Nottingham Contemporary

The talk will be followed by a performance of a specially commissioned piece by Nottingham duo Surfacing- of whom Bell is a member. Entitled 'What Is This That Stands Before Me?', the performance will sample Weber's sculpture and famous works of dissonance (as well as creating plenty of its own).

What do the ominous tones of Klaus Weber's 'Large Dark Wind Chime' (Arab Tritone) mean? To many, they will sound terrifying. The tritone has, after all, long been linked with the devil. Legend has it that it was banned in the Middle Ages, and blues players would refuse to play it for fear of conjuring up the dark master. Yet there is another potential narrative to its dissonance - one which acknowledges difference, rejects closure and is, in the words of musicologist Dane Rudhyar 'the music of true and Spiritual democracy'.

Drawing on theories of dissonance and noise alongisde contemporary political theory, David Bell will chart the politics of dissonance and suggest that dissonance can be seen as a utopian, emancipatory force.

Vivienne Brown, Professor Emeritus in Philosophy and Intellectual History in the Economics Department at The Open University, will introduce a different view of the “hive” – as a model of productivity described by the early economist Adam Smith.

Klaus Weber took part in Berlin’s 90s squatting scene. Dr Vasudevan, of the Cultural and Historical Geography Department, University of Nottingham, will present his research on the history of the city’s famous squatting movement and its relationship to other grassroots urban movements, considering how this is reflected in Weber’s art

Phil Loring, Curator of Psychology at the Science Museum, will give an illustrated tour of 20th century nerve tonics and psychiatric medicines. Some of the most mundane psychological objects are the pills people take for various mental illnesses.

Paul Camic, Professor of Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University, will discuss the role of material objects in human development. A founding member of the Material Objects Research Group, he has a particular interest in the use of artefacts in healthcare.

Victoria Tischler of The University of Nottingham’s Division of Psychiatry will discuss the magical powers we imbue objects with, our urge to collect, and objects from the asylum.

Jean Painlevé’s experimental nature films The Seahorse (1934) and The Love Life of the Octopus (1965) are included in Already there!. Berg, Director of Les documents cinématographiques, introduces her own selection from this visionary filmmaker’s astonishing oeuvr

Jonathan Rée’s lecture will examine the challenge that modern science and medicine bring to traditional ideas of the meaning of bodily existence. Rée is a writer, historian and philosopher whose books include Descartes, Philosophy and its Past and The Concise Encyclopaedia of Western Philosophy. He has written and presented on radio, television and for many newspapers, including The Independent.

To complement the inclusion of Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943-59) in Klaus Weber’s Already there!, Deren expert Elinor Cleghorn will introduce a selection of her short Surrealist films. Cleghorn has programmed the BFI’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Deren’s death.

During the event we will be screening the 16mm versions of Deren’s:

- At Land

- Witch's Cradle

- Ritual in Transfigured Time

- Outtakes from 'A Study in Choreography for Camera'