15 September 2005
Art in the Age of Terrorism
The relationship between art and terrorism is examined in a new book that tackles one of the most difficult topics imaginable.
Art in the Age of Terrorism, published in association with Paul Holberton publishing, is a collection of interdisciplinary essays by artists and arts theorists who explore the ways in which art and art theory can contribute to an understanding of the situation behind the black and white term 'terrorism'.
Art in the Age of Terrorism is a product of Southampton Solent University's Centre for Advanced Scholarship in Art and Design. It is edited by Dr Graham Coulter-Smith, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Contemporary Art, and Professor Maurice Owen, Director of the Centre.
Dr Coulter-Smith comments:
"The topic of art in the age of terrorism is not an easy one and there are no definitive answers. What is important, however, is that difficult issues are discussed in spite of the air of unease generated by the so-called 'war on terror'. Our aim has been to assemble a plurality of voices in conjunction with a plurality of themes with as little prejudice as possible."
The ramifications of the term 'terrorism' extends beyond words; consequently, the book points to the potential benefit of visual language to articulate a 'war' that is quintessentially postmodern in its decentred identity, globalised character and confused conflict of cultures.
Dr Coulter-Smith also discusses various artistic commentaries on the 'war on terror' in his essay 'Views from the Epicentre and Elsewhere'. There are two other contributors from Southampton Solent University. In her essay 'Speaking the Unspeakable: Invisibility and Trauma after 9/11' Karen Randell, Programme Group Leader in Film, Television and Performance, focuses on the allegorical manner in which the American film and television media have hesitantly come to terms with 9/11.
Guy Moreton, Associate Lecturer in Photography, meanwhile examines the work of Tomoko Yoneda in his essay 'Terror Unscene: Meditations on the Photography of Tomoko Yoneda'.
A significant number of other contributors to the book - Emma Govan, Mary Richards, Pia Lindman, and Ken Neil all explore the issue of the unspeakable, in its many facets: trauma, denial, irreconcilable disputes (Israel/Palestine) etc, in artistic representation. The book also examines the sub-themes of the impact of this atmosphere on the plight of asylum seekers and how politics of fear threatens the freedom of expression, which is so important to art in a democratic society.
The 252-page book (ISBN 1 903470 41 2) covers 35 artists and contains 169 images. Some images are disturbing, others humorous, most display a sensitive balance between aesthetic and ethical expression. The book is priced £25 and published by Paul Holberton publishing, London (www.paul-holberton.net|) and distributed in the USA by the University of Washington Press.
Notes to editors: Review copies and a series of images from the book are available from the Press Office.
Dr Coulter-Smith is available for interviews and photographs. Please contact the Press Office to arrange dates and times.
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: ART IN THE AGE OF TERRORISM CONTRIBUTORS
Dr Graham Coulter-Smith is author of The Postmodern Art of Imants Tillers: Appropriation en abyme 1971-2001. London: Paul Holberton publishing, 2002; Mike Parr The Self-Portrait Project. Melbourne: Schwartz City, 1994; John Young: Silhouettes and Polychromes (with Christina Davidson and Graham Forsyth). Melbourne: Schwartz City, 1993. He is Postdoctoral Fellow in Contemporary Art in the Faculty of Media Art and Society, Southampton Solent University. Coulter-Smith is currently working on a book 'Installationism: The Expanded Field of Sculpture 1985-2005' and is involved in the Hidrazone.com digital art project.
Professor Maurice Owen is an artist (b. 1947), Professor of Fine Art in the Faculty of Media, Art and Society, and Director of the Centre for Advanced Scholarship in Art and Design, Southampton Solent University. Selected exhibitions: La Citadelle de Montmédy, France, 2000; Sigmund Freud Museum, London, 1999; Lanchester Gallery, Coventry, 1997; Galerie Nuova Icona and Galerie L'Occhio d'Art, Venice, 1995; Centre Pompidou, Paris 1983. Professor Owen is currently working on a book concerning new interpretations of the Roman wall paintings of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Dr Bernadette Buckley is Head of Research at the John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton.
Dr Mary Richards teaches modern drama studies at the School of Arts, Brunel University, London. She is currently writing a book on Marina Abramovic.
Dr Emma Govan writes on the performing arts and teaches at the Department of Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London.
Professor Gen Doy is author of Picturing the Self: Changing Views of the Subject in Visual Culture, 2004; Drapery: Classicism and Barbarism in Visual Culture, 2002; Black Visual Culture: Modernity and Postmodernity, 1999; Materializing Art History, 1998 (all published by I.B.Tauris, London).
Pia Lindman is an artist (b. 1965, Helsinki) who lives and works in New York and teaches at MIT. Solo exhibitions include the lab gallery in New York City, MIT, and Kluuvi Gallery, Finland. Her next solo exhibition will be in the Luxe Gallery, New York City, January 2006. Her work is included in the New York MoMA Collections.
Ross Birrell (b.1969) is an artist and writer who lives and works in Glasgow and teaches at Glasgow School of Art. Publications: book on Birrell: Greyscale/CMYK, edited by Kate Davis, Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA), 2002; book by Birrell (edited with Alec Finlay), Justified Sinners: An Archaeology of Scottish Counter-Culture 1960-2000. Pocketbooks, 2001.
Kendell Geers is an internationally acclaimed artist (b. May 1968, Johannesburg) who lives and works in Brussels. Most recent exhibition: 'Dionysiac', Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2005.
Dr Ken Neil is an artist (b. 1970) and writer. He is a member of the research group 'IDEAS in Public Space'. He is currently working on a book entitled 'Visual Traumata'. Neil is also Head of the MFA in Critical Social Art Practice at Gray's School of Art, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
James A. Walker is co-editor (with Graham Coulter-Smith and Maurice Owen) of The Visual-Narrative Matrix. Southampton: Fine Art Research Centre, 2000.
Khaled D. Ramadan is a media artist (b.1964, Beirut) and curator. He lives and works in Copenhagen and teaches visual culture at Copenhagen University.
Mireille Astore (b. 1961, Beirut) is an artist, writer and a University of Western Sydney scholar. She lives and works in Sydney, Australia.
Dr Karen Randell is co-editor (with Jacqueline Furby) of Screen Methods: Comparative Readings in Film Studies, London: Wallflower, 2005. She is a principal lecturer in film studies at Southampton Solent University. Her research interests include: trauma and war film, the films of Lon Chaney, and trauma in contemporary American cinema.
Guy Moreton is co-author (with Alec Finlay and Michael Nedo) of There Where You Are Not: Wittgenstein's Wanderings. London: Black Dog, 2005. He teaches photography at Southampton Solent University.
Misha Myers is a socially-engaged live artist (b. 1967, Mississippi, USA). She teaches at Dartington College of Arts, UK.
Dr Cornelius Holtorf, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Lund, Sweden. Author of From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: Archaeology as Popular Culture. Lanham, Maryland, USA: Altamira Press, 2005.
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