Found In Translation

Intra-disciplinary collaboration: communication between artists, musicians, creative practitioners and within Humanities and Philosophy disciplines.

Typically attention is given to the value of interdisciplinary activity across broad fields such as art and science. Funding is regularly allocated for the development of protocols and to assist communication between these traditions. What happens to communication across different disciplines within arts and humanities? How does translation of activity and information from one medium, or specialist arts or humanities area, into another allow knowledge to be explored in different ways? Can the process, including misunderstanding and learning, be considered a creative act in itself?

Concretely it is the case that much is taken for granted even in conversations between practitioners from different arts practice backgrounds such as music composition, film and visual art. When Humanities strands are considered the potential for confusion, or worse, fear of collaboration, is amplified. This is despite the fact that many practitioners, academics and researchers collaborate and draw frequently on each others’ fields. Artists often refer to philosophical theories or history, film makers work with designers and composers for example.

The symposium is oriented towards both arts practice-led and humanities based research students as well as faculty, working practitioners, artists and professional creative organisations. The initiative was instigated by Creative Critical Practice Research Group (CCPRG) based at University of Sussex through discussions with Professor of Performance Technologies, Sally-Jane Norman, and is hosted by the Attenborough Centre Creativity Zone, which is providing key resources for FIT. The symposium also benefits from support and endorsement from the open access academic platform REFRAME, doctoral students from the University of Sussex, Royal College of Art, Universities of Brighton, West London, Glasgow, linkages with the University of Dundee, the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts Southeast England (CHASE) and additional funding kindly provided by the University of Kingston.

Keynote Speakers:

Day 1: Dr Mary Anne Francis, University of Brighton, will discuss the function of translation in a multi-modal arts practice and in relation to multi-disciplinary research.

Day 2: Prof. Simon Penny, University of California Irvine, will draw on his artist-engineer background and experience as founding director of the Arts, Computation and Engineering Masters programme at UCI.

Programme Sessions

Taking its cue from attempts by entomologists to transcribe the sounds of insects as musical notation an exploration of the ends to which sound and image are used to encode each other. Led by Justin Grize with Daniel Hignell.

Adopting a hands-on technical approach, transducers/transduction will be explored in their relations to translation. Led by Joe Watson with Danny Bright.

Translating a multidisciplinary practice into sensuous knowledge, lending itself to potentially conflicting literacies and interpretations. Led by Nanette Hoogslag with Cecile Chevalier and Evelyn Ficarra.

Walter Benjamin’s The Task of the Translator will offer a starting point for debating the relevance of philosophical theories to translation in practice. Led by Dr. Daniel Steuer.

Artist Micheál O’Connell and composer Stace Constantinou use their experience of working together on a joint exhibition Trainofthoughts (The Horse Hospital, London 2012) as case study.

Reflection on scholarly video-making practices using existing film and moving image footage, in creative critical contexts, and on possibilities for peer-review, publication, academic reception and teaching of such work. Led by Dr. Catherine Grant with Dr. Ian Garwood and Frances Hubbard.

Janina Moninska directs Liebe Mutti, a Live Art Intervention using 39 German letters written by [her] Polish father from Dachau Concentration camp 1940-1945.