New £30,000 Prize for Philosophers, Writers, & Architects


The new Judd-Hume Prize, named for artist Donald Judd and philosopher David Hume, includes a £30,000 prize and a two-month fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. The prize was created by Peter Ballantine, who helped Judd construct his sculptures over a 25-year period.

composite image of several sculptures by Donald Judd

composite image of several sculptures by Donald Judd

According to The Art Newspaper,

The programme will focus on the crossover between the visual arts and philosophy and neglected topics in the existing scholarship on Judd, such as abstraction, the image, precognition, object-ness, delegated fabrication and sustainability. The programme is due to run for five years.

Why this particular artist paired with this particular philosopher?

Judd studied philosophy and then art history at Columbia University in New York, and his engagement with philosophy, as well as architecture, design and politics, became key components of his work. “Philosophy, particularly 18th-century empirical philosophy, caused Judd to become who he was,” Ballantine says. “He talked about Hume more than the others.”…

Ballantine adds:

Edinburgh is Hume’s place, and there’s a strong tradition of radical thinking there… The purpose is to produce new thinking, unavailable elsewhere.

The first Judd-Hume Prize winner is Gottfried Boehm, emeritus professor of art history and philosophy at the University of Basel, who will take up the fellowship in 2017. The winner for 2018 has also been announced: Alva Noë (Berkeley).

More information here and here.

 

Use innovative tools to teach clear and courageous thinking
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
whitemargin
whitemargin
7 years ago

It’s really cool to see an initiative like this get launched, and I hope we start to see more of them, especially in the context of fostering outreach.

I have to confess, however, that Alva Noë’s involvement for year two seems a little strange, given his actual work.