The School of Arts, in partnership with Studio 3 Gallery, Kent Law School, and the Centre for Critical Thought, has organised two collaborative events with artist Heath Bunting, to be held on Friday 15 March 2019.
The events consist of a seminar for students and staff at 11am in Cornwallis North West Seminar Room 6, and a talk which is open to the public at 4pm in the Studio 3 Gallery.
This joint venture was initiated by Mihaela Varzari, an independent curator currently undertaking a PhD in History and Philosophy of Art, and Dr Connal Parsley, Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Director of Kent’s Centre for Critical Thought. Each presentation will be followed by discussion with the organisers, chaired by Dr Michael Newall, Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Art.
Heath Bunting’s international artistic career, spanning over 30 years, has roots in local political and social activism in Bristol with a strong focus on anarchism. The emergence of the internet in the mid 90’s in UK, perceived by Bunting as a social revolution, allowed him to immediately embrace it as an artistic medium, as well as a tool for social change. Street art, sports, permaculture, information sharing via networks, or forest trips, to mention only a few, become artistic ways of representation. Considered a pioneer of net.art, Bunting’s work is also associated with the second wave of institutional critique, known for challenging via networks and exhibitions available only on-line, the hyper commodification of art markets in the West. As politics and the nature of the internet have changed, so does Bunting’s questions and interests. His strong interest in recent legislation, commerce and systems of control, as seen in Status Project (2008), renders his work difficult to categorise, but nevertheless richly informative for students of history of art and law.
If you wish to attend the seminar on Friday, please RSVP to Connal Parsley at C.Parsley@kent.ac.uk
Please book your free ticket for the talk at 4pm on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/332030800780016/ or Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-talk-heath-bunting-tickets-58332302487