Media Release

Arts Research Collaboration initiative hosts hybrid practices colloquium

LAWRENCE, KS, May 5, 2015— The Arts Research Collaboration initiative (ARC) at the Spencer Museum of Art continues its investigation of collaborative research bridging the arts and sciences with a colloquium on May 14, 2015, from 2:30-5:00 pm at The Commons on the University of Kansas campus. Thanks to generous support from the Terra Foundation for American Art, the colloquium is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The colloquium is a follow-up to the Museum’s recent international conference, “Hybrid practices in the arts, sciences, and technology from the 1960s to today,” which drew 168 participants from five countries to Lawrence in March for four days of presentations and discussion.

The May 14 Hybrid Practices colloquium opens with a talk by Shepherd Steiner, assistant professor of contemporary art history and theory in the School of Art, University of Manitoba, Canada. Steiner’s lecture, “Bernd and Hilla Becher: Spring Points, Technical Extensions, Degree Zero,” will examine the practice of a German conceptual art duo known for their extensive photographic series of the twentieth-century industrial landscape. The Bechers’ work raises questions about objectivity, technical knowledge, and scientific truth that can benefit critical reflection on hybrid art-science-technology research more generally.

The program will continue with a roundtable moderated by Steiner, KU Professor of Art History David Cateforis, and ARC researcher Steven Duval. They will be joined virtually by other conference participants to identify common threads in the research presented at the conference and to begin synthesizing that information to make it broadly relevant to the field. The colloquium will be livestreamed via the Hybrid Practices conference website, www.spencerart.ku.edu/hybrid-practices/. Viewers are encouraged to submit questions to the presenters via Twitter using @SpencerMuseum and #HybridPractices.

About ARC

Supported by a grant from the KU Research Investment Council, ARC is an interdisciplinary research initiative that fosters collaborations among the arts, sciences, technology, and society. To this end, it organizes exhibitions, hosts research forums and creative specialists, supports scholarly and creative activity, and publishes a research blog, exhibition catalogues, and edited volumes. The Museum’s partners in this initiative include KU’s Biodiversity Institute, Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, and Department of Visual Art.

Media Contacts

Elizabeth Kanost

Elizabeth Kanost
Communications Manager
785.840.0142
elizacat@ku.edu