IONION CENTER FOR THE ARTS AND CULTURE

2017 INTERNATIONAL - PROGRAM ON PHILOSOPHY

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Pre-Socratics in the Post-Contemporary Era:

Topographic Readings and Site-Specific Techniques in Philosophy

BLOG: http://ionioncenterphilosophy.blogspot.com">http://ionioncenterphilosophy.blogspot.com

TIME:          May 30th -June 6th   2017

LOCATIONS: a. Athens, City of the ancient Philosophers                        May 30th- June 2nd 2017

                      b. Greek Island of Kefalonia                                                June 4th  – 6th 2017

APPLICATION : http://goo.gl/forms/q2f8aD9uzk

OVERVIEW:

This 7 day intensive course will be a survey of the Pre-Socratic Philosophers. We will engage the fragments of the Pre-Socratics through site-specific readings, research and discussions. We will read each philosopher at a particular site, seeking to ground our reading in our-contemporary thought- particular experiences of the location. In turn, we will respond to the sites of the ancient Greek Philosophers and incorporate them into our practice (ex. walking around, gathering materials, forming groups, creating diagrams and maps).

The Pre-Socratics sought to explain physical and natural phenomena by speculating on the nature of matter. These diverse groups of thinkers were materialists and cosmologists - they looked for fundamental and unchanging principles of the World. Our goal will be to examine the major Pre-Socratic thinkers: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Empedocles. Our reading practice will take the specificities of the City of Philosophers and of the Island Kefalonia and also the Earth itself as a guide.

Guiding Questions and Research Themes:

- Who were Pre-Socratics? Were they Philosophers?

- What is the relation between a fragment and a site?

- What is Permanence? What is Plurality? What is Flux?

- What is the contemporary relevance of the Pre-Socratics? How can their concepts, systems, and methods be applied today?

- How can a location enhance or impede a critical philosophical practice?

OUTCOME

The course is structured so as to be open-ended and sensitive to the affordances of each site. The course will culminate with an exhibition of the individual and collective works that resulted from our practice. These include: the creation of a theoretical text, multimedia sculptures and maps, para-scientific apparatuses such as compasses and sundials, audio/video documentation, radio broadcast, a live performance and recitation of philosophical thought in an open audience.

ELIGIBILITY:

The course is open to philosophers, artists, students, writers, academics, and anyone interested in Philosophy.

VENUES:

Athens, City of the ancient Philosophers and the island of Kefalonia, various locations (please see below)

Program overview:

Each day will be dedicated to a different philosopher, as well as a different site. Our time will be split between reading, discussing, exploring the site, and graphically/diagrammatically

representing our practice. The intention is to cultivate new methods of doing Philosophy and making art.

A visit to Acropolis Museum and Parthenon and also a boat trip Athens –Kefalonia, June 3th will be part of the core -program.

Sessions in Athens: will take place at Ancient Kerameikos, Pnyka, Thisseio, Zeus Temple.

Sessions in Kefalonia will take place at the Medieval Castle of Saint Georgio, the Ancient Sami Walls, the Ancient Tombs in Mazarakata.

Organized by Harrison Farina, in conjunction with Craig Dongoski's 2017 master class in Art and Technology (RadiOpolis):  http://radionion.com/">http://radionion.com/

TERMS -CONDITIONS : info@ionionartscenter.gr