Superscript: Arts Journalism and Criticism in a Digital Age
May 28–30, 2015
Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55403
The Walker Art Center is pleased to announce Superscript: Arts Journalism and Criticism in a Digital Age, a first-of-its-kind conference copresented by the Walker and Mn Artists. In this age of democratized media—when curation, self-promotion, and DIY criticism combine and collide online—what is the role of the professional art critic? Is virality killing or cultivating new audiences for the arts? How is the web changing the way artists tell their stories or expand their practices—or how we think about art?
Superscript convenes a diverse array of writers, editors, artists, curators, and theorists to address questions around online art publishing’s present and its possible futures. Hosted by the multidisciplinary Walker Art Center, the three-day gathering includes keynotes, panel discussions, film premieres from Moyra Davey and James Richards, a DJ set by YACHT’s Claire Evans, access to the Walker’s celebrated new exhibition International Pop, and more.
Bookended by the “Everyone’s a critic” mixer on Thursday and an after-party at Le Meridién Chambers Minneapolis on Saturday, the conference features two keynotes, plus four panels made up of short talks by key thinkers in arts publishing, followed by a group discussion by presenters.
Superscript Reader
To expand accessibility to Superscript and extend the conversation beyond the conference stage, we’ve launched Superscript Reader, an editorial supplement to the in-person convening. Drop by to watch the free conference webstream, read live responses to Superscript from participants in the Superscript blog mentorship program (a partnership with Hyperallergic), and read a series of commissioned essays on related themes by critics and creators, including Kimberly Drew (Black Contemporary Art), Marvin Lin (Tiny Mix Tapes), Taylor Aldridge and Jessica Lynne (ARTS.BLACK), Alexandra Lange (Curbed), and An Xiao Mina (The Civic Beat).
Conference details
Friday, May 29
Session 1: Credibility, Criticism, Collusion
Panelists: Ryan Schreiber (Pitchfork), Orit Gat (Rhizome, BOMB), Christopher Knight (Los Angeles Times), Isaac Fitzgerald (Buzzfeed), Moderator: Orit Gat
Session 2: Sustainability, Growth, and Ethics
Panelists: Veken Gueyikian (Hyperallergic), Eugenia Bell (Design Observer), Carolina Miranda (Los Angeles Times), James McAnally (Temporary Art Review) Moderator: Susannah Schouweiler (Mn Artists)
Film screening
Moyra Davey: Notes on Blue
Keynote: Ben Davis on “Post-Descriptive Criticism”
“Can you think about forms of criticism that are more image-based, without collapsing into a pure uncritical fascination with the image?” New York–based critic Ben Davis will present his thoughts on new criticism in age of image ubiquity. The author of 9.5 Theses on Art and Class (Haymarket, 2013), he is national art critic for artnet News.
Saturday, May 30
Session 3: Connectivity and Community
Panelists: Claudia La Rocco (theperformanceclub.org), Ayesha Siddiqi (The New Inquiry), Alexander Provan (Triple Canopy), Brian Kuan Wood (e-flux journal).
Moderator: Claudia La Rocco
Film screening
James Richards: Radio at Night
Session 4: Artists as Cultural First Responders
Panelists: James Bridle, Marisa Mazria-Katz (Creative Time Reports), Dan Fox (frieze), Claire Evans (Vice, YACHT)
Moderator: Fionn Meade (Walker Art Center)
Keynote: James Bridle
Technology is central to UK-based artist James Bridle’s work—both topically and, in many cases, in his art’s form and distribution. The creator of Dronestagram, Bridle’s thinking around “the New Aesthetic,” a term he coined, has spurred debate and creative work across multiple disciplines. His writing on literature, culture, and networks has been published by Wired, Domus, Cabinet, the Atlantic, the New Statesman, and the Guardian, among others. In 2014, Bridle received the Graphic Design of the Year award from the Design Museum, London.
Funding
Mn Artists is a project of The McKnight Foundation and the Walker Art Center, and was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Support for Superscript is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
