Dear All,

I thought this call for papers might be of interest.  Apologies if you have
received this already.  Please respond to Nick Beech (contact details at the
bottom of the message).

Ben






*Telling Places:*

*Narrative and Identity in Art and Architecture*
www.tellingplaces.co.uk



Research Spaces* **IV*, 5/6 December, 2007
Bartlett/Slade Annual PhD Conference


Woburn Studios, University College London, UK

The annual PhD research conference Research Spaces, has been running since
2004, affording post-graduates at the Bartlett School of Architecture, and
the Slade School of Fine Art, the opportunity to examine research activities
across disciplines. The event has continued to be a success, attracting
contributions from the UK, Europe and North America, from practicing
architects and artists, academics and research students.

The 2007 Research Spaces Conference – *Telling Places: Narrative and
Identity in Art and Architecture* asks for contributions on new practices,
theories and critiques of narrative and identity.

* *
In a globalised context, conditioned by mass migrations of peoples – across
national and ethnic boundaries, and from dispersed rural environments to
dense urban centres –  the idea that art and architecture can convey stable
representations and values has come undone. At the same time, practices of
place making are no longer considered the domain of the professional, nor as
an inherent/given act, but as an ongoing, repeated, negotiated and contested
process.

If the 'place' of art and architecture is already filled, and by competing
stories, what else is to be told? What new responsibilities does this
telling imply?

Over two days, the *Telling Places* conference will consider place as a
space loaded with 'familiar' significance, whether this be personal or
collective. We are interested in the objects, the artifacts, the means, the
processes that narrate the creation of such places, as well as those that
challenge, question or negate such places.

Papers are invited that respond to, challenge and extend the following
questions:



*1) Places that Tell:*

How do buildings, artefacts, models, or stories, contribute to the formation
of cultural identity?
To what extent can culturally and ethnically specific representations be
considered political?
To what extent are the limits of such representations set by the work (the
object, the site), or set by the audience?
How, and what, does the non-representational object, or building, narrate?

*2) Meeting** Places**:*
Has a new 'narrative of place', challenged the boundaries between art and
architecture?
What are the implications, for the relationship between art and
architecture, of such narratives?

*3) Telling of Places:*
If narrative cannot be treated as 'neutral', what is its role in the
examination of the history of art and design?
To what extent, and in what ways, does the historian, or critic, contribute
to the construction/production of place?
In what ways does narrative affect ownership of the work?

*4) **Hidden Places**:*
To what degree can the artist or designer reveal the process of production,
in the work itself?
Can practice be considered an act of identification?
To what extent is practice an 'uncovering', 'unmasking', 'revealing', or a
'making known', that which had been 'guessed', 'assumed', 'hidden', or even
'secret'?
What models, technologies, procedures, and dialogues have been developed to
'reveal', and how are these limited (do they 'hide' as well?)?
What are the aesthetics, and ethics, of the 'disguised' work?


Guidelines for submission of paper abstracts:

Deadline 24th September, 2007

Abstracts 500 words for
10 page papers (approximately 20 minute presentations)
Abstracts must include title, but no author

All Proposals to include a cover letter with:

1)    title

2)    name and address

3)    phone number

4)    email address

5)    college affiliation (if any)

To:
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or

Telling Places
c/o Nick Beech
Wates House,
22 Gordon Street,
London WC1H 0QB

*Telling Places* regrets that it cannot contribute towards the cost of
travel or accommodation, please state if you require any information
regarding these matters.







 nicholas beech
phd (year 1)                                 Bartlett    UCL
143 Hartswood Road       London     w12 9ng
07973 369 605                        020 8 932 0362
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