Intimacy/Infrastructure Panel
The juxtaposition of “intimacy” and “infrastructure” might seem paradoxical: Infrastructure is, by definition, composed of material and immaterial relations that interchange or express movement. It’s the structures that make society operate (government, education, hospitals, power stations, cables, pipelines, etc.) and it enables, sustains, and/or enhances societal living conditions—until it ruptures. Intimacy, on the other hand, is a term of unbound meaning. It is a synonym for proximity or close relations. Intimate relations imply affect, or a looking inward, often embodied, private, and psychological. And yet, these two rubrics have been together animating conversations around relational life as of late, especially in the work of a number of artists.
Diving into both concepts through the participatory role of language, affect, and infrastructural studies, the panel brings together notable scholars and poets Juliana Spahr (Mills at Northeastern University), Ara Wilson (Duke University), Kai Bosworth (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Roberto Tejada (University of Houston) with moderation by Jennifer Teets (Mitchell Center Visiting Artist and Curator) and Michael D. Snediker (University of Houston) acting as respondent.
Intimacy/Infrastructure is presented in conjunction with Intimate confession is a project, a group exhibition currently on view at Blaffer Art Museum that considers transmission, intergenerational life, and cultural inheritance through the prism of intimacy and infrastructure. It is a collaboration between multiple University of Houston academic programs and centers: the Mitchell Center, Blaffer Art Museum, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and the Department of English.
