Works-in-Progress (WIP) Workshop Series presents: Historiographies of the Present: Whither Our Imaginations of Futurity and Solidarity? Moving Image Artworks as Documents and the Role of Practice-led Research
Dr. Mihaela Brebenel (University of Southampton)
March 19 (Monday) 5:30pm
GEM Lab (FB630.15) The workshop will draw the outlines of a research project where histories of media, cultural and screen studies are coupled with a preoccupation around what we consider as documentation and research materials and practices. The theory emerges from working closely with moving image artworks, in the context of their contemporary circulation. We will take some examples of how these largely theoretical concerns are shaped by collaborative curatorial projects with moving images and how the follow up written iterations are formed. The aim is thus to open up reflections on the ways in which contemporary screen and moving image technologies can act as documents and assemble historiographies, shape our understanding of the contemporary at the intersection of its political, technological and economic conditions, and contribute to imagining and shaping futures. We are also concerned here with the role of practice-led research, as different from practice-based and with the possibilities contained in collective curatorial practice, as it can feed into academic research. This feedback loop of sorts will be discussed and participants are highly encouraged to bring and share their experiences, curiosities and observations. Some broad research questions underpinning this research, which could resonate more extensively and could act as points of departure in our discussion: What do screen technologies and moving images have to offer in the writing of feminist and queer historiographies? What are the decolonial potentials of screen technologies and moving images in exploring questions of futurity? A selection of readings will be provided for advance preparation and we will look at specific artwork examples. Dr. Mihaela Brebenel is a Lecturer in Digital Media Culture at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton. Brebenel is a screen and visual studies researcher and curator, interested in the politics and aesthetics of the audiovisual, and in queer and feminist practices with moving images. She is part of Archaeologies of Media and Technology (AMT) research group at Winchester School of Art and various curatorial collectives. About WIP: The workshop is meant to showcase new and developing projects by the Fine Arts graduate community (and beyond), creating a space for interdisciplinary critique and feedback. Encouraging the engagement of workshop participants, the emphasis will be on research methodologies and future directions. We aim to create a space for alternative methodologies and practices, investigating research trends in the humanities such as visual anthropology, digital ethnography, field recording and sound experiments, approaches to information technologies, and other on the ground research practices.