[ecrea] CFP for symposium “Pointed or Pointless? Recalibrating the Index”

Extended Deadline: CFP for symposium “Pointed or Pointless? 
Recalibrating the Index”


POINTED OR POINTLESS? Recalibrating the Index

A conference and forum on the index in contemporary photography and 
image-based practice, theory and culture
Organised by Coventry University, Fachhochschule Potsdam and Middlesex 
University

Day 1 – London: 10 June 2017, at The Photographers Gallery, London

Day 2 – Berlin: tbd November 2017, ICI Berlin


The symposium “Pointed or Pointless? Recalibrating the Index” aims to 
reconsider the notion of the index, its history and present-day 
applicability. Some recent debates – which abandon strict definitions of 
analogue/digital and scrutinize fixed notions of truth and medium – are 
taken as an opportunity to readdress the notion in the 21st century.

Deriving from the semiotic theory of American philosopher Charles 
Sanders Peirce, the index has enjoyed a wide-reaching career. It has 
dominated photography’s definition as a medium for decades, justifying 
its specific “truth-claim”. With the rise of digital technologies the 
notion – in terms of a trace left behind by the photographed object on a 
material surface – has been challenged. Today, it serves as the 
distinguishing feature, which divides two states of the world (the real 
and the mediated) while at the same time connecting them. However this 
connection is not as linear as the media-ontological approach suggests, 
and has been recently discussedin terms of the “messy state of media”, 
“post- digital”, or “habitual media”.

This complex situation asks for a re-evaluation of the notion of index – 
taking into account its complex historical existence; challenging it as 
an ontological tool by tackling the asserted gap between the “analogue” 
and the “digital”; and shifting the focus to an epistemological 
understanding.

The symposium is divided in two parts. The first event (taking place in 
London) is dedicated to the re-evaluation of the index, focussing on its 
historical re-assessment as well as on the steps of “stylization” of the 
term, following the trace from Peirce to visual theory. While the second 
(in Berlin) – subsequently – will deal with the updating of the index, 
by taking a closer look at the use of the notion in debates on the 
networked image, as well as discussing gestures of authentication, which 
emphasize concepts of authenticity and objectivity and can be registered 
as indexical.


We invite submissions that address:

- Politics of indexicality (including institutionalization of the notion 
in visual studies and photography theory);

- Re-evaluations of the notion of index and photography in Charles 
Sanders Peirce’s semiotic theory;

- The deictic/performative qualities of the index, and challenges by 
artists/artworks to the theoretical tenets of indexicality;

- Reflections on the specificities of the entry of the index as a 
category into visual and art theory;

- Employments of the index in digital/networked image debates;

- Stylization and synonyms of the term;

- Metadata and indexicality (in social media, digital forensics, search 
engines, etc.);

- Indexical notions of real-time effects (as generated with apps like 
Snapchat, etc.).


500-word abstracts for 20-minute presentations should be sent to 
(andergassen /at/ fh-potsdam.de)


London Proposal Deadline: 3rd April 2017
Notification of acceptance: 25th April 2017

Berlin
Proposal Deadline: 30th June 2017
Notification of acceptance: 15th July 2017


The first event will be recorded and webcast. Priority for Berlin papers 
will be given to abstracts that build on or respond to papers from the 
London event as part of their research.


Organizing Committee:
Lisa Andergassen (Fachhochschule Postdam)
Paulius Petraitis (Middlesex University)
Damian Sutton (Coventry University)

This event is supported by the New London Graduate School and the UK 
Arts and Humanities Research Council.


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