Shimmering World Conference Explores Post-Internet Art and Digital Abstraction

On April 24, the Shimmering World conference took place at Manchester University, bringing together artists and scholars to explore the concept of the 'seductive image' within modern art. Notable speakers included Ed Atkins, David Panos, Tamara Trodd, Melissa Gronlund, Hannah Sawtell, and Harry Sanderson. Discussions spanned topics such as feminism, Object-oriented ontology, and Marxist critique, with a focus on image, production, capitalism, and commodities. Sawtell utilized Twitter and Skype for her concrete poetry, featuring hashtags like #AUSTERITYDRONE. Trodd examined Elizabeth Price's 2009 video USER GROUP DISCO alongside accelerationist theory. Sanderson critiqued the Elephant Park development, while Rourke drew parallels between the Phantom Zone in Man of Steel and social media usage. Gronlund highlighted changes in self-representation, and Panos addressed green screen techniques.