The conference seeks to address plaster and plaster casts in terms of material, process and the status of the model. Why and when do artists and/or architects choose to employ plaster or plaster casts? How have these been read and referred to? What associations does the material evoke? How do plaster and plaster casts fit into the wider field of reproductive materials, such as wax, drawings, prints or photography? What is their place in the context of architecture and the study of architectural history?
Papers are invited that address these and other related issues. While it is anticipated that a majority of papers will address European and American themes from the eighteenth century to the present, the organisers do not want to impose any restrictions on periods and/or geographical areas under discussion.
The conference will bring together an interdisciplinary community of scholars and address issues relevant to art historians, architectural historians, archaeologists, philosophers, cultural historians, museologists, and conservators, from teaching institutions and museums.
Conference attendees will also have a chance to study informally the magnificent collection of plasters on display at the V&A.
Proposals (300 words maximum) should be sent to Eckart.Marchand@sas.ac.uk
<mailto:Eckart.Marchand@sas.ac.uk> no later than 29 March 2009.
Thursday 12 and Friday 13 March 2010
Two day conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Deadline: 29 March 2009
For enquiries and further information please contact one of the organisers:
Eckart Marchand (The Warburg Institute, London; Eckart.marchand@sas.ac.uk)
Marjorie Trusted (Victoria & Albert Museum, London; m.trusted@vam.ac.uk
<mailto:m.trusted@vam.ac.uk> )
or, for architecture, Charles Hind (Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Royal Institute of British Architects; c.hind@vam.ac.uk)