[spectre] CONF: CfP, Contemporary Art and Margins (Berlin, October 9-11 2013)

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Contemporary Art and Margins
Interdisciplinary colloquium
Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin, October 9-11 2013

This colloquium is choosing to discuss the role that margins play in the 
definitions of contemporary art, and especially in those that its actors 
devise. It will be important to understand the margins and the
marginality of the actors in the art field according to their twofold 
character: as a programmatic stance or as an imposed situation. As far 
as art production is concerned, we are interested in the artistic 
practices that give a place to what is on the fringes of traditional 
art, blurring barriers and challenging established conceptions. Can the 
reflection on marginality in and of itself highlight the specific 
characteristics of contemporary art?

This issue opens up the discussion to various areas of study that we 
will further discuss here with an interdisciplinary perspective, 
crossing the domains of sociology, philosophy, geography, and art history.

We propose three main focuses that seem to jointly question the notions 
of margins and contemporary art at the crossroads of the scientific 
traditions of different countries, being that the objective of this
colloquium is a scientific debate not only on a Franco-German level, but 
also on an international one.

The first focus invites us to question the interlinked history of the 
concepts of margins and contemporary art. It is necessary to analyze the 
functions associated with the idea of marginality within the evolution 
of contemporary art starting in the mid-1960s. The artistic and 
intellectual avant-garde movements of the XX century offered a 
reformulation of the concept of art, allowing for a broadening of 
artistic practices.

The concept of art has been unfurled, particularly since the 1960s, in 
relation to what the essentialist definition of art excluded. From that 
time on, we have witnessed the emergence of new stakes, where
functions and expressions of art are rethought in a new way. This 
disruption comes from a multitude of practices that incorporate domains 
such as kitsch, “low art,” and technical production, which use different
methods and appropriate foreign objects into the field of art. Aiming to 
go beyond barriers from both a production and a reception standpoint, 
these new artistic practices question the specificity of their approach. 
The inheritance from the avant-garde movements and the (in)stability of 
historiographical paradigms in addition to the questioning of dogmatic 
conceptions of art act as a starting point to begin understanding and 
dating the passage from modern art to contemporary art. What roles did 
the first avantgarde movements play in the definition of contemporary 
art? These questions of definition and
inheritance reveal the weight of the fantasies attached to the question 
of margins in the field of contemporary art. How are these different 
representations expressed and what functions are associated
with them? How do the different profiles of marginal artists begin and 
evolve (the damned artist, the artist in retreat, the mad artist…)?

But what margins are we talking about here? Margin or margins can be 
perceived as areas of exclusion but also as interfaces toward an 
established centrality. It is important in this sense to question 
oneself on the dynamics between centers and periphery, which brings us 
to our second focus. Margins can, in effect, constitute the singular 
spaces that offer resources, mark the landscape and live off of the 
social and spatial mobility of individuals – artists, art critics, art 
dealers, etc. What are the conditions of mobility of the periphery 
toward the centrality and vice-versa, or even between peripheries? Does 
marginality place itself as a condition to the artist’s recognition? 
Dealing with margins goes back to dealing with the mechanisms
and instances where centrality is defined and where margins are created. 
It will become necessary here to reflect upon the nature of the 
interactions between institutions, whether they be private or public and 
the spaces of artistic centrality and marginalized producers or 
initiatives. The concepts of innovation and rupture have become decisive 
on the whole field of contemporary artistic production, widely supported 
– to varying degrees – by the institutions themselves. Does this 
expectation of “permanent revolution” challenge the nature of 
institutions and, consequently, the very concept of margins?

The question of transition and rupture should not hide a certain 
hierarchical permanency, especially in terms of genre, social 
backgrounds, and in North-South or West-East relationships, when it 
comes to both producers and the public. Our third focus will address 
these hierarchies in a central manner. The issues that these implicit 
hierarchies cause have begun to be raised by certain actors of 
contemporary art, influenced by feminist and postcolonial theories – as 
can be seen in the curatorial choices of documenta, notably those of 
Catherine David, artistic director of documenta 10 (1997), and Okwui 
Enwezor for documenta 11 (2002) or Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev for 
documenta 13 (2012). Through the title “Intense Proximity,” Okwui 
Enwezor, curator for the 2012 edition of the Paris Triennial, also asked 
the question about the encounter between the local and international 
scales. This third focus also aims to challenge the
permanency of social and spatial hierarchies and the means used by the 
actors to subvert them. Within this context, we will, for example, be 
able to bring attention to the evaluation of the politics of cultural
democratization intended to make contemporary art accessible to a more 
heterogeneous public, or the phenomena of biennalization in the 
countries of the South. More generally, one could wonder to what
extent the realization, or even a thematization of these issues, 
challenge the very definition of contemporary art.

This colloquium is primarily addressed to young researchers, who 
question the notion of margins in contemporary art. Its objective is to 
propose a dialogue between scientific disciplines but also between
experienced and young researchers. It will take place in four main 
sessions, bringing together the selected proposals as well as the 
presentations by guest specialists: Jean-Michel Decroly (ULB - IGEAT
Bruxelles), Bettina Gockel (University of Zürich), Boris Grésillon 
(University of Provence), Piotr Piotroswki (Adam Mickiewicz University, 
Poznań), Ulf Wuggenig (Leuphana University Lüneburg).

Prof. Dr. Bettina Gockel will inaugurate the conference on October 9 
with her contribution "Potenziale der Peripherien. Lebensräume und 
Denkfiguren der Avantgarden des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts".

It is desirable that all of the presentations fall into the focuses 
developed above, but they can also tackle other issues raised by the 
colloquium’s title. The format of the presentations is 30 minutes, 
followed by a discussion. The contributions can be in French, German and 
English. It is very desirable for the participants to understand these 
three languages.

1. Scientific Committee
Peter Geimer (Freie Universität Berlin), Boris Grésillon (Université de 
Provence Aix-Marseille), Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel (École Normale 
Supérieure Paris), Bénédicte Savoy (Technische Universität Berlin), 
Patrice Veit (Centre Marc Bloch Berlin), Ulf Wuggenig (Leuphana 
Universität Lüneburg)

2. Organization Committee
Léa Barbisan (Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin / Paris-Sorbonne), Maria Bremer 
(Freie Universität, Berlin / German Forum for Art History, Paris), 
Camille Boichot (Géographie-Cités Paris), Séverine Marguin
(Centre Marc Bloch / Leuphana Universität Lüneburg / EHESS CRIA)

3. Proposal Submission
Presentation proposals (with title, abstract of 500 words, first and 
last name, status, institution, e-mail address) must be sent to 
art.marges at gmail.com before June 21, 2013. They will be submitted to the
members of the scientific committee. Authors will be informed of 
selection results by July 20, 2013, at the very latest.


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