Jane Taylor
Andrew W. Mellon Chair of Aesthetic Theory and Material Performance, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape
Foerster Lectures on the Immortality of the Soul
November 21, 2019 — 4:10 PMAlumni House, Toll Room — Berkeley Campus
About the Lecture This lecture considers Ludwig Wittgenstein’s late paper, “On Certainty” in which the philosopher engages with the taken-for-granted in everyday thought. Taylor notes, “In our contemporary context of the precarious, on one hand, and the political vehemence of conviction, … Continued
Alumni House, Toll Room - Berkeley Campus Berkeley Graduate Lectures [email protected] false MM/DD/YYYYAbout the Lecture
This lecture considers Ludwig Wittgenstein’s late paper, “On Certainty” in which the philosopher engages with the taken-for-granted in everyday thought. Taylor notes, “In our contemporary context of the precarious, on one hand, and the political vehemence of conviction, on the other, it seems timely to pay attention to the faltering and tentative mode of regard and thought of one of the twentieth century’s most enigmatic thinkers.”
About Jane Taylor
Jane Taylor is a South African writer, playwright, and academic. She currently holds the Andrew W. Mellon Chair of Aesthetic Theory and Material Performance at the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. She has written several plays for puppets, published a novel on transplants, and most recently has completed a monograph on William Kentridge’s production of The Nose, for the New York Met. (This study explores the subject/object relation, as well as the aesthetic experiments associated with Soviet Constructionism).
She is a convenor of LoKO (Laboratory of Kinetic Objects). LoKO is a new initiative, funded in large measure by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, that engages with the development of the Arts of movement. LoKO has, over the past seven years, been engaged in a project in rural South Africa, where local farm workers’ children are trained in the making and manipulation of puppets. An annual parade and performance draws together communities with international scholars and theatre makers. LoKO has strong links with UC Berkeley, University of Minnesota and University of Toronto (and others.) LoKO has an international puppetry research exchange with the University of Toronto, and over the past few years has been involved with puppetry arts at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.