UNDER PRESSURE
Prints from the Urbanomic Collection

Saturday 19th July, From 6pm
at Urbanomic, Falmouth.

Urbanomic
The Old Lemonade Factory
Windsor Mews Studios
Falmouth
TR11 3EX
07977 449416
office@urbanomic.com

PARRHESIA - A Journal of Critical Philosophy (www.parrhesiajournal.org)
,
COLLAPSE - Journal of Philosophical Research and Development (www.urbanomic.com)
and
iRes - Research in Interactive Art & Design (www.ires.org.uk)

present a one day symposium:

THINKING NOTHING - the void and its resurgence in contemporary thought

From the emergence of empty set as a basis for ontology, to materialist negative theology, to Metzinger's 'nemocentric' destitution of the subject, contemporary thought seems to be obsessed with nothing. But the politics of this nothing seems drastically different from its earlier existentialist and postmodern nihilistic incarnations. This symposium seeks to explore the problem of nothing in contemporary thought, asking precisely how the postulation of an inherent negativity as a productive realm of philosophical discourse has come to characterise our intellectual landscape, and how the contemporary void relates to those of Ancient and Modern philosophical traditions.

Speakers (TBC) to include:

Justin Clemens (University of Melbourne; Author of 'The Mundiad', 'Avoiding the Subject' [with Dom Pettman], and coeditor/translator of Alain Badiou's 'Infinite Thought')
Ray Brassier (Middlesex University; Author of 'Nihil Unbound', Translator of Alain Badiou's 'Saint Paul')
John Sellars (University of the West of England; Author of 'The Stoics' and 'The Art of Living')
Robin Mackay (Middlesex University; Editor of 'Collapse', Translator of Alain Badiou's 'Number and Numbers')
Iain Hamilton Grant (University of the West of England; Author of 'Philosophies of Nature After Schelling')

Please contact Alex Murray for further details or to register.

Copernicanism tore asunder the fit between the world and man's organs: the congruence between reality and visibility.
- Hans Blumenberg, The Genesis of the Copernican World

In his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo proclaimed, through his mouthpiece Salviati, that he could "never sufficiently admire the outstanding acumen" of those early advocates of Copernicanism who, "through sheer force of intellect" - that is, without even the benefit of a telescope to confirm the theory observationally - "had done such violence to their own senses as to prefer what reason told them over that which sensible experience plainly showed them to the contrary".

Since Galileo published his work in 1632, recognition of the deeply counterintuitive nature of scientific findings has become virtually commonplace, and the 'explanatory gap' between the 'manifest' and 'scientific' images of reality has long been a central concern for philosophers and philosophically-minded scientists alike. In this volume of Collapse, our aim is to bring together samples of the most intellectually challenging contemporary work devoted to exploring the philosophical implications of 'Copernicanism' in this sense from a variety of overlapping and complementary standpoints. In line with the vision of Collapse as an exploratory space for interdisciplinary philosophy or experimental metaphysics, we plan to include in the volume contributions from researchers in fields as divergent as the history and philosophy of science, theoretical physics and cosmology, biology, mathematics, cognitive neuroscience, and astrobiology, which in one way or another address the issue of the 'deanthropomorphisation' of reality initiated by the Copernican Revolution, as well as contributions from artists and writers whose work addresses these philosophical concerns. The resulting volume will comprise a thought-provoking compilation of papers and interviews which we hope will exemplify that characteristic blend of speculative audacity and scientifically informed insight which has always been the hallmark of 'Copernicanism'.

Collapse V is scheduled for publication November 2008. Further details will be announced on this site.

JPG file (1.9MB)

Thanks to Madla for the photos and to Divus crew ('The Professionals') for their hard work.

UMELEC - Magazine of the Art Dead
and
COLLAPSE - Journal of Philosophical Research and Development
invite you to celebrate the publication of Umelec 1/2008 and Collapse Volume IV
* CONCEPT HORROR *
showing original works from COLLAPSE IV by
JAKE AND DINOS CHAPMAN, KEITH TILFORD, KRISTEN ALVANSON, CHINA MIEVILLE, TODOSCH, TIM MACKENZIE, and more...
on SATURDAY 21st JUNE, from 6pm
at Urbanomic, Falmouth.

On sale will be original work by Keith Tilford (including the cover image of Collapse IV) and Todosch, and signed China Mieville Skulltopus prints!

Urbanomic
The Old Lemonade Factory
Windsor Mews Studios
Falmouth
TR11 3EX
07977 449416
office@urbanomic.com

best wishes,
Urbanomic

http://www.divus.cz/umelec/
http://www.urbanomic.com/

The University of the West of England (UWE), based in Bristol, UK, are introducing a new MA in European Philosophy next academic year. Lecturers for the course include Iain Hamilton Grant (Author of 'Being and Slime' in Collapse IV and as featured in 'Speculative Realism' in Collapse III) and John Sellars (Author of 'The Truth about Chronos and Aion' in Collapse III).

A second 'Speculative Realism' conference is planned for next year at UWE, and the course is sure to be a good choice for those interested in pursuing innovative paths in contemporary philosophy, as well as providing a grounding in the history of modern European thought.

For more details about the course, email iain.grant@uwe.ac.uk.

UK:
- Bookartbookshop on Pitfield Street (Old Street tube, nr. Hoxton Sq.), London
- Tate Modern, London;
- ICA, London;

Europe:
- Vrin, place de la Sorbonne, Paris;
- Buchhandlung Walther König, Ehrenstrasse, Köln;

Canada:
- Pages Books & Magazines, 256 Queen Street West, Toronto.

US:
- New Museum of Contemporary Art bookstore, 235 Bowery, New York.

Australia:
- Gleebooks, Sydney.

Thanks to everyone who attended the opening night of Concept Horror at Divus on Saturday. The show will now continue until Thursday 19th June - call Ivan at Divus on 0207 7398993 to check hours. The show re-opens in Falmouth on 21st June - details here soon.

As requested by various people, here is the catalogue (featuring discounted web prices). Needless to say, all purchases will help support Collapse.

Copies of the fabulous signed China Miéville Skulltopus art print (below) are available, at only £20 + postage - An edition of only 35 prints. Please mail us for more details.

Also several gigantic prints of Kristen Alvanson's mutants (below), which would be a fine addition to anyone's bedroom wall or (since they are printed on fine quality adhesive-backed photo paper) ceiling...

Original drawings by Todosch, as featured alongside Iain Hamilton Grant's article 'Being and Slime' (below)

...and work by Rafani and Keith Tilford, including Tilford's original cover art, even more awesome in its full dimensions.

Special thanks to Ivan and Martin of Divus, and to Patricide.

The new Umelec 1/2008...

- Interviews filmmaker Jim Hollands about Here.
- Brutally dissects the art world and instructs you on survival within it, with some chapters from Pablo Helguera's invaluable and hilarious 'MANUAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART'
- Asks why the Taliban's statue-wrecking mattered so much
- Peruses Sofia-based artist Luchezar Boyadjiev's expenses claims
- Continues to recount the modern history of Czech Art
- Surveys Moscow architecture, or what's left of it
- Interviews cult American weird guy Joe Coleman on his dark psychedelic visions
- Revisits a strong influence on Coleman, the schizophrenic art of Adolfo Wolfli.

... and much more ...

Discover Umelec here, or at their London home DIVUS UNIT 30 on Saturday.