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Making Sense is a loose and expanding collective of artists and thinkers engaged in ‘making sense’, which, as we conceive it, denotes an act of reflection that is at once theoretical and practical, accessible, and inclusive. While diverse in our practices and our disciplines, we have a common striving to cross between modes of doing and thinking art and philosophy, especially within the contemporary context. We held our inaugural colloquium in September 2009 in collaboration with Jean-Luc Nancy at the University of Cambridge. The event drew together about forty artists and theoreticians who brought forward interventions in the form of oral presentations, video, performance, theatre and dance. In the face of the success of this initiative, we meet again in 2010 in Paris.

Our main speaker for this event is the French philosopher Bernard Stiegler. Since 2006, Bernard Stiegler has been director of the Institut de recherche et d’innovation (IRI) at the Centre Georges Pompidou. His research is centered around philosophies of technology, questions of desire and the figure of the amateur, which he defines in opposition to that of the consumer in the context of an emerging economy of contribution. At this colloquium Stiegler will be engaging in conversation and making sense with artist Philippe Mouillon and the group of artists Eternal Network. They will dialogue around the notion of territoriality and the urban space.

This conference will draw together thinkers and artists engaged in the worlds of art, aesthetic philosophy and contemporary theory, to provide live source material for debate and further research, as well as to form an interface between artistic creation, theoretical debate, and academic scholarship. Rather than formal papers being presented in closed 20-minute slots, this colloquium is an experimental forum that encourages reaction and debate. The format of the event will be choreographed around presentations and responses to the plenary speakers, shorter bursts of ideas, artistic installations and performances.
 

The event will be held at the Centre Pompidou in 19th October, and at the Institut Télécom on the 20th October. On the evening of the second day is a reception at the New York University in Paris.

Participation : 20 Euros, payable in advance or on the day.

WARNING: pre-registration is strongly recommended to attend the colloquium. You can download the registration form  here.

Organising committee: Lorna Collins, Margalit Berriet, Pierre-Antoine Chardel, Kélina Gotman, Yves-Marie L’Hour, Bandy Lee, Jean-Luc Moriceau, Patricia Ribault

Institutional partners: Cambridge University, Institut Télécom, Télécom Ecole de Management, New York University in Paris, Institut de recherche et d’innovation, Yale University, Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design de Reims, King’s College London.

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