BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Detroit X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Detroit BEGIN:VEVENT UID:10013@cranbrookartmuseum.org DTSTART:20181208T130000Z DTEND:20181208T180000Z DTSTAMP:20251114T081532Z URL:https://cranbrookartmuseum.org/events/a-portrait-of-the-post-human/ SUMMARY:Symposium: A Portrait of the Post-Human? DESCRIPTION:In 1955\, New York's Museum of Modern Art opened The Family of Man\, a seminal photography exhibition curated by Edward Steichen. The exhibition took the form of a photo essay celebrating the universal aspect s of the human experience\, and then went on to tour the world\, triumphan tly declaring the existence of a single humanity undergoing a process of u niversal healing after the calamities of World War II. Yet\, funded by the US-state apparatus\, this allegedly universal photographic tour was consp icuously aligned with the United States’ own goals in the context of the Cold War. Since at least then\, cultural production around the image has had to grapple with universal humanity's inextricable entanglements betwee n the visual and the political.\nThis symposium will focus and expand on s uch critiques of the humanist ideal of ‘Man’ as the universal represen tative of humanity. Already decades before Steichen's MoMA show\, photogra phy and images were playing crucial historical roles in defining what it m eans to be 'human'\; be it through the production of archetypes found in a dvertising and political propaganda\; the imposition of institutional labe ls on certain types of bodies through the visual mechanisms of state power \, like passports\, demographic data\, and criminal records\; or the produ ction of docile behavior through corporate surveillance and control in the factory\, the school\, or the city.\nAs we move away from such universali st claims—always engulfed in the particular context and power relations from which they emerge—how do we engage in image-making without recupera ting hegemonic figurations of 'the human'? Indeed\, as a technical art\, p hotography has always been a post-human practice\, involving the syntheti c integration between machine and human. How can we make work that creates potentials for non-human-centered thinking—and is this even possible? H ow might\, in turn\, a 'post-human' art re-frame the classical figurations of political subjectivity—whether they be nationalist\, as in the aesth etic production of fascist regimes organized around white supremacy\; comm ercial\, as in the production of capitalist societies that glorify the ent repreneur\; or revolutionary\, as in the work of the historic avant-gardes ?\nThis symposium will ask the question\, what is the role of the artist i n a post-human future? After the human\, how do constituencies of human a nd non-human actors get represented—by whom\, or by what? Can contempora ry photography cut—or re-assemble—the apparent Gordian knot between th e visual\, the human\, and the political?\nSpeakers include:\n\nMichael St one-Richards\n“Scenes on Post-Humanism: Rilke with Gunther Anders in Det roit”\nMichael Stone-Richards is Professor of Critical Theory and Visual Studies at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. His book Logics o f Separation (with readings of Cha\, Fanon\, Celan and the Negro Spiritual \, Ellison\, C.L.R. James and DuBois) was published by Peter Lang in 2011. He is widely published in English and French on the history and theory of the avant-garde and Critical Theory. He is currently completing a book Ca re of the City: Ruination\, Abandonment\, and Hospitality in Contemporary Practice. He is most recently founding editor of the journal Detroit Resea rch.\nSteven Shaviro\n“Ancient to the Future: Cyborg Aesthetics”\nStev en Shaviro is the DeRoy Professor of English at Wayne State University\, w here he teaches film studies. He writes mostly about science fiction\, mus ic videos\, and the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. His books includ e Connected\, Or\, What It Means To Live in the Network Society (2003)\, P ost-Cinematic Affect (2010)\, No Speed Limit: Three Essays on Acceleration ism (2015)\, Discognition (2016)\, and Digital Music Videos (2017)\n\n&nbs p\;\nAmanda Beech\n“Art’s Possible Worlds: Resuscitating the Epistemol ogical Project”\nAmanda Beech is an artist and writer living in Los Ange les\, and Dean of Critical Studies at California Institute of the Arts. Us ing a range of compelling rhetorical and often dogmatic narratives and tex ts\, her work poses questions and propositions for what realist art can be in today’s culture. She has shown her artwork and presented her writing at major international venues around the world. Recent work includes her contributions to What Hope Looks Like After Hope\, Homeworks VII Beirut Ci ty Forum\; Ashkal Alwan\, Beirut\, Lebanon\, 2015\; Bots\, Bodies and Beas ts\, at the Gerrit Rietveld Akademie\, Amsterdam\, 2015\; Speculative Aest hetics\, Tate Britain\, 2015\; and the presentation of the three-channel v ideo installation Final Machine at both Agitationism\, the Irish Biennial 2014\, and L’Avenir\, Montreal Biennale\, 2014.\n\n \;\nAria Dean\n “Please Verify: Art After Man”\nAria Dean is an artist\, writer and cu rator based in New York. She currently holds the position of Assistant Cur ator of Net Art &\; Digital Culture at Rhizome. Her writing has been fe atured in Texte zur Kunst\, Artforum\, Art in America\, and many more publ ications. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Gut Pinch\, The S unroom\, Richmond\; White Ppl Think I’m Radical\, Arcadia Missa\, London \; and Baby is a Cool Machine\, American Medium\, New York. She has presen ted other exhibitions and given talks and performances around the world an d will participate in an exhibition at the ICA Philadelphia in February 20 19. Dean recently completed an Artist Residency at the Hammer Museum and s he co-directs the project space\, As It Stands\, Los Angeles.\n\nCo-hosted by Cranbrook Academy of Art’s Photography department ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cranbrookartmuseum.org/wp-content/upload s/2018/10/post_human_social-5.png CATEGORIES:Danielle Dean,Events,Lectures + Talks,Member Events LOCATION:Cranbrook Art Museum deSalle Auditorium\, 39221 Woodward Ave.\, Bl oomfield Hills\, MI\, 48304\, United States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=39221 Woodward Ave.\, Bloom field Hills\, MI\, 48304\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Cranbr ook Art Museum deSalle Auditorium:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR