The University of Michigan Department of the History of Art presents

From Bodies to Billboards: Alternative Sites of Display
2012 History of Art Graduate Student Symposium, University of Michigan
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Stern Auditorium, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor
Keynote speaker: Mary Coffey, Associate Professor of Art History, Dartmouth College

To greater and lesser degrees, a viewer’s engagement with works of art will always
be informed by the conditions of display. This symposium will build upon recent
developments in curatorial practice and museum theory by focusing attention on
alternative sites and modes of display. We seek papers that critically consider how
meaning is generated from specific sites, and how context changes our understanding
of the work of art. We view “alternative” as an open category that might embrace
unusual or overlooked spaces and display practices, or encourage new, critical
approaches to traditional exhibition arenas (galleries, museums, etc.). Priority will be
given to papers that demonstrate the reciprocal engagement between works of art and
their original or current sites of display.

“Alternative sites,” an intentionally broad rubric, is employed so as to encourage
submissions on works from all time periods, in a variety of media, and produced in
a wide range of circumstances and locations. Papers might address such disparate
themes as:

- Manuscripts, scrolls, albums, ‘zines, and artists’ books
- The body, fashion, and performance
- Public art (including sculpture, murals, and graffiti art)
- Landscapes and the environment
- Conceptual art and the imagination
- Architectural structures and spaces
- Religious sites
- Audience and reception

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and must be accompanied by a CV.
Submissions are due by April 1, 2012, and should be submitted to the Symposium
Committee by email at AlternativeSitesSymposium@gmail.com. Successful candidates
will be contacted by email by May 15, 2012