Then I was in entire possession of the five sensorial powers and their long roots were as visible as the sun. Uncommon Senses seeks to redress this sensory imbalance by bringing to the fore the cultural, political and aesthetic significance of non-visual modes of sensorial engagement. By so doing the original meaning of the term aesthetics, that of sense perception, is recovered in its full sensorial capacity. The cultural construction of the senses is a subject of multidisciplinary interest and investigation, which brings together the humanities and the social sciences. Historical and anthropological studies reveal the distinctive sensory underpinnings of social systems in different time periods and cultures.
Literary studies bring out the sensory values encoded in written texts.
In the fine arts, the non-visual senses have been employed by a number of artists since the late nineteenth century to animate antiseptic gallery spaces, question assumptions about the objecthood of art, and address the subtle but powerful links between the senses, lived experience and cultural meaning. The cooking performances of Rirkrit Tiravanija, the tactile sculptures of Mona Hatoum, and the aromatic installations of Ann Hamilton are only a few of the more salient examples in contemporary art. G 1M8 Abstracts will be reviewed by the organizing committee and, if approved, assigned either to one of the existing panels or one of the new panels created to accommodate emergent themes. The organizing committee will respond to your submission within three weeks of receipt. The deadline for abstracts and for proposals for panels is 1 November 1999.