conversation XXXIV

Vanessa Billy (*1978, CH/GB, lives and works in Zurich) in conversation with Ben Woodard (philosopher and writer, lives and works in Ontario, Canada) 

natural abstraction 

The conceptual implications of material processes are paramount to Vanessa Billy's practice. Extraction of raw materials to energy consumption and the immutable waste products that result from it, the horror or the beauty of these chain reactions we do not all control exert a strong fascination for her. In comparison to that Ben Woodard’s thinking focuses among other things on speculative realism and its impact on our understanding of (physical) science or nature. Within the talk the artist and the philosopher not only discuss the differences between empirical evidence and speculation but also the natural status of the image between art and philosophy.

Talk in English

Friday, 2 May 2014, 7pm