last day

Had so much to talk about yesterday that I totally forgot the technical disaster I caused while chairing: It was during the 2nd presenter's talk, she had just shown a short video clip to illustrate a point, and I thought I'd be nice and shut off the blue screen behind her. So I pushed the button on the tech box that said "off" and while the blue light did go off, the entire system shut down, including the screen, which slowly and loudly rolled itself up. The presenter was so gracious - she just said, "Can you still hear me?" and kept on going...I hid my face behind the desk and apologized during the question period. Double irony was so not lost on me. I brought acetates to present my own paper (in fear of the tech bugging out) when my presentation topic was on technology...I heard later on that night that someone had done the exact same thing in another session - also thinking she was being nice - but the presenter was a hot-shot big-wig in the field, so I didn't feel so bad!

I had wanted to take in two sessions on Friday - 'methodological bodies' and 'queer bodies' - but the schedule shifted and people got moved around, so I went to see 'moving bodies' instead: a panel that became a session on performance art, dance, and PK Langshaw's "Truth of Presence" (the one I had wanted to see in the first place). Like Sandie's yesterday, it's a difficult one to articulate because its layers were so laced with multiple meanings. She went through three separate but related art projects she's been working on, and all touched on the personal, the poetic, and the political in a way unlike anything I've ever seen. She started with Haraway's 'situated knowledges'/partial views and moved on to ideas on memory, creating new narratives, and the sensual nature of combining body and text and sound. Most striking to me was how she used the privileged space of the university - and her own privileged location within that space - to share access, to use the space as a sort of 'open source' art for communities outside the hallowed walls. She also took a moment to articulate that during her presentation, and took the opportunity to acknowledge the power and advantages of being in the academy and how that opportunity should/must be used in a way that looks outward. She was quite amazing and refreshing...

Afterwards we all went to the Trinity College Pub that overlooks the college park/rugby grounds for a pint, went back to the hotel to get rid of all conference related attachments (happily, I think we were all conferenced out), and M and I wandered around, shopped for some cheesy souvenirs (and some nice ones, too), and went back to take some photos of the campus. All in all a pretty casual day...