The symposium “Pointed or Pointless? Recalibrating the Index” aims to reconsider the notion of the index, its history and present-day applicability. Some recent debates – which abandon strict definitions of analogue/digital and scrutinize fixed notions of truth and medium – are taken as an opportunity to readdress the notion in the 21st century.

The symposium is divided in two parts. The first event took place in London and was dedicated to the re-evaluation of the index, focusing on its historical re-assessment as well as on the steps of “stylization” of the term, following the trace from Peirce to visual theory. The second part in Potsdam will subsequently deal with the updating of the index, by taking a closer look at the use of the notion in debates on the networked image, as well as discussing gestures of authentication, which emphasize concepts of authenticity and objectivity and can be registered as indexical.

Please find more information on the symposium here