The Lecture with Practical Exercises (VU) is hed in conjunction with the conference Figuring Systems: Institutions, Infrastructures, Ecologies in Contemporary Art and Theory, organized by Sabeth Buchmann, Christopher Williams-Wynn, and Jakob Schillinger at the Angewandte and the Academy on January 14-16, 2027 (more details below).

The lectures of this course consist in the conference contributions, complemented by an introductory session and a final discussion.

Figuring Systems: Institutions, Infrastructures, and Ecologies in Contemporary Art and Theory will take place at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, 14-16 January 2027.

Figuring Systems is built around these three keywords—institution, infrastructure, ecology— as they represent influential approaches for understanding the relationship between art and society, and have been mobilized within closely related but differentiated artistic discourses. Concentrating on these three keywords and their discursive parameters, the conference will examine their histories, legacies, and relative affordances, and aims to plot new directions for the theorization of contemporary art. To this end, it will incorporate a range of methodological frameworks across multiple geographies.

Confirmed participants include KJ Abudu, Noit Banai, Martin Beck, Eric de Bruyn, Christoph Chwatal, Colby Chamberlain, Burcu Dogramaci, Sebastian Egenhofer, Jörn Etzold, Kathrin Köppert, Sam Lewitt, Hannes Loichinger, James Nisbet, Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Barbara Reisinger, Irit Rogoff, Sophia Rohwetter, Luke Skrebowski, Ursula Ströbele, Lisa Stuckey, Sung Tieu, Felix Vogel, and Alena Williams.