Online Course THE PARADOX OF ART AND LABOUR by Adrian Melis

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Online Course THE PARADOX OF ART AND LABOUR by Adrian Melis
Photo by courtesy of Antonio Picascia: Adrian Melis, Terra Asciutta (Dry Land), 2020, video performance, site specific, Aqueduct of Serino, Napoli, Italy

BAI Online Program

Please note thatย BAI will record the live sessions andย check before booking a course the technical requirements as listed below.

Online Course by international lecturer Adrian Melis
Radio Inverview at Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). Photo by courtesy of Gemma Planell

Adrian Melis (Havana, Cuba,1985) takes as his starting point current socio economic circumstances in Cuba as well as in Europe and considers how the shifting status quo affects the lives of individuals and furthermore the ways in which societies operate within their framework. Drawing from issues of unemployment, bureaucratic inefficiency, corporate as well as political corruption he creates mechanisms in which third partiesโ€™ experiences and stories are integrated in the production or execution of his work. His methodology instills within the works ironic and absurd qualities, meanwhile allowing for elements of absence, either formal or symbolic to manifest. Inspired by the lack of motivation and productivity in Cuba, Melis also experiments with creating feasible temporary employment opportunities both at home and in Europe.

www.adrianmelis.com

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Online Seminar THE PARADOX OF ART AND LABOUR: socio-political practices as forms of artistic expression by Adrian Melis

โ€œThe Paradox of Art and Labour is a four-week course analysing art practices that engage with socio-political realities and contexts by merging art with other disciplines such as economic theory, journalism, political studies, anthropology and socialย ย practices. Through the lens of my own work and with references to other creators (inside and outside of the art world), I propose ย an in-depth reading of Cuban socialist and European neoliberal socio-economic ready-mades, aiming at a broader understanding ย of the respective psycho-political realities and their links to different socially engaged artย practices. Does art have the ability to ย reach beyond the confines of the art world and transform reality? If art qualifies as a potential activator of change, it gains a social ย function, compromising its proclaimed autonomy and non-productivity. Paradoxically and at the same time, in the context of nonproductive ย economic and political systems, concepts ofย productivity relate more closely to art than to reality itself.

In order to explore the relationship between Art andย Labour, we will be reflecting on their respective ability to (re)produce subjetivities, ideologies and realities. In this course, I intent to address and interconnect a way of looking at reality (the economy and politics) aesthetically through the lense of art and analysing what artists do and how they become politically and socially engaged transgressing theย boundaries between the art world and reality. During the four sessions, I will introduce some of the concepts that I have developed in my own practice as an artist and discuss how these ideas apply in different socio-political contexts around the world. We will first discover, analyse and learn how to deconstruct real life situations that could be read orย understood as art without any authorship or intervention of an artist. I will then introduce to you examples of interventions and art works, which I have compiled in my own practice and which I summarise under the terms โ€œsocial ready-mades,โ€ โ€œunproductive systemsโ€ or โ€œimmaterial labour.โ€ Together we will discuss how these different concepts apply toย other socially engaged practices in the field of art.

Throughout the sessions, we will be having discussions about the ethics of collaboration and the dynamics of social groups. Looking at the relationship between artists and the rest of society we will develop a deeper understanding of interventions, integrations and subtractions within social groups. We will ask ourselves what the role of artists is outside of the art world and how to approach different situations we might encounter when we make a work that involves people and situations outside the framework of the studio? We will also ask ourselves how to develop and share ideas as a group and how to interpret and react to different responses of communities (inside and outside of the art world) to the art work or practice. I will be making reference to different strategies I have used when it comes to collaborations with people that do not take part in the art world and more specifically focus on the use and the role of sound and silence in experimental video making, the world of Foley Art, the โ€œKnown and the Anonymous participantsโ€, The โ€œart workโ€ as a platform to generate employment, the power of โ€œrepetitionโ€, among others.

Accompanying the four sessions, I will propose to you different exercises and will also be offering reference materials for each session. Furthermore, I will invite you to collectively develop an idea for a video work by applying some of the concepts we will have been discussing. Taking advantage of the โ€œonlineโ€ nature of the course, we will use the final session to create a work in the format of our Zoom meetings. The work will be live, performed and recorded by all the participants involved at that time.โ€ (Text by courtesy of Adrian Melis)

Min. seats: 5 | Max. seats: 30 | Language: English

Save the dates in your calendar

The live sessions for this course will be given on Tuesday March 02, 9, 16 & 23, 2021,ย each day from 4 โ€“ 6 pm (Berlin time). You will also receive an email reminder for each video conference before it takes place.

Recording of Live Sessions

We record the live sessions so that they remain available for a logged in course participant until one week after the last session.

Access to content

You will get access to the course content and lessons in ourย learning management system once you are enrolled.

Technical requirements

We will use the Zoom Meetingย application for the live sessions. You need a stable internet connection.ย There are two ways to access the live meeting:

1. Via the Zoom app
Before joining a Zoom meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can download the Zoom app here:ย https://zoom.us/download
or on: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/zoom-cloud-meetings/id546505307
Otherwise, you will be prompted to download and install Zoom when you click our join the zoom meeting link.

2. Viaย Google Chromeย Browser onย https://zoom.us/join
If you are using Google Chrome to join a meeting, you will see a dialog box to launch the Zoom application.
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362593-Launching-Zoom-from-a-web-browser

Here you find more info:ย https://youtu.be/hIkCmbvAHQQย 

We will provide the Zoom Meeting ID before each meeting. BAI will record the live sessions.

In addition to the Online Program, the Berlin Art Institute offers an international Studio Program, aย Residency Program,ย Portfolio Courses,ย aย Spring Academy,ย anย Artsย Incubator, aย Friends Program, andย theย presentation andย exhibition displayย 404 | BAI.

If you have any questions, please contact us at ecourses@berlinartinstitute.com

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