About

FACING EXTINCTION

An international conference at The University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, England, Sat 7th + Sun 8th June 2014

A two-day conference is currently being planned by the Fine Art Department, University for the Creative Arts, and is due to take place in June 2014 at the Farnham Campus. The conference aims to support worldwide movements in response to the accelerating decimation of the natural world through human-made activities leading to mass extinction.

The art, architecture and design world needs to take a stand against the ongoing erasure of species – even where there is little chance of ultimate success – it is our privilege and our duty to be at the forefront of the struggle. Humanity has moved through extreme crises in the past: time and speed is of the essence. There is no choice but follow the path of ethics into aesthetics. We envisage artists, academics, ecologists, art historians, architects, critics, curators, economists and writers being involved.

Without nature there cannot be art. Dürer said, in his much quoted sentence, ‘And verily art resides in nature; he who can tear it out, has it.’

We live in societies suffocating in waste. Every time you consider buying a new laptop or mobile phone, you need to recall the agonizing photos of young men, prematurely aged, who spend their shortened lives dealing with the toxic technology discarded by our civilization. The cycle of extinction starts with the plastic milk bottles, left on the doorsteps of the newly built suburban houses, and reaches its destructive climax in the deep forests of other continents. The daisy is light, joyful, vulnerable – a favourite of children. Daisy chain is a term used to describe connections and exchanges between groups of people. In computing, daisy chain refers to multiple linkages of electronic devices. In our struggle, against mass extinction, the daisy will become a widely used symbol.

The conference will be an appeal to radically limit the ongoing decimation of nature. Speakers are invited to make a challenging presentation of the issues involved. It will be a call to firmly oppose human activity that lead to mass extinction, and to highlight the deteriorating situation. Speakers will be invited to focus on immediate and long-term action.

Gustav Metzger Jan 2014

 

Ticket Information

Ticket price includes attendance to the days’ panel talks and events, light lunch and refreshments. On Saturday evening there will be some performance events exploring the themes of the conference.

Tickets can be purchased from April 2014 at :  https://store.ucreative.ac.uk/

Full price : £45 one day / £90 two days

Concessions (students /unwaged) : £15 per day / £30 two days

Free tickets: Free tickets will be available for additional students to see the talks via live streaming in other lecture theatres on campus.

For conference information contact: Andrea Gregson, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, UCA Farnham  T: +44 (1252) 892820    E:agregson@ucreative.ac.uk