Co-presented by The School of Image Arts, Ryerson University and the Centre for Media and Culture in Education, OISE University of Toronto
Symposium: Friday, October 30 – Saturday, October 31, 2009, The School of Image Arts, Ryerson University
War at a Distance Public Programs
All programs are free and open to the public.
In conjunction with War at a Distance, TPW presents two events as part of This is Not a Blog; an intermittent and intimate series of public discussions on culture related matters.
When do images of war bring us too close? Various forms of visual culture have attempted to bring people into a relation of “proximity” to the experience of war. How do we understand this sense of proximity and the resulting relationship between thought and emotion? Two moderated discussions will take the exhibition War at a Distance as a starting point for debates around what forms of representation create a productive distance and how close is too close to war.
Moderator: Sharon Sliwinski, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Media and Information Studies, University of Western Ontario. Her research and teaching focuses on visual culture and contemporary theory. She is currently finishing on a book called Human Rights In Camera which investigates the visual dimensions of human rights discourse.
Sliwinski will begin the evening referencing the photographs of Suzanne Opton, discussing how images move away from the attempt to record the reality of war to a belated meditation about its effects.
Thursday, November 19th, 7:00 pm
Moderator: Sara Matthews, Assistant Professor in Culture and Conflict in the Department of Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her work explores the affective difficulties of teaching and learning from traumatic historical events. Her current research considers how contemporary Canadian war artists are responding to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.
Matthews will begin the evening with a discussion of soldier-made YouTube videos as a viewing experience that disrupts the safety of critical or aestheticized distance.
Symposium: Friday, October 30 – Saturday, October 31, 2009
War at a Distance: Documentary Practice, Visual Culture, and Public Conversations about Military Conflict
Location: The School of Image Arts, Ryerson University
The War at a Distance Symposium is co-presented by The School of Image Arts, Ryerson University and the Centre for Media and Culture in Education, OISE/UT
Thursday, November 12, 2009 7:00 pm
Artist’s Lecture: Suzanne Opton
Ryerson University, Library Building, Room 72
