Performance and the Crisis of Scientific Reality

Trust is a constant public problem. We are bombarded by competing versions of reality. A century ago, a 'crisis of reality' emerged after the breakdown of positivist science. Enduring truths gave way to contingent particulars in modern life. This course investigates how the experiments of artists and scientists contributed to the philosophical re-shaping of 'reality' as something not only historically made, but also performed. By mingling key texts from the philosophy of science with complementary texts and media from aesthetics and performance, this course focuses on the way that reality has been re-staged across overlapping domains of art and science.