For a Tactile Critical Theory: On Claire Fontaine's Feminist Materialism

In this talk, Dr. Anita Chari, University of Oregon) will discuss her recent book, A User's Manual to Claire Fontaine (Lenz Press, 2024), on the work of the Feminist conceptual artist collective Claire Fontaine

through the lens of her theoretical and political innovations, both inside and outside the context of contemporary art. Theorizing the ways in which Claire Fontaine’s experimental approach can illuminate a more haptic, embodied practice of critical theory, this book delineates a series of theoretical techniques and procedures at the core of the artist’s work, among them defunctionalization, Institutional Critique, human strike, tactile mimesis, desubjectivation, détournement, magic materialism, and feminist materialism.

Speaker bio: Dr. Anita Chari is an associate professor of political science at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and a political theorist, somatic practitioner, and writer. Her research focuses on the Frankfurt School, Western Marxism, and the relationship between critical theory, contemporary art, and embodied practices. She is the author of numerous books and articles, and the co-founder of Embodying Your Curriculum,™ organization that helps academics, educators, social justice leaders, and health-care workers.

Co-hosted by University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies and University of Cambridge Department of Art History

Host or Publisher Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge University