Department of Art History

Experimentation with industrial materials and technology distinguishes many 20th and 21st century avant-garde practices. Concrete Traffic’s combination of industrial materials and technical components reinforces the need for further scientific analysis and information exchange between the fine and applied arts, industry and science, as well as between the professionals who conserve industrial materials and consumer technologies in diverse contexts. A two-day symposium, held in partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago, will facilitate this exchange, bringing together leading practitioners in conservation and collection care for presentations and demonstrations, exploring how a thorough knowledge of industrial materials and processes can inform art historical interpretation. The symposium includes a close-up look at the conservation of various objects by the Hungarian born Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy in the exhibition Moholy-Nagy: Future Present at the Art Institute. Moholy-Nagy stands as a precursor to Vostell in his use of industrial materials, his performative use of media, and experiments with film.
Presented by the Department of Art History and the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago with additional funding support from 3CT, the Humanities Division, and the Franke Institute for the Humanities.