Hilary Lawson
Encyclopedia
Hilary Lawson is a philosopher, filmmaker, and video artist. Known for his theory of Closure
, he is Director of the Institute of Art and Ideas
, founder of the Artscape Project and a director of TVF Media
.
, England, the only son of Harold Lawson, local businessman councillor and writer of short stories in the early days of television, and his wife Norma (née Gear). He was awarded a scholarship whilst an undergraduate at Balliol College Oxford
and went on to take a first in PPE. As a student he became interested in problems of self-reference and began a DPhil on The Reflexivity of Discourse. This later became the basis for his first philosophical book Reflexivity: The Post-Modern Predicament.
Schooled in analytic philosophy
, his approach increasingly diverged from the mainstream having more in common with the American philosopher Richard Rorty
and the French philosopher Jacques Derrida
. In the late seventies, disenchanted with the philosophical environment of Oxford, he left academia and began a career in television and documentary film.
His first media post was as a researcher with Yorkshire Television
's Science and Documentaries department. Lawson quickly became a producer, and then editor, of his own prime time series, Where There's Life, which ran on ITV
for a number of years with a weekly audience in excess of ten million. At 28, he was recruited as Editor of Programmes and later Deputy Chief Executive at the new breakfast channel Good Morning Britain. Media interest in the channel was such that his appointment as Deputy Chief Executive and his resignation from the channel in 1983 was carried on the national news and in the national press.
During these years he had continued to develop his philosophical thinking and had initial sketches of the theory later to become Closure
. In addition, his interests in self-reference and continental philosophy had become somewhat more fashionable. As a result he was asked to write a book for a series on modern European thought, Reflexivity: The Post-Modern Predicament, published in 1985.
In the late eighties he founded the production company TVF Media
which made documentary and current affairs programming, and was the editor of The World This Week, a weekly international current affairs programme with its own strong editorial line which ran on Channel Four for five years. The programme predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall
, the war in Yugoslavia
and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
In the nineties, he focused on writing Closure. It took a decade to complete and was published in 2001.
During the period in which Closure was gestated, Lawson conceived, oversaw and produced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery, an interactive CD-ROM, which spearheaded the use of virtual technologies in orthopaedic surgery. Knees, to Lawson, have always have always been pivotal.
Applying the framework of openness and closure to the visual medium, he created the first video paintings in 2001 with the aim of escaping narrative closure. He went on to found the Artscape Project in 2003, which brought a collective of artists together to develop the new medium.
Continuing the attempt to bring openness into cultural life, Lawson set up the Institute of Art and Ideas
in 2007.
Lawson's theory 'Closure
' proposes that the human condition is to find ourselves on the cusp of openness and closure. The world is open and we, along with other living organisms, are able to apprehend and make sense of it through the process of closure. The theory, described by Don Cupitt
as the first attempt to offer a non-realist metaphysics shifts the focus of philosophy away from language and towards and exploration of the relationship between openness and closure. An important element of the theory of closure is its own self-referential character.
One of the consequences of the theory is that philosophical oppositions, between language and the world, fact and value, are no longer regarded as oppositions and instead are seen as part of the spectrum of openness and closure. As a result, science is not in opposition to art and religion but in a different relationship to openness and closure. Lawson proposes that science is ‘driven by the search for closure’. The pursuit of closure cannot however succeed and as a consequence uncovers openness. Art in contrast is described as ‘the pursuit of openness’ which in turn is seen to entail aspects of closure.
Background
Lawson began his philosophical development at Oxford University and thus at one of the primary centres of the analytic school. While still an undergraduate he became convinced that problems of self-reference undermined the analytic project. His trajectory to this conclusion started with the reflexive problems of relativism which were explored with the political theorist, Steven Lukes
; continued with an examination of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus
, with the translator BF McGuiness; and were cemented in conversation with Alan Montefiore who had close links with Jacques Derrida
and who was aware of similarities of argument and approach.
Lawson’s subsequent work can be seen as a response to the writings of Rorty and Derrida, and an attempt to move forward the post-analytic project. Rorty endorsed his film Science...fiction? which argued that "science is not powerful because it is true, but true because it is powerful" and took part in a subsequent documentary film of his on Plato entitled The First World. Rorty also contributed to a collection edited by Hilary Lawson: Dismantling Truth: Science
in Post-modern times
Primary Works
Other books include Dismantling Truth
: Science
in Post-Modern Times, and Closure: A Story of Everything.
Articles include After Truth, On Integrity
, Philosophy
As, and The Poetic Strategy.
