The Tetley Gallery, Leeds, 4 March 2017

ARC | Live Library: Performing the Self

Speakers:

Corin Sworn, Artist, Ben Roberts, Director, Artists’ Research Centre, Dr M A Katritzky, Open University, Robb Mitchell, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Dr Bernie Hogan, University of Oxford, Dr Elsa Richardson, Queen Mary, University of London, Gil Leung, Artist, William Rose, Producer Pavillion, Leeds

The public performance of a self, from the early modern stage to the digital platforms of social media, is central to human identity – how we understand ourselves and are perceived by others. An investigation of this performance of the self in society, its changing formats and contexts, has been at the core of Corin Sworn’s ARC Fellowship.

Live Library: Performing the Self, presents a spectrum of research concerned with how ideas of the ‘self’ are manifested in our culture. Is an individual defined by their professional activity, their financial status, their emotional state or creative output? How has society’s willingness to understand the self as a combination of these factors created new ways for identity to be expressed across these registers? What is the future for how we can present ourselves to the world and how will this affect our interactions with others?

To mark the culmination of Sworn’s Fellowship, a group of artists, writers and academics have been invited to give presentations of their work, considering these and other questions. The presentations, including talks, film and performance will be followed by conversations with Sworn about the ways these ideas connect to her practice - a Live Library; a performance of research made public.