Legal Intersections Research @ UOW

It's always good to find people and institutions working with the intersections of law and other disciplines:
http://www.uow.edu.au/law/LIRC/index.html
"... Approaching research from an interdisciplinary perspective involves breaking down the boundaries of traditional disciplines, particularly that of law, in the interests of producing fresh insights and knowledges.  Our methodologies assume that knowledge about the law is inseparable from a range of sometimes competing or conflicting discourses such as philosophy, religion, history, feminism and critical theory, art, theatre, media, cultural studies, sociology, government and politics. A key undercurrent in our research is law's relationship with vulnerability and pluralism."

Justice & Police Museum, Sydney

One of my favourite museums is, of course, the Justice & Police Museum administered by the Historic Houses Trust:
http://www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/guidebooks/justice__and__police_museum_guidebook/#policecourt
http://www.hht.net.au/museums/justice_and_police_museum

And check out the From the Loft blog, as well as Ross Gibson's Accident Music:
http://blogs.hht.net.au/justice/

A Thousand Eyes - Media, Technology, Law and Aesthetics

Ooh, I wish I could pop into Norway for a day ... on 22 September 2011 there is a seminar revolving around Judy Radul's work "World Rehearsal Court".
http://www.hok.no/seminar-september-22.4936059-30477.html

Time: September 22 2011
Place: Henie Onstad Art Centre, Høvikodden
Fee: NOK 250,- (includes lunch and the anthology)
Registration: please use the form below (limited number of seats)

About:
Since the early 20th century contemporary art and art theory have creatively challenged the notion of representation. Today, the court of law has increasingly come to rely on the same representational modes and technologies that artists have explored for a long time. How far has the field of law come in regard to understanding a moving image? How do they for instance understand a video filmed testimony? What kinds of problems do photos, video- and surveillance recordings meet as evidence, and in what way do they “speak”? How does the aesthetic of new media technology affect the judicial system in relation to fundamental concepts like truth and representation? The main purpose of the seminar is to discuss the historical and contemporary relationship between the law and representational regimes.

Participants so far: 
Eyal Sivan, Judy Radul, Costas Douzinas, Claire Colebrook, Eyal Weizman, Anders Ryssdal and Marit Paasche.

Anthology: 
A Thousand Eyes - Media Technology, Law, and Aesthetics
Editors: Marit Paasche and Judy Radul.
The anthology consists of essays by Julie A. Cassiday, Costas Douzinas, Pieyl Haldar, Martin Jay, Peter Goodrich, Richard Mohr, Judy Radul, Avital Ronell, Eyal Sivan and Cornelia Vismann. Published by Sternberg Press in collaboration with the Henie Onstad Art Centre.

About the exhibition:

http://www.hok.no/judy-radul-world-rehearsal-court.4870425-30550.html

Does technology influence the practice of law and justice?

After studying the legal processes of the International Criminal Court for two years, Judy Radul has created the work World Rehearsal Court. In this artwork, she examines the relationship between experience and testimony as well as truth and fiction in the judicial process. Radul draws attention to the way they are interwoven on many levels. In her work, she shows, for example, how events in the courtroom are dramatised by means of video, television monitors, cameras and surveillance equipment.

“The courtroom has often been compared to the theatre. Given the impact of technology, it is perhaps more appropriate these days to compare it to a TV series,” says Tone Hansen.

The work on show at Henie Onstad Art Centre is both an ongoing experiment and a laboratory that examines how courtroom principles work in practice. World Rehearsal Court consists of filmed material from a fictional, enacted trial, and video material that will be shot live inside the exhibition space. Visitors are invited to see and experience for themselves how these various elements are put together. At the same time, they become part of the work, as they are filmed and projected onto screens around the courtroom.

World Rehearsal Court is a seven-channel video installation that runs for a total of four hours. The work also includes four servo-controlled cameras, live video playback, monitors, glass elements and a large quantity of found documentary material. The work has previously been shown in Canada, Austria and South Korea.

About the artist:
Judy Radul lives and works in Vancouver. She works with performance, photography, sculpture, video and media installations. She has mounted a number of international exhibitions, at, among other places, Mechelen (Belgium), Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst (Antwerp), Catriona Jeffries Gallery (Vancouver), Oboro (Montreal), Presentation House Gallery (North Vancouver) and The Power Plant (Toronto). This is her first exhibition in Norway.

