Distance and Proximity, with Jeremy Millar

This event took place at University College, Oxford, on Thursday 1st February 2024. The following blurb was circulated before the event:

 

"We’re always writing from somewhere, and in this workshop we shall consider what it means to have a position, whether in relation to a subject, or a person. It is often said to be important to maintain a ‘critical distance’ from a subject, and yet ‘close knowledge’ is also greatly valued. How far from — or how close to — a subject might one be to write best about it? 

In advance of the workshop, you are invited to send an image of an artwork which gives you particular joy, even though you can’t particularly say why. This could be something which is generally admired and possesses cultural status — it need not be a ‘guilty pleasure’ — but what is important is that it affects you in ways you would find hard to explain. We will choose some to look at during the workshop; please feel free to attend even if you have not submitted an image in advance."

 

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Jeremy Millar is an artist living in London, whose work has been shown at Tate Modern, London, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Prada Foundation, Venice, and the Jakarta Biennale, amongst numerous other venues. He has also curated many exhibitions, and conceived ‘John Cage: Every Day is a Good Day’ for Hayward Touring, the largest exhibition of Cage’s visual art to date. His work will shortly be seen in ‘For What It’s Worth: Value Systems in Art since 1960’ which opens at The Warehouse, Dallas TX alongside work by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Bruce Nauman, and Elizabeth Price. He is Head of Programme for the Writing MA at the Royal College of Art, London.

A response to the workshop,

by Ronnie Pope

(DPhil student at the University of Oxford).