Conference: ‘The Demiurge’s Hand: Stylistic Thought and the Perception of Nature’
The international and interdisciplinary conference ‘The Demiurge’s Handwriting: Stylistic Thought and the Perception of Nature’ brought together researchers from the fields of art, cultural and music studies at the University of Graz on 27 and 28 November 2025. As part of the faculty’s research focus ‘Perception: Episteme, Aesthetics, Politics’, the conference centred on questions concerning the relationship between style, the experience of nature and epistemological practice.
Following an introductory welcome by the organisers Julian Blunk and Robert Felfe (Graz), the conference – co-organised by student assistants Elisabeth Jehn and Simone Walzl – opened with a lecture by Bert van de Roemer (Amsterdam) on the topic of ‘Cross-references between the Book of Arts and the Book of Nature’. This was followed by contributions on the historical constitution of concepts of nature and art in a lecture by Simone de Angelis (Graz), as well as on the processes of negotiation between model and ideal in a presentation by Clara Lespessailles (Paris). Julian Blunk (Graz) then addressed the stylistic appropriation of the demiurge in the 19th century, before Lee Chichester (Bochum) examined creative epistemes in Dárcy W. Thompson’s organic theory of form. Horst Bredekamp (Berlin) brought the first day to a close with an impressive evening lecture on style as a form of knowledge, in which he vividly linked historical references with current debates in art history. This was followed by a reception in the Modern Greenhouse of the Botanical Gardens, which provided an opportunity for exchange and discussion.
On the second day, Robert Felfe (Graz) examined art-historical theories of stylistic development around 1900, before Chonja Lee (Neuchâtel) provided an overview of plant-based and artificial intelligence in contemporary art. Sabine Flach (Graz) explored the boundaries between the living and the artificial, followed by biologist Thomas Schmickl (Graz), who, as the only participant from a scientific and technical discipline, examined emergent life-like structures within systems. The conference concluded with a presentation by Saskia Jaszoltowski (Graz), in which she analysed the role of non-human life in Björk’s artistic practice and self-representation.
The conference provided a lively and inspiring exchange between international academics, as well as researchers and students from Graz across various disciplines.
