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Arts of the Critical Zone

As part of the Director's Seminar series run by the Warburg Institute, this special webinar on 5 March from 17:00-18:30 (GMT) will present a conversation with Bruno Latour, Joseph Leo Koerner (Harvard University), and Frédérique Aït-Touati (CNRS and the EHESS, Paris).

Earth-systems scientists refer to the region a few hundred metres above and below the earth’s surface as the “critical zone”— the earth’s fragile skin, where the interactions of weather, water, soil, and stone form the conditions for life. Philosopher Bruno Latour co-curated the current exhibition, Critical Zones, at the ZKM in Karlsruhe to explore the seismic implications of reorienting science, politics, art, and religion towards this area. The exhibit and its catalog, Critical Zones: the Science and Politics of Landing on Earth — named one of the New York Times’ best art books of 2020 — explore the new kinds of attention, political alliances, care for nonhuman surroundings, and arts of inhabitation demanded by our “earthly” condition. In this rare event, Bruno Latour will discuss the exhibit and catalogue, joined by art historian, Joseph Leo Koerner, and historian of science and literature, Frédérique Aït-Touati. Their conversation will excavate what an earthly art and art history might look like, undertaken from the critical zone.

Price: Free registration at website below

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