“The Graphic Conscience” calls for papers addressing transhistorical and transnational case studies of print as a tool for raising public consciousness. This session critically considers the ethics of print, inherent in the medium’s daily use-value beyond its function as a rarified fine-art object in a museum. Democratic in nature, print communicates through text and/or image as well as through its multiplicity. In considering the “graphic conscience” – or the social responsibility – of print, this session will celebrate the medium’s impacts on everyday life. The framework for this session responds to the thesis of the 2011 publication Philagrafika: The Graphic Unconscious, which reflected on the formal characteristics of print and argued for its assimilation within art at large. Papers can address a wide range of art historical as well as visual and material culture examples, including but not limited to Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses of 1517; the seventeenth century etchings of Jacques Callot’s Les Grandes Misères de la guerre; the didactic agitprop of Taller de Gráfica Popular in late 1930s Mexico; and the commercially-produced postcards mailed to Americans by the Centers for Disease Control in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Prints of all techniques – from Renaissance woodblocks to contemporary risograph zines – are eligible. Papers engaging post-colonial critique and/or topics from outside North America and Europe are strongly encouraged. Practice-based papers by artists, giving us a perspective from inside the studio or printshop, are particularly welcomed.

Session Chair:
Ksenia Nouril, PhD, Jensen Bryan Curator, The Print Center, Philadelphia
ksenia.nouril@gmail.com // @kaysenyah // @theprintcenter

While the logistics of the 2021 CAA conference are still to be determined, in order to apply, please submit a completed proposal form (available at the 'External Link' below; inclusive of abstract), a CV (max. 2 pages), and, if applicable, documentation (max. 5 images) to session chair Ksenia Nouril, PhD at ksenia.nouril@gmail.com before Wednesday, September 16, 2020. 

Please note that a paper that has been published previously or presented at another scholarly conference may not be delivered at the CAA Annual Conference. Additional FAQs can be found here:
https://www.collegeart.org/programs/conference/FAQ

Please visit the 'External Link' below for more information. Thank you!