Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Art Canadian

The Halifax Conference

edited by Jeff Khonsary

adapted by Craig Leonard

other primary creator Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, Daniel Buren, Jan Dibbets, Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Ingrid Baxter, Richard Serra, Richard Smith, Robert Smithson, Michael Snow, Lawrence Weiner, Ronald Bladen, Al Held, Robert Murray, Gene Davis & Iain Baxter

Publisher
New Documents
Initial publish date
Jan 2019
Category
Canadian, Criticism & Theory
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781927354322
    Publish Date
    Jan 2019
    List Price
    $25

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

The Halifax Conference presents a transcript of a conference held at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design on October 5–6, 1970, transcribed and adapted by artist Craig Leonard.

Organized by Seth Siegelaub, the Conference was conceived as a means of bringing about a “meeting of artists…[from] diverse art making experiences and art positions…in as general a situation as possible.” Infamously, the conference was held in the college’s boardroom, while students and other interested parties watched the proceedings on a video monitor in a separate space. The result was a conversation that devolved—technologically and ideologically—into a quasi-tragicomic farce, punctuated by remarkable moments of rupture initiated by activist resistance to the Conference from the outside and dissenting voices from within.

Attendees at the Conference included Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, Ronald Bladen, Daniel Buren, Gene Davis, Jan Dibbets, Al Held, Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Robert Murray, N.E.Thing Co. (Iain and Ingrid Baxter), Richard Serra, Richard Smith, Robert Smithson, Michael Snow, and Lawrence Weiner.

Adapted by Craig Leonard. Edited by Jeff Khonsary.

About the authors

Jeff Khonsary's profile page

Craig Leonard's profile page

Carl Andre's profile page

Joseph Beuys' profile page

Daniel Buren's profile page

Jan Dibbets' profile page

Mario Merz's profile page

Robert Morris' profile page

Ingrid Baxter's profile page

Richard Serra's profile page

Richard Smith's profile page

Robert Smithson's profile page

Michael Snow was born in Toronto in 1929. His works are included in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Musée d’art moderne, Paris. His films have been shown at the Toronto, Berlin, Pesaro and Cannes festivals. As a musician he has played many concerts and festivals (e.g., Musica Nova, Hamburg, New Music America, the Olympic Arts Festival, Du Maurier Jazz Festival, etc.) and has produced recordings as well as the sound tracks for his films and gallery sound installations. He has received several awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Order of Canada.

Michael Snow's profile page

Lawrence Weiner's profile page

Ronald Bladen's profile page

Al Held's profile page

Robert Murray's profile page

Gene Davis' profile page

Iain Baxter's profile page