Call for applications--The Material Life of Things Project

Call for Applications
The Material Life of Things Project Seminar Group

Deadline for applications is 12 March 2010.

In recent years, the evidence of technical and material analysis has
become increasingly important to art-historical interpretation.
Beyond their traditional role in informing the restoration of
artefacts, technical investigations have greatly contributed to our
understanding of how works of art were made. Yet, less critical
attention has been paid to the 'use-life' of artefacts - that is, to
the manipulation, exchange and consumption of artefacts throughout
their life histories. Drawing together researchers from different
areas of expertise including curators and conservators, this
research project aims to explore the material lives of artefacts in
a variety of media, encouraging object-based, methodological and
theoretical discussions relating to the shifting relationship
between artefacts, people and environments throughout the life
history of particular objects or classes of objects. Emphasis is
placed on works of art as material objects considering the ways in
which they are manipulated, re-made and unmade by different
individuals, at different times, manifesting different social and
cultural practices.

Among issues that can be raised are the following: temporality,
authenticity and change; fragmentation and reconstruction;
aggregation of artefacts and the status of the object; ritual
damage/reparation; pre-modern restorations; material history and
conservation of new media; durability, ephemerality and material
residuals; recontextualisation/decontextualisation (i.e. artefacts
in consonant and dissonant environments); confiscation, displacement
and repatriation; individual vs. corporate attitudes towards
materiality of art; commoditisation and decommoditisation;
ownership, market and the value of materiality; historiographic and
methodological approaches to the materiality of art; the concept of
'object biography' and its implications/limitations.

As part of the Material Life of Things, scholars working across the
discipline are invited to join a research group to discuss various
topics and address methodological questions within the theme of The
Material Life of Things. The group will consist of 15-20 scholars
meeting in the academic years 2009-10 and 2010-11, starting in
spring 2010. Group members will be asked to develop a research
project with a view to publishing the findings at the end of the
designated period. Plenary sessions in which all group members will
participate will be followed by small group discussions (4/5
members) in which individual projects and papers will be discussed.
Group members will also be asked to participate in symposia to take
place during the time span of the project, including a final
international two-day symposium. A collection of essays presenting
the results of the project is also planned. Applications to join the
research group are welcome from scholars at all stages of their
career: from current graduate students to established scholars.
Scholars applying to join the research group are asked to submit a
proposal of 300 words on a topic that they wish to develop over the
course of the project. We encourage proposals that address both
object-based and theoretical/methodological issues. Topics are
welcome from all periods and could address any aspect of The
Material Life of Things, with the issues above providing a general
starting point.

Deadline for applications: 12 March 2010.

Applicants should send a CV, covering letter and a proposal of not
more than 300 words detailing how they would develop their topic
over the period of the project.

Applications should be addressed to Professor Caroline Arscott, Head
of Research, and sent

    c/o Cynthia de Souza
    Research Forum
    The Courtauld Institute of Art
    Somerset House
    Strand, London WC2R 0RN

or sent by email c/o researchforum<-at->courtauld<.>ac<.>uk.

The Research Forum will contribute towards the costs of attending
the seminars

Organised by Dr Francesco Lucchini

See also: <URL:http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/index.shtml>

Cynthia de Souza
Research Forum Administrative Officer
Research Forum
The Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
+44 20 7848 2909


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:31
                 Distributed: Monday, February 22, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-23-31-005
                                  ***