II Graduate Conference on Science and Technology of the Arts
Response(ability)

December 12-13, 2024
Escola das Artes, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Extended deadline: October 31
Please submit your proposal at this link.

Keynote Speakers

• Işıl Eğrikavuk (Berlin University of Arts)
• Defne Ayas (Performa, New York)

Call for Papers 
In a present dominated by necropower, we are witnessing destruction of human life, territories and the material destruction of the Earth. Building on the discussion established in the first edition, the 2nd Graduate Conference on Science and Technology of the Arts is proposing a focus on research concerning destruction(s) in relation to (im)materiality, the interconnectedness of the human - non-human world through the prioritization of collectivity, collaborative and participatory processes in arts, science and heritage.

“Necropower has become a key concept for understanding the generalized instrumentalization of life and the material destruction of the Earth in the global postcolonial condition that includes the extermination of all biocultural systems” (The Society for the end of Necropolitics, s.d.)

Taking the devaluation of human and non-human connections as contributing to the generalized destruction of culture, territories and the planet, we are currently witnessing a loss of the concept of collectivity and an enrichment of the concept of individualism.

We encourage participants to engage with the concept Response(ability), understood as an ethical and political form of resistance against normativity, related to sensitivity and curiosity, which enhances the preservation not only of human life, but also of other living and non-living beings, the planet, culture, science and art.  

We welcome reflections on methodologies and practices that can help us imagine alternative ways of living in relation to our (im)materiality and our (inter)connection. These may allow us to invent new forms of care practices, interdependence, resistance and alternative futures. 

We understand (im)materiality as a reflection of the relationship between the tangible and the intangible, the parallelism between thinking and acting, between destroying and preserving. We believe that (inter)connection represents the reconstruction of human and non-human relationships, with the planet, art and heritage. In this sense the (inter)connection of the human and the non-human is central to this Response(ability) to act in the face of the destruction of (im)material worlds.

Considering Response(ability) as a generator for new possibilities and drawing from the concepts of (inter)connection and (im)materiality, this edition of the Graduate Conference aims to bring into discussion the following themes/subjects:

• Community-driven practices in heritage conservation: citizen science, citizen humanities, digital humanities and digital cultural heritage
• Collaborative and Participatory Artistic Practices
• Destruction and preservation of material and immaterial in arts and heritage
• Ecological Destruction and Preservation: Green conservation, Ecoarts, Eco Somatics, Land Art
• Embodied Encounters and Practice
• Ethical and Political Resistance in artistic research and practices
• Experiments with Materiality and Physicality
• Futures and Communal relations to nature
• Intimacy and Care Practices in Artistic Research
• Strategies and Speculations for Collective Survival: New social realities, Alternative
• Feminist, Decolonial and Speculative Worldbuilding

Reference:
(s.d.). The Society for the end of Necropolitics. https://www.documenta14.de/en/public-programs/1035/the-society-for-the-end-of-necropolitics

Please submit your proposal at this link.