Photographing the Unseen: Counter-image strategies and the Global War on Terror

Starting point:
To what extent are the positions and perspectives of art and design changing? What is the relationship between materials, media and content? How can one take a stand, how can one contribute? Is the aesthetic autonomy of design and art in danger, or are there new ways of situating it? How are current challenges affecting the differences and similarities between art and design?

Thematic focus:
The present is characterized by far-reaching processes of change, the speed of which seems to be increasing all the time. These processes move in a field of tension that is shaped by the existential threats of the Anthropocene as well as by a globally unfolding plurality of perspectives.
In this way, familiar self-images are set in motion, which also has a significant impact on art and design. As forms of aesthetic genesis of meaning and public practices, they make use of technological achievements, react to crises, address and realize power relations and bring marginalized perspectives into public awareness.

Event:
The symposium “Taking Sides. Design and art between autonomy and interference” takes this potential as a starting point to discuss the extent to which art and design can, or perhaps should, take a stance in the face of current challenges and what that means for their relationship to one another. These questions are dealt with on the basis of current socio-political issues, in an examination of various artistic and design materials and in a dialogue between aesthetic theory and practice.

The topics and questions of the symposium will be discussed in four lecture panels and two podium discussions. The national and international guests come from the humanities, from design, art and photography.