The Medium is The Medium - A day of expert debate around why critical writing is important in a mature and thriving arts landscape.

An afternoon of expert debates focused on the role of critical writing in a thriving arts landscape. At a time of rapid technological and cultural change, we increasingly take to new media for information. With everyone able to write or start a blog, where does this leave traditional art criticism? The Medium is The Medium asks what effect open participation in social media and blogging has on critical writing; does this point to a more democratic and richer debate? Where are the standards set now?

Participants include: Cherie Federico (Aesthetica Magazine), Rachael Jones (Freelance writer and social media manager), Francesco Manacorda (Artistic Director Tate Liverpool), Edgar Schmitz (Lecturer in Critical Studies at Goldsmiths), and Miranda Sawyer (The Culture Show, The Guardian).

Curated by The Double Negative and Liverpool Biennial 2012

Programme

2–2.10pm Introductions by Paul Domela and Mike Pinnington

2.10–2.40pm Cherie Federico

2.40–3.10pm Edgar Schmitz

3.10–3.40pm Miranda Sawyer

3.40–4pm Rachael Jones

4–4.15pm Break

4.15–5pm Panel Discussion chaired by Francesco Manacorda

2-5pm Saturday 22nd September, FREE Booking required, BOOK HERE

Curated by The Double Negative and Liverpool Biennial.

Cherie Federico is the Director of Aesthetica Magazine, which is a UK-based internationally distributed art and culture publication with a print and online readership of 140,000. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is also the Director of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, which is a 15 venue, site-specific film industry event that takes place in November. She was born in New York, and completed her MA in the UK in 2003 and has lived in England ever since. www.aestheticamagazine.com

Miranda Sawyer began her career in 1988 on the magazine Smash Hits. In 1993, she became the youngest winner of the Periodical Publishers Association Magazine Writer of the Year award for her work on Select magazine. A frequent contributor to The Face during the 90s, she now writes for The Observer and is its radio critic. She was a member of the judging panel for the 2007 Turner Prize and the panel that awarded Liverpool its Capital of Culture status. mirandasawyer.com/

Francesco Manacorda was appointed Artistic Director of Tate Liverpool in April 2012 and was previously director of Artissima, Turin's international art fair, and a curator at London's Barbican Art Gallery. He has contributed to magazines such as Domus, Flash Art, Frieze, Metropolis M, Piktogram, Kaleidoscope, Untitled, Art Review and Mousse. Tate Liverpool, which attracts around 600,000 visitors a year, opened in 1988 in a former warehouse on the city's waterfront. www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-liverpool

Rachael Jones is a freelance writer and social media manager. She graduated in English Literature from Newcastle University in 2008. Working at From the Red Carpet, she discovered an ideal platform to develop and showcase her natural flair for social media while indulging her fanaticism for all things film. She also works as a web copywriter for clients across the world. twitter.com/theresabluebird

Edgar Schmitz is an artist, the co-director of A Conversation in Many Parts, an international discursive platform for contemporary art and concepts, and a lecturer in Critical Studies at Goldsmiths. He has also written extensively on contemporary art, with contributions to Kunstforum international, Texte zur Kunst and Artforum. His book on Ambient attitudes is under negotiation with Sternberg Press, Berlin/ NY. www.gold.ac.uk/art/research/staff/es/01/