CSM/LUX STUDENT SYMPOSIA or NOW! That’s what I call failing.

As artists moving image continues its journey into the realm of the ever-present in the art world, proportionately few seek to map its placement and explore the broader relationships it fosters both in its presence and practice. Working as a continuation of our course we hope to extend the areas of thought surrounding these ideas, focusing on two principle ideas that foreground any deep thought into the subject of moving image. As the arts world gorges itself on film and video as a medium, as with all new appropriations failure seems ever prevalent, in the realms of screening work, distinct medium specificities, the act of appropriating a previously distinct form into fine art practice and the gallery as well as the infinite possibilities for failure that the pieces themselves explore.

HOW SOON IS NOW?

Whilst failure seems to prevail through current trends possibly a more pressing question revolves around what these trends are, what is deemed contemporary in a practice that can be seen to be so (relatively) young. Seeking to foreground work and ideas we are not looking to create or map trends, but instead unpick and reveal overarching ideals and ‘movements’ inherent in moving image as both a practice and an art form. In bad manners, we are to answer questions with questions provoking continual discussion to help describe and continue this vein of work and theory. In a time when open networking and the virtual disseminate any idea of place and time whilst practices become further grounded in history and nostalgia, we hope to open up questions into whether it’s possible to define a contemporary movement (or is it just another failure) and if so where you’d find it. As the great Mr. West once said; “I’m livin’ in the future so the present is my past, my presence is the present, kiss my ass.”

LUX/ICA Biennial of MOving Images opens May 24 and the students of the MRes Arts: Moving Image Studies course will be running their 2 morning symposia on 26th & 27th of May with keynote speeches from Jan Voerwort and Maeve Connolly. Tickets are free but pre-booking is recommended, more information along with booking details can be found here.

Watch this film by central Saint MArtins/LUX MRes Moving Image student Erica Scourti:

"Every day, I write and email my diary to my Gmail account and copy over the list of suggested keywords linking to clusters of relevant ads, making visible the way we and our personal information are the product in the 'free' internet economy.