The DEM’ARTS project is the result of a long-standing collaboration between the ACTE Institute and ISJPS at Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, as well as New York University. In spring 2023, it was recognized as a laureate of the Sorbonne Rising call for institutional projects.

The project focuses on the relationship between the arts and democracy through the lens of pragmatism and new technologies. DEM’ARTS aims to establish a creative platform to study the development and democratization of the arts through digital technology, its effects, and risks. This includes collaboration with two new partners in computer science: the CRI of Paris 1 and the JFLI (IRL 3527, CNRS and Sorbonne University).

One of the unique aspects of the research conducted by the DEM’ARTS team is the combination of pragmatism and meliorism (Shusterman 1999) in aesthetic research and practice. This involves a focus on the self, collective practice, and the democratic project of an ordinary aesthetics. The project of transactional and ordinary aesthetics is rooted in a renewed understanding of pragmatism. It seeks to question the theme of artistic creation to promote a democratic and shared conception of the arts through digital practices. Digital art enables the pursuit of a central political challenge of pragmatist aesthetics: ensuring that meaningful aesthetic experiences are open and accessible to the widest possible audience.

Building on these ideas, this year’s workshop at the Maison Française de New York University will delve deeper into how aesthetic practices evolve through the theme of Fact, Fiction, and Post-Creation. This workshop continues the tradition of previous events organized by the Maison Française, such as “Arts and Pragmatism: New Issues” (2022) and “Arts & Pragmatism: From Ordinary Aesthetics to Post-Creation” (2023).

Time: 10:00 am — 6:00 pm EST

Free!

Registration