AAO: Ethics/Aesthetics International Conference 01

Athens School of Fine Arts
19 – 20 January 2011

The first International Conference of AAO: Ethics/Aesthetics takes place on 19 & 20 January 2011 at the amphitheater of the Athens School of Fine Arts, 256 Pireos St., Athens. A debate on the spatial translations of ethics and aesthetics and the critical role of new spatial practices within the current social, political and environmental context becomes the focal point of the presentations and round-table discussions of the first conference.

The ethics-aesthetics relationship is examined through the interface of different fields and disciplines, including philosophy, aesthetic theories, sociology and the sociology of professions, curatorial practices and topology. The conference focuses on the following topical issues:

• (an interdisciplinary approach): in what ways and to what extent ethics and aesthetics interact
• (an interdisciplinary approach): in what ways ethics can be expressed through the form of aesthetics
• (an approach from the point of view of architecture): commitments/risks – in what ways ethics can transform the established ideological principles of architecture
• (an approach from the point of view of architecture): the métier of an architect – ethics, sanitizing effects

Curator: Lina Stergiou. Organizers: Maria Panayides, Lina Stergiou

Speakers:
Maurice Benayoun, Professor, co-founder and Artistic Director of the CITU research center of Paragraphe Laboratory at Université Paris 8, new media artist, Ole Bouman, General Director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi), Rotterdam, David Cottington, Professor of History of Modern Art and Director of Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Kingston University London, noted historian of Cubism, Lydia Matthews, Dean of Academic Programs and Professor of Visual Culture, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, art critic and curator of contemporary art, Konstantinos Moraitis, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, Lina Stergiou, Architect, Educator, Writer, Curator at large of AAO project, Maria Theodorou, architect (PhD), head of the non-profit organization SARCHA ‘School for ARCHitecture 4 All’, and Jilly Traganou,Director of Academic Affairs and Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Design Studies – History and Theory, Parsons The New School for Design, New York.

Coordinators:
Lois Papadopoulos, Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, and Nikos Xydakis, Editor-in-chief, Kathimerini newspaper, journalist, critic and author.

Thematics:
Maurice Benayoun has chosen to elaborate on his concept of ArtCollider: how new forms of art are encouraged through the process of sharing. Ole Bouman will focus on the Architecture of Consequence, the architectural profession on an international level, its ethical pursuits and sanitizing effects. David Cottington will discuss the interrelations among the formation of the Avant-garde in early 20^th century Paris, the professional artist and the aesthetic notions of the era. Lydia Matthews will use cross-disciplinary models (Design, Handicraft, Social Practices) to trigger a dialogue on the innovative forms of social interaction. Konstantinos Moraitis will discuss the philosophical and aesthetic theories perspective of ethics and aesthetics. Lina Stergiou will uncover the pragmatic aspects of creative activism: it’s vital function within Architecture and the current economic realities. Maria Theodorou will make a critical approach of the Ethics of Empowerment mainly in relation to architecture, but also of the current –so called– ‘ethics turn’ in order to open up architecture’s potential within the conditions of economic crisis. Jilly Traganou will talk about the role of design ethics in relation to immigration and the collective engagement for the creation of postnational identities.

Conference timetable:

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Thursday 20 January 2011