the sublime.
 
Finally, the theme of this series exploits the astonishingly rich and diverse representations of natural forces found throughout the history of British art, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day. The programme will seek to explore such representations in the light of current debates and theoretical frameworks, and with the acknowledgement that human agency and reflexive awareness are natural forces in their own right.
 
We welcome proposals for 20-minute research papers dealing with any period or category of British art and visual culture, and that address the ways in which artistic or art-historical thinking and practice have shaped or been shaped by the encounter with natural forces, whether benign or cataclysmic, short- or long-term, visible or invisible. We also welcome proposals from artists and others whose contributions might take unexpected forms.

SCHEDULE AND FORMAT

The events in this programme will be hosted over October and November of 2020. They may encompass virtual, in-person, audio, and print modes: the formats will be confirmed in the early autumn, and will take shape in line with UK government advice on public gatherings. Spanning eight weeks, the events will be sequential in character, and are designed to forge and facilitate a set of expansive conversations that unfold over time.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Please send proposals of 400 words maximum together with a short biography of no more than 100 words to events@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk Deadline: 30 June 2020

 

OPEN CALL: COVER COMMISSION FOR THE ONLINE JOURNAL BRITISH ART STUDIES 
Deadline 30th June 2020 | British Art Studies

The online scholarly journal British Art Studies is seeking proposals for new artwork responding to the theme of "British Art and Natural Forces", which is the subject of the Paul Mellon Centre's autumn research programme.

The chosen artist will generate a series of between five and eight cover images for the journal’s eighteenth issue (November 2020), to be presented online as a digital commission. The series of covers is typically accompanied by a short written statement (c. 500 words). Proposals from individual artists, collectives, and artists working in partnership with researchers and curators are welcome. Stills, moving images, 3D models, and audio tracks can all be supported by the journal website. The commission is awarded with a fee of £500.

If your proposal is successful, you will work collaboratively with the British Art Studies editors to develop the feature and will receive editorial support, as well as assistance with any picture research and copyright clearance.

HOW TO SUBMIT 

Please send proposals of no more than 400 words, accompanied by images, to Baillie Card at journal@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk by 30 June 2020.
 

Contact Information

Ella Fleming
Events Manager, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in Briish Art and Architecture

Contact Email
events@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk