Warnborough College’s Third Annual International Conference on the Arts (WCCA 2015) will take place from the evening of 14 July through 17 July 2015. This year’s conference theme is “Art as Illusion”.
See our Schedule of Events here, and learn more about our Presenters.
There are other events happening around WCCA in Canterbury, so have a look here.
Changes to the Schedule
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- Cathy Ciosek will be replaced by Dr Jill Kiefer who will present “Art and Illusion – American Style”. This session will also swap with Dr Linda Wilde’s session (“Gombich on Illusion”) to Friday, 17th July, while Dr Wilde’s session will move to the Thursday.
- David Lancefield will not be doing antique evaluations on the 17th July. Instead, Rosemary Berry will do a visual presentation entitled “Relics and Monuments in Syria”.
“Illusion” is typically defined as something negative — something that deceives us by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. But what is reality? Isn’t it shaped by our perceptions? Isn’t whatever control we think we have or reality itself illusory? A rainbow is an optical illusion. It doesn’t have an actual endpoint. Does that mean it isn’t real? Art throughout history has reflected and defined cultures, ideas, beliefs i.e. realities. A two-dimensional painting can evoke a three-dimensional feel. Simple lines can create depth and distance.
The ability to manipulate impressions, emotions and perceptions successfully (and for a sustained period) can also be considered an ‘art’. Art has been known to elicit feelings of joy, sadness, anger and other things.
At WCCA 2015, we’ll address the theme of “Art as Illusion” and also “Illusion as Art” in tangible and abstract ways. Join us to explore where illusion and reality converge in the arts.
Some of the sub-topics the conference on the arts will examine will include (but not be limited to):
- Reality vs. Illusion: Is there a Difference?
- Art as a device for creating visual illusions
- The reciprocal dialogue between art and reality
- Art creating illusions as a force for cultural and social change
- How various artforms (e.g. theatre, film, dance, writing) can create new realities for audiences
- Art as a mode of deception?
- The evolution of illusionism in art
- The psychology behind art
- Techniques used by artists to create illusion in their work
- The synthesis of artistic and cultural illusions from the past with contemporary art and culture
- How, when, where, and why realities and illusions converge in the arts
- The intersection of reality and illusion: why and how it happens
- Science and art—a creative and inspiring collision of two different worlds. But are they so different?
- Art as the ‘glue’ that binds the past—the present—and the future, in illusionary ways
- The evolving lexicon of visual idioms in the contexts of illusion and reality
- Methodologies needed to teach the changing Fine Arts and Art History disciplines
- The business of creating illusions—in arts disciplines–in today’s global culture
- Contemporary challenges of curatorship, as they relate to illusion and reality
These and other sub-topics will be explored through a variety of tracks. Some of these tracks will run simultaneously. The tracks include: Visual Presentations; Art Workshops; Academic Papers; Creative Writing Workshops; A Short Film Festival; Art History Classes; Round Table Discussions; and an Art Exhibit.
Target conference participants include:
Artists in all media; academics, archivists, historians, curators, guides, students, researchers, curriculum planners, policy makers, photographers, and professionals in the fields of media, education, arts, music, humanities, science, and social sciences.