6 June 2014
Nottingham Trent University
In Desert Screen, Paul Virilio suggests the notion of a ‘squared horizon’ as a way of envisioning the interposition of the screen, multiple screens, in matters of war, conflict and international relations. Yet, the ‘squared horizon’ might also function as a starting point for bringing together the various frames and trajectories which make up Virilio’s oeuvre. The ‘squared horizon’ evokes the fragmented, pixelated existence of late capitalism, the perpetual dividing up of time into ever smaller units, the deferred, bracketed out future, put aside in favour of the instantaneous and immediate, the impact of urbanization with its grid systems and blocks on our experience of space, time and identity.
This conference invites papers around the theme of the ‘squared horizon’ as it might feasibly be applied to various aspects of Virilio’s work. It is hoped the event will bring together those using Virilio as a lens through which to read current socio-economic events, art, film, media and other forms of textual and visual representation as well as architecture and urbanism. At the same time, papers which place Virilio within a theoretical context in relation to interlocuteurs such as Baudrillard, Stiegler, Agamben, Bergson, Deleuze etc. are also welcomed.
A non-exhaustive list of potential topics:
· Blocks of Time
· Proximity, Distance, Depth
· Deferred Futures
· City Limits
· The pixel
· Screen Violence
· Image-Maps
· Frames and Trajectories
· Proliferating Screens
· Divided Selves
· Conscience and the Senses
Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words to sophie.fuggle@ntu.ac.uk and enda.mccaffrey@ntu.ac.uk by 28 February 2014.