Fiona Hallinan - Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is: On darkness and the study of endings

Season 8 continues with a recording from our 2021 annual conference, The Future as a Present Concern. This episode features a keynote presentation from Fiona Hallinan Abstract: Ultimology refers to the study of endings, or that which is dead or dying. This presentation will propose darkness as one of a set of thematic concerns for the concept. An introduction to the background of the project of Ultimology will outline a set of contexts where the concept has been applied, and will illustrate some ways artistic research practice can be used to explore new models of record making, specifically looking at darkness as an affective tool. Darkness will be presented in this paper as a site of potential and transformative encounter through examples of its application in a number of contexts. The paper will be accompanied by a set of directions for listeners. Biography: Fiona Hallinan is an Irish artist and artistic researcher undertaking a doctoral project at LUCA School of Arts KU Leuven, researching the performative coming-into-being of Ultimology, a concept that proposes the close examination of endings as a site for transformative encounter. In collaboration with curator Kate Strain, this project was previously in residence at CONNECT, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Future Networks and Communications. She hosts On Death, an interdisciplinary reading group, recently co-wrote a BAI funded radio essay for RTE radio and is on residency at Kunstencentrum Vooruit looking at the worker's canteen as an endangered entity. Her work takes the form of writing, drawing, discursive events and rituals. She has exhibited at Grazer Kunstverein, Kerlin Gallery, IMMA, Parsons Paris and Brown University. Further Information: This recording is taken from our Annual UK Conference 2021, co-organised with University of Galway and The Irish Philosophical Society. This conference was held online consisting of live webninars with keynote presents and pre-recorded presentations from panel speakers. Biographical information of speakers is taken from the programme of that event and therefore may not be up-to-date. The British Society for Phenomenology is a not-for-profit organisation set up with the intention of promoting research and awareness in the field of Phenomenology and other cognate arms of philosophical thought. Currently, the society accomplishes these aims through its journal, events, and podcast. About our events: https://www.thebsp.org.uk/events/ About the BSP: https://www.thebsp.org.uk/about/