Volume 8 | Experimental Arts

Studies in Material Thinking (SMT) and The National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA) are pleased to announce that we are producing a post conference publication in partnership.

This issue of SMT will focus on the nature of experimentation in the arts, pursuing Bruno Latour’s notion that “we have entered the experimental age … Experiments are no longer conducted just in the laboratory. They have become collective experiments that concern each and every one of us.”

Papers are invited from practitioners, thinkers and research groups whose work exemplifies creative and transdisciplinary experimentation. These may include art/design projects that have developed creative approaches to practical problems in areas such as health, sustainability, ecology, or mediaand informatics, as well as speculative initiatives that radically change the way we think.

Important SMT publication dates:
Full paper submission deadline: 31 July 2011
Invitation to publish in the special issue will be communicated by 31 Oct 2011
Revision period: November through December 2011
The final, revised version of the paper should be submitted to NIEA no later than January 15, 2012.
The new volume is expected to be on-line April/May 2012

Abstracts of approximately 300 words and a short bio-note should be sent to: for the Main Conference or for the Postgraduate Conference. In the email subject title, state: Abstract Submission (Main Conference) or Abstract Submission (Postgraduate Conference). All authors are welcome to indicate their interest in publishing their papers in the post-conference issue of SMT. To be considered for the SMT publication, a full draft of the paper will be required for peer review prior to the conference date. See schedule of dates below.

SMT 8 welcomes contributions from all experimental areas of artistic or design practice where materiality plays a key role. SMT 8 is open to innovative format options. We would like to have the opportunity to work with submissions using images in a positive, active, discursive manner and to assist artists and researchers to explore a strongly visual form of argumentation.

In association with the NIEA Experimental Arts Conference editorial committee, SMT Editor-in-Chief Nancy de Freitas will make a selection of papers submitted to the conference programme and invite authors to publish their papers in the special issue of SMT. Selection will be based on final, full papers and authors will have the opportunity to revise papers prior to publication in the journal.