Speakers
Esther Leslie, Professor of Political Aesthetics, Birkbeck, University of London
Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology, University College London
Carolyn Shapiro, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies, Falmouth University

Chair
Danielle Sands, Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow

We tend to pay more attention to living beings than objects, failing to notice the complexities of the things that surround us, neglecting the differences between ‘the obsidian fragment, the gypsum crystal, the capsicum pepper, and the propane flame’ (Ian Bogost). But what if we are wrong to think of objects as inert and unimportant? What if objects can act? What if objects can help us to bridge the perceived gap between ourselves and the world around us? Our panel will consider the significance of objects between the personal and philosophical.

Image credit: Billy Apple, ‘Portrait of the Artist in Drip Dry Suit‘