Always in translation
a salon event
SITE Gallery, 18th January 2019
Speakers:
Graham Little and Ryan Mosley
Lei CHANG, Guijun Li and Jian WANG (Beijing)
Penny McCarthy, Gary Simmonds and Diana Taylor
The metaphor of translation has been used increasingly since the eighteenth century to describe both the activity and the end result of painting, conveying such terms as ‘reproduce’, ‘render’ and ‘express’. Charles Baudelaire used this metaphor frequently from his first 1846 salon to his 1863 essay on Delacroix.*
Considered in the post-digital global moment, the idea of painting as interpretation and as a form that crosses linguistic barriers acquires fresh resonance. Although the global dispersion of art works and practices enables wider accessibility, the post-digital context presents new challenges for the interpretation of physical objects and artefacts as the perception of such works is often limited to traces and elements that may be understood through the influence of computer technology. Crucially for art this means that interpretation will depend on an audience’s experience and knowledge whose possibilities may be unknown to wider communities. This salon event aims to build a dialogue to share different ways of thinking to grow a community of practice for artistic development that reaches across research and pedagogy.
UK and Chinese painters have been invited to meet and share their perspectives on their discipline.
Always in Translation is convened by TC McCormack (C3Ri Research / Sheffield Institute of the Arts (SIA), with support from: Sally Li (Art & Design international office, Beijing, SHU), Gary Simmonds and Penny McCarthy (SIA Fine Art).
*Through the Unknown, we'll find the New - Les Fleurs du Mal, Charles Baudelaire (1857)1. Unpredicting the Future (2018), by Steven Shaviro https://alienocene.com/2018/04/01/futurity-and-science-fiction/