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UID:5571197@unimelb.edu.au
DTSTAMP:20260626T163000
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SUMMARY:Book launch: The Art of Gesture, w. Prof. Andrew Benjamin
DESCRIPTION:4:30pm-6pm Friday 26 JuneOld Arts, Arts HallUniversity of Melbourne, Parkville CampusAbout the book:In The Art of Gesture: Classical and Renaissance Expressions, Andrew Benjamin approaches the relationship between philosophy and art history through the concept of gesture. Critically engaging with Walter Benjamin, Aby Warburg and Giorgio Agamben, by focusing on gesture he offers a novel philosophical intervention into the classical problem of 'meaning' in art, as well as addressing the new perspectives brought by political theology into art theory.Benjamin uses gesture to function as the continual point of orientation, allowing works of art and their detail to be central. Original interpretations of Domenico Ghirlandaio, Rosso Fiorentino and Piero dell Francesca show how Christian political theology has an operative presence within the works of art examined. A key theme running through the book is the question of time in the work of art, alongside the question of how art history, and the representation of history in art, are to be understood philosophically.All are welcome!Speaker bios:Andrew Benjamin is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in English at the University of Melbourne. His books include Towards a Relational Ontology (2015), Art's Philosophical Work (2015), Working with Walter Benjamin (2013), Style and Time: Essays on the Politics of Appearance (2006), Architectural Philosophy: Repetition, Function and Alterity (2000), and What is Abstraction (1996).Claire Colebrook is Professor of English Literature at Monash University, Australia. Her recent books include Who Would You Kill to Save the World? and Twilight of the Anthropocene Idols (2016, with Tom Cohen and J. Hillis Miller).Francis Plagne teaches in the Art History and Curatorship program at the University of Melbourne. He writes about modern and contemporary art, experimental music and (occasionally) continental philosophy.Presented as part of the 2026 Melbourne Critical Theory Winter School on Structure and Action.All welcome. No booking necessary.
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<h3><strong>4:30pm-6pm Friday 26 June<br />Old Arts, Arts Hall<br />University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus</strong></h3><p>About the book:<br />In <em><strong><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.32222158">The Art of Gesture: Classical and Renaissance Expressions</a></strong></em>, Andrew Benjamin approaches the relationship between philosophy and art history through the concept of gesture. Critically engaging with Walter Benjamin, Aby Warburg and Giorgio Agamben, by focusing on gesture he offers a novel philosophical intervention into the classical problem of 'meaning' in art, as well as addressing the new perspectives brought by political theology into art theory.<br />Benjamin uses gesture to function as the continual point of orientation, allowing works of art and their detail to be central. Original interpretations of Domenico Ghirlandaio, Rosso Fiorentino and Piero dell Francesca show how Christian political theology has an operative presence within the works of art examined. A key theme running through the book is the question of time in the work of art, alongside the question of how art history, and the representation of history in art, are to be understood philosophically.</p><p data-bound-textcenter="true">All are welcome!</p><p data-bound-textcenter="true">Speaker bios:<br /><a href="https://unimelb.academia.edu/AndrewBenjamin">Andrew Benjamin</a> is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in English at the University of Melbourne. His books include&nbsp;<em>Towards a Relational Ontology</em> (2015),&nbsp;<em>Art's Philosophical Work</em> (2015),&nbsp;<em>Working with Walter Benjamin&nbsp;</em>(2013),&nbsp;<em>Style and Time: Essays on the Politics of Appearance</em> (2006),&nbsp;<em>Architectural Philosophy: Repetition, Function and Alterity</em> (2000), and&nbsp;<em>What is Abstraction</em> (1996).</p><p data-bound-textcenter="true"><a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/claire-colebrook">Claire Colebrook</a> is Professor of English Literature at Monash University, Australia. Her recent books include&nbsp;<em>Who Would You Kill to Save the World?</em> and&nbsp;<em>Twilight of the Anthropocene Idols</em> (2016, with Tom Cohen and J. Hillis Miller).</p><p data-bound-textcenter="true"><a href="https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/588499-francis-plagne">Francis Plagne</a> teaches in the Art History and Curatorship program at the University of Melbourne. He writes about modern and contemporary art, experimental music and (occasionally) continental philosophy.</p><div><p>Presented as part of the 2026 Melbourne Critical Theory Winter School on&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/school-of-culture-and-communication/our-research/groups-and-resource-centre/critical-research-association-melbourne/events/events-calendars/2026-melbourne-critical-theory-winter-school-structure-and-action-psychoanalytic-theory-now" style="border-collapse: unset;border: unset;height: unset;padding: unset;width: unset"><em style="border-collapse: unset;border: unset;text-align: unset;text-indent: unset;height: unset;padding: unset;width: unset">Structure and Action</em></a>.</p></div><p>All welcome. No booking necessary.</p>
LOCATION:
URL:https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/school-of-culture-and-communication/our-research/groups-and-resource-centre/critical-research-association-melbourne/events/events-calendars/book-launch-the-art-of-gesture,-prof.-andrew-benjamin
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