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This panel invites a look beyond the rational and towards the use of artistic method as a form of knowledge creation not bound to conventional metrics of thought. We are interested in panelists who seek to reinvigorate the relationships between art, politics, philosophy, and play as tools for moving beyond the confines of the real in order to create new possibilities for thinking about art, imagination and social context.

In our view, a post-rational conceptualization of visuality offers to rejuvenate contemplation, to carve out space for the suspension of disbelief in a contemporary climate marked by suspicions of proof and disregard of evidence—holding space for alternative worldviews. This is “post-truth” not as a way to confuse or make dangerous political claims but as a harkening back to aesthetics as a strategy for sharing unrealized social and philosophical possibilities. At stake is the possibility of a form of contemporary art that is informed by intuition, play or irrationality, gesturing beyond the over-determining tendencies towards a totalizing sense of rationality.

We invite proposals from those interested in exploring what it means to engage in aesthetic practice after the so-called end of truth. We are particularly interested in those working with alternative aesthetic forms including but not limited to: Afrofuturism, Novelty Bio Arts, Contemporary Absurdism, Bureaucratic Realism,, Comedic Objects, Queer Visuality, Play Based Aesthetics, and practice that uses aesthetics to seek possibilities, rather than reinscribe stable value.