In this session of the 6^th STS Italia Conference on Sociotechnical Environments, we will consider how contemporary art addresses new questions to environmental issues; how it questions our relation with nature and technique; and how artistic creation may indicate new kinds of answers to contemporary ecological issues. This call is open to various disciplinary fields: contribution proposals could aim to describe kinds of knowledge that contemporary art contribute to produce in the field of ecology, as to trace a history of the dialogue between environmental issues and artistic creations, and, more generally, on case studies questioning the notions of art, technique and environmental issues.

Argument

Artists allow us to perceive environmental issues that often remain imperceptible for an average person. In this sense, they play the same role as scientists, but rather than focusing on producing evidences, they seem more disposed to appeal to sensibility and emotion. They give us a chance not only to be confronted to environmental issues through knowledge and belief (confrontations that are rarely converted into actions), but through feelings.

Moreover, because contemporary artistic creations are mobilising a large diversity of techniques and tend to reinvent their uses, they open trails to a plurality of possible answers to environmental issues, and to a social dynamic.

Temporarily defined as technical experimentation, contemporary art seems to be able to open new perspectives for our relation to technique. From engaged creations, initiated in the sixties with precursors of Earth art, to interactive and participatory art, or in a more general way to salvage practices that are everywhere in the field of artistic production, a large fringe of contemporary creation revives the traditional definition of technique, in rupture with the industrial era’s legacy separating art from technique. This art of making described by Tim Ingold, resolutely local, has been downgraded by modernity: but today it allows the emergence of sensible knowledge, the kind of knowledge that default to apprehend environmental issues.

 This call is open to various disciplinary fields: contribution proposals could aim to describe kinds of knowledge that contemporary art contribute to produce in the field of ecology, as to trace a history of the dialogue between environmental issues and artistic creations, and, more generally, on case studies questioning the notions of art, technique and environmental issues. 

Important dates

• may 30, 2016: deadline for abstract submission (send submission to conferences@stsitalia.org )

• June 30, 2016: Authors notified of abstract acceptance or rejection
• September 10, 2016: Early-bird registration fees
• October 1, 2016: Late registration fees (mandatory to be included in the programme)
• October 30, 2016: Deadline for paper submission (to be included in the proceedings)
• November 1, 2016: Publication of final conference program

Convenor(s)

• Monsaingeon Baptiste, CNRS/Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris, b.monsaingeon@gmail.com;
• Raineau Laurence, CETCOPRA, Paris 1 University, laurence.raineau@univ-paris1.fr 

6th STS Italia Conference

The 6th STS Italia Conference will be held in Trento, Italy, November 24 through 26, 2016, by the Italian Society of Science and Technology Studies, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento. As for past editions, the Conference aims at offering the opportunity to discuss empirical and theoretical work addressing diverse aspects of the social study of science, technology and innovation from a variety of disciplines and fields (sociology, anthropology, law, philosophy, design, psychology, semiotics, history, and economics, etc.). The focal theme of this year's conference is Sociotechnical Environments. On the one hand, we are conscious that everyday and professional environments we inhabit are increasingly shaped by science, technology and innovation processes. However, these environments are not mere results of technical solutions and rational choices, but they rather emerge from a collective, dynamic and open-ended process of co-production, involving social arrangements and technoscientific processes, human actors and material artifacts, natural resources and cultural frameworks. At the same time, reflecting on the sociotechnical co-production of our social world brings to the foreground the relationship between technoscientific innovation and natural environment, turning environmental practices, politics and materialities as decisive focal points for the current research in multiple fields and intellectual domains. Under this unifying framework, the conference will be articulated in 25 different thematic sessions, focusing on several different topics, including: environmental issues, biomedical settings, robotics and algorithms, communication and digital media, scientific and professional work, design, urban infrastructures and innovation processes at large. 

Practical information

Abstracts (300 words) should be sent by May 30, 2016 to the email address conferences@stsitalia.org

Go to the conference website: http://www.stsitalia.org/conferences/ocs/index.php/STSIC/STE

Go directly to the list of the 25 thematic sessions: http://www.stsitalia.org/conferences/ocs/index.php/STSIC/STE/schedConf/cfp

Info about deadlines and fellowships: http://www.stsitalia.org/conferences/ocs/index.php/STSIC/STE/schedConf/overview