) lists more than 200 credits as producer, director, writer or presenter. In the late eighties and nineties Lawson developed a reputation for investigative programming that challenged conventional wisdom.
His documentary films include: Your Own Worst Enemy, writer and producer, (ITV
); Science … fiction?, written and directed (BBC
); Broken Images, written and directed (BBC
); The First World, written and directed (Channel 4
); The Man, the Myth, and The Maker, produced and presented (Channel 4
); DNA in the Dock, written and directed (Channel 4
); The Greenhouse Conspiracy, written, directed and presented (Channel 4
); Incredible Evidence (90mins), written and directed (Channel 4
).
His current affairs output includes: The World This Week (1hr, weekly 1988-93), Editor (Channel 4
); Cooking the Books, written and directed (Channel 4
); South Africa: After Apartheid, produced and presented (Channel 4
); Patent on Life, written and directed (Channel 4
); For Queen or Country, written and directed (Channel 4
).
s, Orange and Grey, and Cusp in 2001 and 2002. He founded the Artscape Project in 2003 consisting of a collective of artists, including William Raban, Sarah Turner
, Sanchita Islam and Isabelle Inghillieri, whose aim was to develop and explore the medium of the video painting
. The Artscape Project is now represented by Open Gallery.
The video painting flows from his philosophical outlook and constitutes a break from the film-making narratives that had been his focus for more than a decade. Hilary sees video paintings as a means to encourage the viewer to escape everyday closures and approach openness, or what Heidegger would have called Being.
In 2003 he was instrumental in developing a technology with computer scientists which enabled video paintings to be stored and played in such a manner that their order did not repeat but was also not random. The software and technology
(known as Laluna) were created in order to allow video paintings to be integrated and put together so that they could constitute collections of work that never repeated or recapitulated, and yet had structure.
His video painting work has been exhibited at: the Hayward Gallery
(2006); Sketch
(2007), the ICA
(2007), and The Globe at Hay gallery (2008). Now Revisited, performed at Shunt, London in 2009, was a video painting installation in five acts in which the audience found themselves the subject of the work.
His club in Clifton Square, Bristol, The Square is a kind of salon.
The Emily Award, American Film and Video Festival, 1991
Documentary of the Year, Encyclopædia Britannica.
The Amnesty International Award, Best Documentary, 1995
Gold Award, New York TV and Film Festival, 1989
Royal Television Society Award Nomination, 2000
British Academy Award Nomination, 2000-1
Closure (philosophy)
Closure, in epistemology, is the principle that if a subject S knows that p, and S knows that p entails q, then S can thereby come to know that q. Most epistemological theories involve a closure principle and many sceptical arguments assume a closure principle, arguing for instance that if you...
, he is Director of the Institute of Art and Ideas
Institute of Art and Ideas
The Institute of Art and Ideas ' is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to overturn the current intellectually conservative environment where ideas and philosophy are undervalued...
, founder of the Artscape Project and a director of TVF Media
TVF Media
TVF Media is an independent multimedia company, which was founded in 1983 by Hilary Lawson as Television and Film Productions plc. Its divisions are TVF Communications, TVF International, TVF Productions, Online Post Production, Open Creative Communications and the Open Gallery...
.
Biography
Hilary Lawson was born and grew up in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England, the only son of Harold Lawson, local businessman councillor and writer of short stories in the early days of television, and his wife Norma (née Gear). He was awarded a scholarship whilst an undergraduate at Balliol College Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and went on to take a first in PPE. As a student he became interested in problems of self-reference and began a DPhil on The Reflexivity of Discourse. This later became the basis for his first philosophical book Reflexivity: The Post-Modern Predicament.
Schooled in analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy
Analytic philosophy is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century...
, his approach increasingly diverged from the mainstream having more in common with the American philosopher Richard Rorty
Richard Rorty
Richard McKay Rorty was an American philosopher. He had a long and diverse academic career, including positions as Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, Kenan Professor of Humanities at the University of Virginia, and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University...
and the French philosopher Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
. In the late seventies, disenchanted with the philosophical environment of Oxford, he left academia and began a career in television and documentary film.
His first media post was as a researcher with Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
's Science and Documentaries department. Lawson quickly became a producer, and then editor, of his own prime time series, Where There's Life, which ran on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
for a number of years with a weekly audience in excess of ten million. At 28, he was recruited as Editor of Programmes and later Deputy Chief Executive at the new breakfast channel Good Morning Britain. Media interest in the channel was such that his appointment as Deputy Chief Executive and his resignation from the channel in 1983 was carried on the national news and in the national press.
During these years he had continued to develop his philosophical thinking and had initial sketches of the theory later to become Closure
Closure (philosophy)
Closure, in epistemology, is the principle that if a subject S knows that p, and S knows that p entails q, then S can thereby come to know that q. Most epistemological theories involve a closure principle and many sceptical arguments assume a closure principle, arguing for instance that if you...
. In addition, his interests in self-reference and continental philosophy had become somewhat more fashionable. As a result he was asked to write a book for a series on modern European thought, Reflexivity: The Post-Modern Predicament, published in 1985.
In the late eighties he founded the production company TVF Media
TVF Media
TVF Media is an independent multimedia company, which was founded in 1983 by Hilary Lawson as Television and Film Productions plc. Its divisions are TVF Communications, TVF International, TVF Productions, Online Post Production, Open Creative Communications and the Open Gallery...
which made documentary and current affairs programming, and was the editor of The World This Week, a weekly international current affairs programme with its own strong editorial line which ran on Channel Four for five years. The programme predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, the war in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
In the nineties, he focused on writing Closure. It took a decade to complete and was published in 2001.
During the period in which Closure was gestated, Lawson conceived, oversaw and produced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery, an interactive CD-ROM, which spearheaded the use of virtual technologies in orthopaedic surgery. Knees, to Lawson, have always have always been pivotal.
Applying the framework of openness and closure to the visual medium, he created the first video paintings in 2001 with the aim of escaping narrative closure. He went on to found the Artscape Project in 2003, which brought a collective of artists together to develop the new medium.
Continuing the attempt to bring openness into cultural life, Lawson set up the Institute of Art and Ideas
Institute of Art and Ideas
The Institute of Art and Ideas ' is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to overturn the current intellectually conservative environment where ideas and philosophy are undervalued...
in 2007.
Philosophy
OverviewLawson's theory 'Closure
Closure (philosophy)
Closure, in epistemology, is the principle that if a subject S knows that p, and S knows that p entails q, then S can thereby come to know that q. Most epistemological theories involve a closure principle and many sceptical arguments assume a closure principle, arguing for instance that if you...
' proposes that the human condition is to find ourselves on the cusp of openness and closure. The world is open and we, along with other living organisms, are able to apprehend and make sense of it through the process of closure. The theory, described by Don Cupitt
Don Cupitt
Don Cupitt is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He is an Anglican priest, heretic and an emeritus professor of the University of Cambridge, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and commentator...
as the first attempt to offer a non-realist metaphysics shifts the focus of philosophy away from language and towards and exploration of the relationship between openness and closure. An important element of the theory of closure is its own self-referential character.
One of the consequences of the theory is that philosophical oppositions, between language and the world, fact and value, are no longer regarded as oppositions and instead are seen as part of the spectrum of openness and closure. As a result, science is not in opposition to art and religion but in a different relationship to openness and closure. Lawson proposes that science is ‘driven by the search for closure’. The pursuit of closure cannot however succeed and as a consequence uncovers openness. Art in contrast is described as ‘the pursuit of openness’ which in turn is seen to entail aspects of closure.
Background
Lawson began his philosophical development at Oxford University and thus at one of the primary centres of the analytic school. While still an undergraduate he became convinced that problems of self-reference undermined the analytic project. His trajectory to this conclusion started with the reflexive problems of relativism which were explored with the political theorist, Steven Lukes
Steven Lukes
Steven Michael Lukes is a political and social theorist. Currently he is a professor of politics and sociology at New York University...
; continued with an examination of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length philosophical work published by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. It was an ambitious project: to identify the relationship between language and reality and to define the limits of science...
, with the translator BF McGuiness; and were cemented in conversation with Alan Montefiore who had close links with Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
and who was aware of similarities of argument and approach.
Lawson’s subsequent work can be seen as a response to the writings of Rorty and Derrida, and an attempt to move forward the post-analytic project. Rorty endorsed his film Science...fiction? which argued that "science is not powerful because it is true, but true because it is powerful" and took part in a subsequent documentary film of his on Plato entitled The First World. Rorty also contributed to a collection edited by Hilary Lawson: Dismantling Truth: Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
in Post-modern times
Primary Works
- Reflexivity
- the post-modern predicament
- In this book Lawson argued that self-reference was central to contemporary philosophy. Using Nietzsche, Heidegger and Derrida as the main examples, he sought to show that reflexivity was the primary motor of their work. It was implicit that similar arguments could be applied to Wittgenstein and the analytic tradition.
- Closure
- The introduction to ClosureClosure (philosophy)Closure, in epistemology, is the principle that if a subject S knows that p, and S knows that p entails q, then S can thereby come to know that q. Most epistemological theories involve a closure principle and many sceptical arguments assume a closure principle, arguing for instance that if you...
, referred to as the Prologue, extends the arguments put forward in Reflexivity to the philosophical tradition. It argues that issues of self-reference undermine currently available philosophical positions. - The main body of the book describes the process of closure and the means by which we can intervene in the world and seemingly understand it. In doing so it seeks to demonstrate that meaning and understanding are not dependent on notions of reference and truth, arguing that although there is nothing in common between closure and openness this does not limit our ability to intervene successfully in the world.
Other books include Dismantling Truth
Truth
Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
: Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
in Post-Modern Times, and Closure: A Story of Everything.
Articles include After Truth, On Integrity
Integrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
, Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
As, and The Poetic Strategy.
Documentary film and Factual Television
The BFI (British Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
) lists more than 200 credits as producer, director, writer or presenter. In the late eighties and nineties Lawson developed a reputation for investigative programming that challenged conventional wisdom.
His documentary films include: Your Own Worst Enemy, writer and producer, (ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
); Science … fiction?, written and directed (BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
); Broken Images, written and directed (BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
); The First World, written and directed (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); The Man, the Myth, and The Maker, produced and presented (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); DNA in the Dock, written and directed (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); The Greenhouse Conspiracy, written, directed and presented (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); Incredible Evidence (90mins), written and directed (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
).
His current affairs output includes: The World This Week (1hr, weekly 1988-93), Editor (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); Cooking the Books, written and directed (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); South Africa: After Apartheid, produced and presented (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); Patent on Life, written and directed (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
); For Queen or Country, written and directed (Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
).
Art
Lawson shot the first video paintingVideo painting
Video painting is a form of video art presented via projectors, LCD or other flat panel display and wall-mounted in the same manner as traditional paintings. Video painting is a relatively new concept devised from the psychological and philosophical works of Hilary Lawson, who published his theory...
s, Orange and Grey, and Cusp in 2001 and 2002. He founded the Artscape Project in 2003 consisting of a collective of artists, including William Raban, Sarah Turner
Sarah Turner
Sarah Grace Manski is an American journalist and media critic. An advocate of media democracy, and an American democracy movement...
, Sanchita Islam and Isabelle Inghillieri, whose aim was to develop and explore the medium of the video painting
Video painting
Video painting is a form of video art presented via projectors, LCD or other flat panel display and wall-mounted in the same manner as traditional paintings. Video painting is a relatively new concept devised from the psychological and philosophical works of Hilary Lawson, who published his theory...
. The Artscape Project is now represented by Open Gallery.
The video painting flows from his philosophical outlook and constitutes a break from the film-making narratives that had been his focus for more than a decade. Hilary sees video paintings as a means to encourage the viewer to escape everyday closures and approach openness, or what Heidegger would have called Being.
In 2003 he was instrumental in developing a technology with computer scientists which enabled video paintings to be stored and played in such a manner that their order did not repeat but was also not random. The software and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
(known as Laluna) were created in order to allow video paintings to be integrated and put together so that they could constitute collections of work that never repeated or recapitulated, and yet had structure.
His video painting work has been exhibited at: the Hayward Gallery
Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
(2006); Sketch
Sketch (restaurant)
sketch is a well known restaurant on 9 Conduit Street, Mayfair, London, England, which opened in 2003. The restaurant is owned by Morad Mazouz and the Head Chef is Pierre Gagnaire...
(2007), the ICA
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
(2007), and The Globe at Hay gallery (2008). Now Revisited, performed at Shunt, London in 2009, was a video painting installation in five acts in which the audience found themselves the subject of the work.
His club in Clifton Square, Bristol, The Square is a kind of salon.
Awards
Palme D’Argent Monte Carlo, 1992The Emily Award, American Film and Video Festival, 1991
Documentary of the Year, Encyclopædia Britannica.
The Amnesty International Award, Best Documentary, 1995
Gold Award, New York TV and Film Festival, 1989
Royal Television Society Award Nomination, 2000
British Academy Award Nomination, 2000-1
External links
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/starttheweek_archive.shtml/
- http://www.globeathay.org/crunch-videos/
- http://www.opengallery.co.uk/
- http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/forumForEuropeanPhilosophy/whosWho/executiveCommitte/hilaryLawson.htm