Half-Life: Persistence and Decay
UCLA Art History 50th Anniversary
Graduate Student Symposium
Untitled, © Pierre Jahan, La Mort et les statues, 1946
“Half-life” denotes the amount of time required for a substance to diminish to half of its
original amount. Scientists who study radioactive decay measure half-life empirically, but
taken as a concept, the theme of half-life suggests a broad model for considering
instability, loss and retention over time. With respect to art, such processes of
transition—whether impelled by natural degradation or willful preservation—may be
visible or invisible, quantitative or qualitative. Questions of time, material, value and
agency are inherent to these processes.
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of UCLA’s Art History Graduate Student
Symposium, we aim to bring together emerging scholars whose work addresses the
relationship of half-life to art history and its objects of inquiry. Within this interpretive
scope, we welcome diverse approaches and methodologies from related fields. Potential
topics include, but are not limited to:
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Aesthetics of deterioration and instability
Archaeology and the origin of the object
Material/immaterial loss in technology and media
Documentation, conservation, and the archive
Nuclear radiation, radioactive decay and representations of the invisible
Bodily decay and the macabre
Interested participants should submit a CV and an abstract of no more than 250 words
no later than May 24, 2015 to: [email protected]. The inclusion of
working titles and images is encouraged. Accepted participants will be notified by late
July 2015. The symposium will take place at the Hammer Museum on Saturday, October
24, 2015. Limited travel funds provided.