[Discussion] SKIN DEEP? SURFACES AND BEYOND

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

*SKIN DEEP? SURFACES AND BEYOND*
*Location:* 	New York
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=United%20States&location=New%20York>, 

United States
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=United%20States>
*Call for Papers Deadline:* 	2005-02-18

	

	

SKIN DEEP? SURFACES AND BEYOND
April 30, 2005
Bard Graduate Center, New York

The Bard Graduate Center invites proposals by graduate students for its
fourth annual Graduate Student Symposium. This symposium seeks to
explore the interpretation of surfaces of objects, structures, and
settings within larger art historical, cultural, and social contexts.
Surfaces are often interpreted as representative of the whole. Is this
approach valid or is the surface merely one of many layers of form,
substance, space, and meaning? We hope to address how surfaces are
defined and how they function in decorative arts, design, painting,
sculpture, architecture, and landscape.

Papers could address the following inquiries:

What is the significance of surface as texture, veneer, ornamentation,
embellishment, trompe l'oeil, et cetera?

How does the definition of a surface as a starting point or tabula rasa
influence the process of design and creation?

How do surfaces redefine or replace other strata - and vice versa? What
is the relationship between surface and what lies beneath, behind, or on
top?

How does a surface function as a membrane between interior and exterior?
How are surfaces ruptured or made impermeable?

How do surfaces mediate social forces or impact national or cultural
identity?

As surfaces change over time, what is the effect of their degradation,
reconstruction, and/or historic preservation? Please send a one- to
two-page abstract for a 20-minute presentation together with a CV to:

	The BGC Graduate Student Symposium Committee
The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and
Culture
18 West 86th Street New York, NY 10024

and/or submit proposals and CV to:
Email: gradsymp@bgc.bard.edu <mailto:gradsymp@bgc.bard.edu>
Visit the website at http://www.bgc.bard.edu/index.shtml