Parsons faculty Heide Fasnacht will be participating in the upcoming conference, “Losing Ground: On Holes and Other Absences,” taking place May 18-20th in University of Warwick, Coventry (UK).
Photo documentation of Fasnacht’s work, “Suspect Terrain” will be on exhibit. Since the late 1990’s Fasnacht’s work has explored shifting states of matter, ranging from exploding buildings (pre 9/11) to damaged artworks in wartime, to the present iteration: the consequences of crater formation. For Fasnacht, destruction is the impetus for building.
The conference “Losing Ground” asks–what happens when ground gives way? Sinkholes are constantly appearing. At least; there has been an increase in media attention over their globally growing number. Sinkholes describe geologically formed depressions or holes in the ground caused by either suffusion or karst processes leading to a collapse of the surface. They can appear naturally, but increasingly seem to be man-made as a result of more diversified subterranean uses. Their increasing number destabilizes urban, political and social infrastructure; it also raises profound metaphysical questions. In this workshop we attempt to look at sinkholes, as a lens through which we can ponder on situations of a vanishing of the ground beneath our feet. Holes can be seen as the absence of geographic materialities, loss, gaps, and collapse of meaning. Holes can also be interpreted as potential sites of openings, creativity, and reconstruction of new or recovered meaning.
The conference is taking contribution submissions on the website.
Losing Ground: On Holes and Other Absences
May 18-20th, 2017
University of Warwick
Image: Suspect Terrain, 2014-2015, painted wood, 50′ across, Heide Fasnacht
