Figuring
Systems: Institutions, Infrastructures, and Ecologies in Contemporary Art and Theory is premised on the idea that ‘institution’,
‘infrastructure’, and ‘ecology’ represent three significant approaches to understanding the social functions of art, as well
as closely related artistic traditions and discourses. At the same time, they denote artistic and theoretical positions that
are often set against one another. In recent years, calls have increasingly been made to replace institutional critique with
infrastructural critique. Yet the canonisation of institutional critique from the 1970s onwards was itself accompanied by
the systematic marginalisation of systemic-ecological approaches. This can be understood as an echo of the philosophical debate
between critical theory and systems theory, a reversal of which is now beginning to emerge under the banner of ecology.
Figuring Systems seeks to chart a course through these debates that engages with their complex histories
and legacies. It brings together speakers associated with these and other approaches, asking not only about their respective
possibilities and blind spots, but also—and in particular—about potential intersections, compatibilities, and convergences.
Bringing together artists, curators, art historians, and art theorists, Figuring Systems features keynote
lectures and discussions, as well as panels focusing on the status of critique, methodological developments, new genealogies,
interdisciplinary connections, and the relationship between sites and circulation.
The conference is open to the public; no registration is required.
Thursday,
14 January 2027
Location: University of Applied Arts Vienna, Auditorium, Vordere Zollamtsstraße 7, 1030 Vienna
17:00 – Doors open
17:30 –
Welcome by Ulrike Kuch (Rector, University of Applied Arts Vienna)
17:40
– Introduction by Sabeth Buchmann, Jakob Schillinger, Christopher Williams-Wynn
18:00
– Artist talk with Sung Tieu (artist, Berlin) and Martin Beck (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna)
Response and moderation by Burcu Dogramaci (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
19:30 – Reception
Friday, 15 January 2027
Location: University of Applied Arts Vienna, Auditorium, Vordere Zollamtsstraße 7, 1030 Vienna
10:00–12:00 – Panel 1: Genealogies- Luke Skrebowski
(University of Manchester): The De-Institution of Critique? Andrea Fraser’s Untitled (Objects I-V) (2024)
- Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra (Birkbeck, University of London): Open Field: Argentina's Agro-Export Economy and the
Rise of Ecological Critique
- Response by Felix Vogel (University of Kassel)
- Moderated by Noit Banai (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna)
12:00–13:00
– Lunch break
13:00–15:30 –
Panel 2: Method
- Alena Williams (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna): The Rippling
Wave: Method in Context
- Colby Chamberlain (Cleveland Institute of Art): Sharp Legal
Things: The Case of Letty Lou Eisenhauer and the Typewriter
- Sam Lewitt (artist and writer,
Berlin): The No-Core Method
- Response by Ursula Ströbele (Braunschweig University of
Art)
- Moderated by Sophia Rohwetter (University of Vienna)
15:30–16:00 – Coffee break16:00–18:00
– Panel 3: Circulation, Site, and Scale
- James Nisbet (University of California, Irvine):
No Chemical Romance: Nicolás García Uriburu, Flourescein, and Green Waters
- Jörn Etzold
(Ruhr University Bochum): Wastelands in the former core: A walk through the Zollverein World Heritage Site in Essen
- Response by Sebastian Egenhofer (University of Vienna)
- Moderated by Jenni Tischer
(University of Applied Arts)
Saturday, 16 January 2027
Location: Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Council Chamber (Sitzungssaal), Schillerplatz 3, 1010 Vienna
10:00 – Welcome: Johan Hartle (Rector, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna)
10:10 – Discussion
10:30–12:30
– Panel 4: Coordinates
- Eric de Bruyn (Freie Universität Berlin): Drawing
the Measure of Infrastructure
- Katrin Köppert (Offenbach University of Art and Design):
Sweatbox AI: Thermal Violence and Metabolic Media Aesthetics of Heat
- Response by
Christoph Chwatal (University of Vienna)
- Moderated by Barbara Reisinger (University of Applied
Arts Vienna)
12:30–13:30 – Lunch break
13:30–15:30 – Panel 5: Critique
- Irit Rogoff (Goldsmiths, University
of London): Spectral Infrastructures of Study
- KJ Abudu (curator, writer, and scholar-critic,
New York/London/Lagos): Breaking The Aesthetic Contract: Notes on Infra/Intra-structural Critique
- Response
by Lisa Stuckey (University of Vienna)
- Moderated by Hannes Loichinger (University of Applied
Arts Vienna)
15:30–16:00 – Coffee break
16:00–17:00 – Artist talk with The Feral and Q&A
The Feral
(Fabien Giraud and Ida Soulard): A Thousand-Year Infancy: The Feral as Infrastructure
17:00–18:00
– Closing remarks and discussion