• Curator: Tone Hansen
• The exhibition will open with a performance by Monica Winther on Sunday 19 June at 2pm and will be inaugurated by Anders Ryssdal.
• A seminar will be held in conjunction with the exhibition on 22 September. In this, the various themes of the exhibition will be discussed in a broader context. • An anthology of relevant writings will be launched during the seminar. Editors: Marit Paasche, Judy Radul and Tone Hansen.

Cultural studies and ethnography workshop notes

Cultural Studies and Ethnography Workshop

This week I've been attending a cultural studies workshop at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney. Sessions are being led by
Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology; Director of Graduate Program in Culture and Media, NYU

Toby Miller, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of California, Riverside

and it's been an intellectually fascinating few days in terms of the readings set for each class, opportunities for interaction with other research candidates, plus real and virtual discussions: 

http://culturalstudiesandethnography.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/welcome/

I'm particularly relating to the multi-perspectival / multi-sited qualitative research methodologies, embrace of interpretative theories, recognition of the entwining of creative practices (eg film) with advocacy and academia, and emphasis on cultural industries as producers of knowledge.

I'm one of several Law Faculty-aligned students in attendance ... and funny to be referred to as a 'lawyer' having been an arts practitioner for more of my life. It's focussing my attention on seeking a niche for my work. Fortunately, there is already some interest in the intersections between law, art, aesthetics and culture and I'm heartened that there are publications such as Law, Text, Culture (University of Wollongong)

http://www.uow.edu.au/law/LIRC/LTC/index.html

and symposia such as Law and Art: Ethics, Aesthetics and Justice

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/eventseducation/symposia/20799.htm

I'm assuming that the Critical Criminologists I'll be meeting shortly in Cairns will be a multi-perspective bunch ... and then I'm off to present at the Critical Animals (This is Not Art Festival) which will provide a completely different context for my work.

Critical Criminology Conference Repository

The Australia and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference Repository has been launched by the Sydney Institute of Criminology. It will provide a virtual home for conference proceedings including abstracts and programs:

http://sydney.edu.au/law/criminology/ANZCCR/or_2010

Reports of Crime, Etc., Etc.,

I'm exhibiting a 2-channel video work "Reports of Crime, Etc., Etc.," at The Cube, Mosman Art Gallery

http://mosmanartgallery.org.au/exhibitions/carolyn-mckay-reports-of-crime-etc-etc

Opening night: 29 July 2011

Exhibition:30 July - 4 September

Agency of Unrealized Projects, Kopfbau, Basel

I guess my unrealized project "The Second Man" is being exhibited in some form at the Agency of Unrealized Projects (AUP). e-flux was invited to develop a project for Kopfbau (head building), the oldest building in the Messeplatz area and scheduled for demolition later in 2011. AUP is in a temporary office featuring a growing collection of unrealized art projects.
My unrealized work involved a poetic response to the identity of the alleged 'second man' at the scene of a murder at Sydney's infamous Gap.

http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/9718

Kopfbau Basel at Messeplatz

Social Science Methods, Analysis and Research Training

Next week, I'll be attending training about cutting edge research methodologies and analytical innovations at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney.
http://ussc.edu.au/research/ssmart

I'm taking part in the cultural studies workshop led by Faye Ginsburg and Toby Miller, which "looks at questions of identity, value and power in diverse social formations from the perspective of culture, understood as a mixture of everyday life, activism and artistic practice."
http://ussc.edu.au/research/ssmart/Cultural-Studies

Their blog: http://culturalstudiesandethnography.wordpress.com/

Some books I'd like to get!

Visualizing Law in the Age of the Digital Baroque Richard K. Sherwin, Routledge, 2011
And also Law and Art: Justice, Ethics and Aesthetics Edited by Oren Ben-Dor, Routledge 2011

Moot Courtroom

http://sydney.edu.au/law/facilities/moot_courtroom.shtml

I'm going to check out the law school's moot courtroom tomorrow. Apparently it has an elaborate audiovisual set up to allow videoconferencing and external witness rooms with VC capabilities. I'm wondering about the visual arts possibilities.