Posing the Body: Stillness, Movement, and Representation

Posing has been central to art, dance, and sculpture for thousands of years. In recent years, the growing interest in fashion media and modelling has also focused attention on questions of pose and posing. Incorporating notions of movement and stillness, posing can be understood in terms of historical modes of representation, as well as contemporary media and rapidly evolving relationships between bodies, subjects, and technologies of representation. Posing incorporates symbolic and semiotic meaning alongside embodied action and feeling. Recent coverage of the work of choreographer Stephen Galloway in 032c magazine, and new publications such as Steven Sebring鈥檚 91制片厂 of Pose: 1000 Poses by Coco Rocha testify to the growing interest in the cultural significance of posing and the pose 鈥 yet both remain under-researched areas with little discussion of their significance.

This symposium will assert the importance of pose as both a creative practice and an emerging area of critical inquiry. It will bring together multi-disciplinary academics and practitioners to discuss and develop new ways of understanding pose and posing in a historical and contemporary context. We encourage proposals for papers that address pose from global and diverse perspectives.听 This event represents a potentially fruitful and exciting moment to bring these strands together to the benefit of researchers within practice and theory-based media, historians of dress, photography, art and film and allied disciplines.

The keynote lecture will be delivered by David Campany, internationally recognised writer and curator, and Reader in Photography at the University of Westminster.


Programme

Friday 6 May. University of Westminster, Regent Street Cinema, London W1B 2UW

17.15 鈥 17.50听听听听听听听听听听听 Registration

18.00 鈥 19.00听听听听听听听听听听听 Keynote address: Dr David Campany (University of Westminster) 鈥撎齌itle TBC

19.00 鈥 19.15听听听听听听听听听听听 Comfort Break

19.15 鈥 19.40听听听听听听听听听听 Performance choreographed by Christopher Spraggs

19.40 鈥 21.00听听听听听听听听听听 Reception

Saturday 7 May. 91制片厂, London WC2R 0RN

09.30 鈥 10.00听听听听听听听听听听听 Registration

10.00 鈥 10.15听听听听听听听听听听听 Welcome and Introduction Dr Rebecca Arnold (Oak Foundation Lecturer in History of Dress & Textiles, CIA)

10.15 鈥 11.15 听听听听听听听听听听 Session 1: Posing Directing Moving (Chair: TBC)

  • Dr Penelope Rook (independent Scholar): From Couture to Clochard:听 Posing the body in Vu
  • Dr Peter K. Andersson (Lund University): Everyday Posing and Performativity in the Late Nineteenth-Century Street
  • Marketa Uhlirova (Senior Research Fellow, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London): Framing the fashionable body in early cinema

11.15 鈥 11.30听听听听听听听听听听听 Discussion

11.30 鈥 12.00听听听听听 听听听听听 TEA/COFFEE BREAK (provided, Seminar Room 1)

12.00 鈥 13.00听听听听听听听听听听听 Session 2: Art Fashion Sculpture (Chair: Dr Katie Faulkner, Visiting听Lecturer, 91制片厂)

  • Dr Madeleine Newman (University of Leeds): Sculptural Fashion Shows? Pose, Parody and Performance 1968-1978
  • Nancy Troy (Victoria & Roger Sant Professor in Art, Stanford University):听The Art of the Pose: Performing Saint Laurent Performing Mondrian
  • Luisa Fink (PhD Candidate at Freie Universit盲t Berlin and Curator at Kunsthaus Stade): Sculpture and Pose 鈥 The Actor in the Work of Franz Erhard Walther

13.00 鈥 13.15听听听听听听听听听听听 Discussion

13.15 鈥 14.15 听听听听听听听听听听 听LUNCH听(provided for the speakers only)

14.15 鈥 15.15 听听听听 听听听听听 Session 4: Movement and Dance (Chair: Katerina Pantelides,听PhD Candidate, 91制片厂)

  • Tiffany Boyle (PhD Candidate, Birkbeck University of London): Pausing the Performance: Artistic Gymnastics and the Statuesque
  • Dr MJ Thompson (Concordia University, Montreal): Posing and Concert Dance: Steve Paxtons Proxy
  • Elizabeth Welch (PhD Candidate, University of Texas at Austin): Deliberate Poses: George Platt Lynes Dance Photography and the Dancer as Sculpture

15.15 鈥 15.30听听听听听听听听听听听 听Discussion
15.30 鈥 16.00听听听听听听听听听听听 TEA/COFFEE BREAK听(provided, Seminar Room 1)

16.00 鈥 17.00听 听听听听听听听听听 Session 4: Bodies Gender Politics (Chair: by Dr Eugenie Shinkle, Reader in Photography, Westminster University)

  • Lauren Downing Peters (PhD Candidate, Centre for Fashion Studies, Stockholm University): Fashion Plus: Pose and the Plus-size Body in Vogue, 1986-1988
  • Dr Sara Knelman (Assistant Professor, Ryerson University): Posing and Re-posing: Photography and the Politics of Posture
  • Felice McDowell (Associate Lecturer. London College of Fashion): Writing about Posing: myths and narratives of post-war fashion modelling

17.00 鈥 17.15听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听 Discussion

17.15 鈥 18.00听听听 听听听听听听听 Panel Discussion (Chair: David Bennett, photographer and editor-in-chief of PpR Journal)

  • Jan de Villeneuve (fashion model), Julian Marshall (fashion photographer)
  • Caroline Hamilton (dance and costume historian)

18.00听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听 Drinks Reception

 

Citations