The three digitized VHS tapes record the Faculty Symposium "The Nineties: Fin de Siecle of Vision of the Future?" held in the RISD Auditorium 1990 October 12. Consisting of three sessions, the symposium featured RISD faculty and guest speaker Benny Andrews. The issues discussed included the controversy surrounding the National Endowment for the Arts, the Helms Amendment, artist Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ", technology, computer design, databases, the concept of fin de Siecle, and censorship. Presentations are 20-30 minutes in length. The second file presenting video of Don Keefer's presentation (from VHS tape 2) includes several minutes of broken white line interfernce, but does not impact the audio.
This digital preservation project was made possible in part by a Libraries of Rhode Island (LORI) grant from the RI Office of Library & Information Services using funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 
-
The Nineties: Fin de Siecle or Vision of the Future? Faculty Symposium, 1990 | Panel II: Art in the Age of Information
Deborah Bright, Gary Metz, Hari Nair, Maria Tulokas, Don Keefer, and Archives
3:30 pm - 5:15 pm. The second panel will continue with a look at "Art in the Age of Information," during which Hari Nair, director of academic computing at RISD, will address the problems and possibilities of integrating computer technology into the creative process. Maria Tulokas, head of the textile design department, will explain her own use of computer applications, while philosopher/ musician Don Keefer of the liberal arts division will discuss the persistence of binary thinking he sees being exacerbated by computer -over• technology. Cary Metz, head of the photography department, will moderate the discussion.
-
The Nineties: Fin de Siecle or Vision of the Future? Faculty Symposium, 1990 | Panel III: Social Responsibility and the Place of the Artist in Society
Deborah Bright, David Porter, Nade Haley, Benny Andrews, and RISD Archives
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm. Following an hour-long reception that will allow participants to visit the Museum to see the faculty work on view in the the RISD Faculty Exhibition 1990 biennial, the symposium will move on to its most controversial and topical segment, the one addressing "Social Responsibility and the Place of the Artist in Society." To grapple with this most fundamental of issues, Bright has rounded up Assistant Professor of Illustration David Porter ('69) to advocate for restrictive guidelines for public arts funding and Nade Haley of the freshman foundation faculty to argue against such restrictions. Special guest Benny Andrews, former director of the NEA's Visual Arts Program, will lend his own perspective as a black artist, critic and teacher as well as a strong advocate for community-based art and cultural expression. Dennis Congdon of the painting department will moderate this session.
-
The Nineties: Fin de Siecle or Vision of the Future? Faculty Symposium, 1990 | Panel I: Looking Ahead/Looking Back: Approaching the Year 2000
Deborah Bright, Catherine Seigel, Scott Cook, Susan Vander Closter, Mary Anne Staniszewski, and Archives
1:30 pm - 3:15 pm. The first panel deals with "whether or not we are at a fin de l'epoque – the conceptual culmination of an era – and if so, what phenomena and consciousness might characterize it," Bright says. In "Looking Ahead/Looking Back: Approaching the Year 2000" historian Scott Cook will explore the fin de sitcle concept as an historical phenomenon and discuss its usefulness to our times. English professor Susan Vander Closter will investigate what she calls "the state of cultural trauma" in contemporary literature and relate it to the recent controversy over "obscene" art. Art historian and critic Mary Anne Staniszewski will wrap up the first series of presentations by raising questions about the limitations of contemporary visual arts education at the university level and suggesting useful alternatives. A discussion led by Cathy Seigel of the English department will follow.