PhD Courses in Denmark

Lecture and masterclass with Peter Osborne, February 20-21, 2025, hosted by the Institute for Art and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with ArtHub Copenhagen

We are happy to invite PhD fellows and postdocs in the field of Humanities and Artistic Research to join a joint lecture masterclass with Peter Osborne, Professor of Modern European Philosophy and founding Director of the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University London.

Schedule and venue

February 20, 17:00 – 19:00: Public lecture by Peter Osborne at ArtHub Copenhagen, Thoravej 29, 2400 Copenhagen NV.

February 21, 10:00 – 13:00: Masterclass with Peter Osborne at the Department of Art and Cultural studies, South Campus, room 23.3.39 (enter via Emil Holms Kanal).   

Abstract

“Contemporary Art as Historical Art”
What does it mean to experience an artwork as at once ‘contemporary’ and ‘historical’; as historical in the mode of its contemporaneity? And how do its spatial relations affect the character of its contemporaneity? That is, how is our understanding of the dialectic of site and non-site that constitutes the spatial aspect of the artwork to be extended to include the full range of its geo-political – and thereby fully historical – conditions? And how do particular curatorial discourses and modes of presentation both disclose and cover over, or disavow, such historical meanings. Starting with a lecture at ArtHub Copenhagen on February 20, 5 pm, Peter Osborne will reflect on these general-theoretical questions via discussion of the contrasting instances of (i) curatorial-political discourses at the 60th Venice Biennale, Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere (2024) and (ii) the situation of art in response to the war in Ukraine.

Details

On February 20, at 17:00

Osborne will present his recent research during a lecture at Art-Hub Copenhagen, co-arranged by IKK and ArtHub.
Respondent: Mikkel Bolt.

On February 21, 10:00-13:00

Osborne will join us for a masterclass, hosted by Frida Sandström and Mikkel Bolt (IKK). In the light of the Art Hub lecture, and two recent short texts, the masterclass will consider some methodological aspects of the interpretation and criticism of contemporary art. The texts are the Preface to Crisis as Form (2022) and the article ‘Interesting Art’ in New Left Review 150, (Nov/Dec 2024). It is mandatory to attend the lecture to attend the masterclass. Following Osborne’s introduction to methodology, up to three participants will have the opportunity to present a paper of approx. ten minutes, responded to by Osborne and discussed by the group. Reading material will be circulated to registered participants one month prior to the masterclass.

Registration

Register to the masterclass no later than January 31 by sending an email to f.sandstrom@hum.ku.dk. Maximum number of participants: 15.

ECTS

0.3 ECTS credits for attendance and preparation of literature; 1.8 ECTS credits for presenting a paper.

Literature

• Osborne, Peter. “Interesting Art.” New Left Review 150, Nov-Dec 2024, pp. 156-168.
• Osborne, Peter. “Preface,” in Crisis as Form. London: Verso 2022, pp. vii-xi.
• Osborne, Peter. “The Postconceptual Condition: Or, The Cultural Logic of High Capitalism Today,” in The Postconceptual Condition. Critical Essays. London: Verso 2018 pp. 3-23.

Bio: Peter Osborne

Peter Osborne is Professor of Modern European Philosophy and founding Director of the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University London. He has held Visiting Professorships at the University of Paris 8 (2012, 2014, 2019), the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (2015-16) and Yale University School of Art (2017). His books include The Politics of Time: Modernity and Avant-Garde (1995; 2011), Philosophy in Cultural Theory (2000), Conceptual Art (2002), Marx (2004), Anywhere or Not at All: Philosophy of Contemporary Art (2013), The Postconceptual Condition (2018) and Crisis as Form (2022). He has contributed to a wide range of art and cultural theory journals – including Afterall, Artforum, Art History, Cultural Studies, New German Critique, New Left Review, October, Oxford Art Journal, Telos, Texte zur Kunst –  and catalogues for art institutions – including Manifesta 5, Tate Modern, Biennale of Sydney, Walker Art Center Minneapolis, Office of Contemporary Art Norway, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design Oslo, Reina Sofia Madrid, and MMK Frankfurt.

Course convener: Frida Sandström and Mikkel Bolt.

Contact: f.sandstrom@hum.ku.dk