April 14, 2022

Karen Connell Speaker Series Fund: Dr. Shannon Flaherty " Queer Confessions and Queer Care in Contemporary New Media Art"

APRIL, 7^TH, 2022

On April 28^th and 29th, the Art and Art History Department is pleased to host Dr. Shannon Flaherty (she/her) as part of the Karen Connell Speaker Series Fund. On Thursday the 28^th, Dr. Flaherty will give a talk titled “Queer Confessions and Queer Care in Contemporary New Media Art” where Dr. Flaherty examines the use of confession in contemporary art as a method for producing truths about the self. This talk looks closely at the queer confession ritual of coming out, drawing out its histories and considering how artists playfully and vulnerably disrupt our usual expectations of coming out. In the works of three video and performance artists, confession offers opportunities for community, embodied pleasure, and care.

And on Friday the 29^th Dr. Flaherty will lead a workshop titled “Research, Rehearse, Redo: How to Make Performance Art.” Ever wonder what happens before a performance artist takes to the stage? In this workshop, Dr. Flaherty will guide an examination of the labor behind performance art, using primary source documentation, speculative readings of case studies, and experiential activities. No need to strip naked or choreograph an interpretive dance -- just come ready to think critically and creatively.

Dr. Shannon Flaherty is the Assistant Professor of Art History in the Art Department at Earlham College. She holds a Ph.D. and Masters in Art History from University of Minnesota, and a Masters in Irish Art History from the Irish Art Research Center at Trinity College, Dublin. Her work focuses on questions of identity and materiality in modern and contemporary art, drawing on queer and feminist theories. The talks she presents come from her current book project, Tell Me About It: The Role of Confession in Contemporary New Media Art. Dr. Flaherty will also be co-teaching a seminar in the Spring of 2023 with professor Natalia Vargas Márquez titled Materiality and Empire, 1500-1900.

This visit is made possible by the Karen Connell Speaker Series Fund

Public Event – Lecture – Peeler Auditorium
7:00 pm, Thursday, April 28th
Free and open to the public

Images: Still from Shakeith’s video “#blackdream”

Portrait supplied by Dr. Flaherty