IDS Public Lecture Series spring 2018

The IDS Public Lecture Series, designed as an introduction to some of the most pressing questions driving contemporary thought and practice, consists of lectures by artists, theorists, activists, designers, writers, curators and other practitioners involved in the arts from positions that embody an interdisciplinary approach or that imply new uses for disciplinary traditions. Each lecture is part of The Cooper Union’s Intra-Disciplinary Seminar (IDS). The seminar and series are organized by Leslie Hewitt and Omar Berrada.

This year’s IDS is organized along three general directions: ”Open Space: Building”, where we look at the social function of architecture, and how people move through space or build physical or symbolic spaces. ”Open Image: Thresholds of Form”, where we think about the practice of image making, as well as the perception and interpretation of aesthetic production. ”Open Methods: The (Post-)Colonial Contemporary”, where we wonder how to theorize the present moment, with regard to its political and ethical dimensions.

Spring 2018 IDS Public Lectures

Monday, January 22 
Tinashe Mushakavanhu, “The Invention of History”

Monday, January 29
Yves Citton, “Attention Ecology in the Digital Age”

Monday, February 5
Maren Hassinger, “Fight the Power and Other Tales of Survival”

Monday, February 12
Laure Prouvost, “The Smoking Image”

Monday, February 26
Ariella Azoulay, “Plunder: The Origins of Modern Art”

Monday, March 19
Mischa Kuball, “Making Things Very Public”

Monday, March 26
Joan Retallack, “Avant-Garde in the Anthropocene”

Monday, April 2
Samia Henni, “From Counterrevolution to Counterinsurgency”

Monday, April 9
Sung Hwan Kim, “Love before Bond”

Monday, April 16
Iman Raad & Shahrzad Changalvaee, “Two-Headed Imagomancy”

Monday, April 23
Yasmil Raymond, “Excuse my English: Confronting Ideological Narratives at the Museum”

Monday, April 30
Jason Moran, “STAGED”

Monday, May 7
Michelle Dizon, “at land’s edge: Thought and Action”

All lectures are free and open to the public, and begin at 7pm

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences. The School of Art is firmly committed to a generalist curriculum that encompasses all the fundamental disciplines and resources of the visual arts. Each student is educated not only in specific disciplines, but also in the complex interrelationships of all the visual vocabularies. This philosophic premise relates to all the objectives of the School of Art and is the foundation upon which all teaching, creative work, service and research are based. The Studio curriculum along with the Art History and General Studies components of the BFA program all have as their goal the acquisition of communication skills, the development of critical perspective, and the mastery of the materials and intellectual premises of the study of societies and people. Throughout eight semesters, students become socially aware, historically grounded, creative practitioners. They are taught to be critical analysts of the world of contemporary visual communications, art and the culture at large.

Partnerships
Ariella Azoulay’s lecture is presented in partnership with the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near East Studies (NYU).
Yves Citton and Laure Prouvost’s lectures benefit from support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

General support and funding
The IDS Public Lecture Series is part of the Robert Lehman Visiting Artist Program at The Cooper Union. We are grateful for major funding from the Robert Lehman Foundation. The IDS Public Lecture Series is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.