Experimental Arts :: Main Conference and Discussion Forum: August 19-20, 2011 :: National Postgraduate Conference: August 17-18 :: Scientia Building, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia :: Call for Papers — Deadline for Abstracts: April 27.

“We have entered the experimental age…Experiments are no longer conducted just in the laboratory. They have become collective experiments that concern each and every one of us.” Bruno Latour, 2004

What is experimentation? What makes art ‘experimental’? What are the results of aesthetic experiments and why do we need them? Could artists invent new modes of experimentation with/for science? What are the differences between experiments and inventions; experiments and failures; experiment and innovation? How do we set up ethico-scientific-aesthetic experiments?

This conference will showcase and discuss innovative arts projects by leading practitioners, thinkers and research groups that model new forms of transdisciplinarity and offer new ways of addressing real-world issues. These include works that have successfully ‘changed the world’ as well as speculative initiatives that radically change the way we think. It will survey the results and potential of Experimental Arts, inviting leaders in the field to discuss how we can extend and support a platform for path-breaking experimentation.

The main conference will be preceded by a two-day National Postgraduate Conference on Experimental Arts.

Confirmed speakers include:

James Crutchfield (Complexity Sciences Center, UC Davis), David Dunn (Art and Science Laboratory, Santa Fe); Adrian McKenzie (University of Lancaster); Geert Lovink (University of Amsterdam); Pia Ednie- Brown (RMIT); Joyce Hinterding (University of Sydney), Terry Smith (University of Pittsburgh); Richard Goodwin, Paul Thomas, Douglas Kahn, Anna Munster, Nigel Helyer, Jill Bennett (NIEA, UNSW); iCinema, Centre for Interactive Cinema, UNSW with on-site demonstrations of iCinema’s immersive audio-visual environment.

Call for Papers

Abstracts of approximately 300 words and a short biography should be sent to: niea@unsw.edu.au for the Main Conference t.gregory@unsw.edu.au for the Postgraduate Conference. In the email subject title, please state: Abstract Submission (Main Conference) or Abstract Submission (Postgraduate Conference).

Poster-presentations will also be considered for the Postgraduate Conference. Abstracts of approximately 300 words and a short biography should be sent to t.gregory [at] unsw.edu.au with the email title Abstract Submission (Poster Presentation).

National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA), COFA, UNSW.