2010 Association of Art Historians Conference Session – Call for Papers
(Glasgow, 15-17 April 2010)

The avant-garde journal RE/Search, edited by V. Vale and published in San Francisco since 1980, has consistently explored the limits of cultural practices in relation to theories and traditions of artistic expression. Developing out of dada and surrealism and based on the surrealist call to explore the ‘irrational shadow of official culture’, RE/Search addresses contested and subversive aesthetic practices and cultural interventions. Its range of thematic and theoretical concerns (from Angry Women to Industrial Culture) defines the parameters of contemporary conceptions of the acceptable, the permissible and the desirable; its constant willingness to challenge conventions has made it a major feature of the theoretical landscape of contemporary art practice. RE/Search has furthermore been instrumental in promoting and analysing work by major contemporary artists and writers, including William Burroughs, Genesis P. Orridge, Gee Vaucher, Annie Sprinkle, Russ Meyer, Valie Export, and J. G. Ballard.

This session will mark the 30th anniversary of RE/Search and invites papers addressing and re-reading pertinent concerns and aspects of / related to the journal. These may include, but are not restricted to:

- artistic and cultural precursors and inheritors of RE/Search
- RE/Search in contexts: San Francisco, contemporary and avant-garde art movements, alternative cultures
- how RE/Search facilitates or emphasises particular practices, theories and modes of analysis, interaction and engagement
- the contributions of key figures to the RE/Search project
- special issues of RE/ Search and their influence on contemporary artistic and cultural practices
- RE/Search and interdisciplinary, inter-media and inter-art practices
- contributions on individual RE/Search articles and themes, from youth cultures to body art, industrial cultures to cut-ups, incredibly strange music to incredibly strange films and beyond.

Please submit 250 word proposals to the session convenors, Patricia Allmer and John Sears, at P.Allmer@mmu.ac.uk and J.Sears@mmu.ac.uk before 09 November 2009.

Dr Patricia Allmer
MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University
Righton Building, Cavendish Street
Manchester M15 6BG

Dr John Sears
Dept of Interdisciplinary Studies, MMU Cheshire
Crewe Green Road
Crewe, Cheshire CW1 5DU

AAH Conference website: http://aah.org.uk/future-conferences/index.php