Hosted by the University of Melbourne, School of Creative Arts and La Trobe
University, School of Communications, Arts and Critical Enquiry.

Melbourne 3-6 July 2007

EXTREME STATES

Issues of Scale - political, performative, emotional

While the conditions of fundamentalism and various other ideological essentialisms are intrinsic to our present condition, resistances through arts communities and social spaces take various forms of extremity. Actions range from the apocalyptic, gigantic, and presentational to a more intimate sense of sharing evident in the recent hybrid theatre of bodies, text and little stories.

This conference sought to address the creative and political possibilities and problematics of extreme states, large and small.

We invited proposals for contributions on the following topics and/or related themes:

Fundamentalist acts Performance and/as ideology The politics of presentation and the presentation of politics The performance of consensus The multitude in extremis   Torture   Aesthetic extremities - 'big and little' Disciplining the actor: methods of training The topology of emotions Uses and abuses of emotions Social worker as artist and vice versa   The art of lying   The rise of "small" theatre The small as a political gesture The 'personal is the political' made strange The return of Theatre   Faith   The significance of the incidental gesture The possibilities of extension The reaching body - extension/hyper-extension Theatre and revolution

Conference Documents:

• Call for proposals [pdf, 2.1mb]
• Program [pdf]
• Abstracts and biographies [pdf]
• Conference website [external link]
• Conference website [archived pages, pdf, 1.1mb]

Conference Convenors:

• Dr. Peter Eckersall, School of Creative Arts, University of Melbourne (eckersal@unimelb.edu.au)
• Ms. Meredith Rogers, School of Communications, Arts and Critical Enquiry, La Trobe University (m.rogers@latrobe.edu.au)