herbst Academy 2008
Strategies for avoiding misfortune
Three workshops for students, artists, theorists and others
Where political philosophy, neurology and aesthetic theory
astonishingly all insist on dismissing conscious, controlled action and
causal action as naive, more and more people are nevertheless demanding
the right to the working hypothesis that, by acting, we can, if not
find happiness, then at least develop strategies for avoiding
misfortune. Our rescue attempt oscillates between pragmatism and
utopia, and the modesty of the formulation does not imply making do,
but rather the pragmatic will not to be held back by fundamental
disputes concerning a far, far distant future. So what new scenarios of social reality can we conceive? How can we
change our environment, even if we cannot really know whether it will
be for the better? What is the goal, what is the vision?
Strategies for avoiding misfortune, that is a cautious metaphor for the
consciously sceptical belief in the possibilities of action. Action
between image and deed, post-ironic but not unironic, active but not
activistic. A Kantian duty without the protestant seriousness, pathos
as an everyday reality. Such strategies focus on a productive attitude that does not abandon
the power of a utopia but nevertheless bears aspects of feasibility in
mind. There is an action between pragmatism and utopia that shapes our
everyday life, that creates public spheres and sometimes saves the
world a bit.
The search for and questioning of possible strategies for avoiding
misfortune is the connection between the events of herbst Aacademy
2008. In this context three workshops for twenty young, international
artists and theorists will form a kind of backbone of the festival and
follow in terms of their focus these underlying thoughts.
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Workshop I (06/10 - 11/10/2008) Places still available!
Why we don’t do what we really want to do.
But are nevertheless actors
By Gesa Ziemer (CH/D)
With Tony Chakar (RL), Scott Lash (GB), geheimagentur / Club der
Autonomen Astronauten (Fundus Theater) (D) & Claus Pias (A/D)
Co-produced by NXTSTP, with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union
Workshop II (13/10 – 18/10/2008) Places still available!
vocabulaboratories
How do we articulate spaces for action?
By Paz Rojo (E) & Manuela Zechner (GB/A)
With Ludotek (E), Judith Revel (F ) & Judith Schwentner (A)
Workshop III (20/10 – 25/10/2008) Fully booked!
Record of downfall
Writing as political act
By Edith Draxl (A)
With Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll) (D), Ulrich Peltzer (D), René Pollesch (D), Uwe Schutte (D) & Stefanie Wenner (D)
Co-produced by steirischer herbst & uniT Graz
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The workshops are limited to approx. 15 persons and the organisers will
select the participants. Registrants may participate in more than one
of the events. The spoken language will be English in the workshops I
& II and German in workshop III.
Deadline for applications is 04/08/2008.
»Download application form
A further workshop within steirischer herbst festival 2008:
DIY: Do It Yourself! (04/10 – 06/10/2008)
Hands-on three-day workshop for building “DIY” sound generators
With Gert-Jan Prins (NL) & Winfried Ritsch (A)
steirischer herbst in co-operation with Medienkunstlabor Graz
Information for all workshops:
steirischer herbst / Bea Dermond
t +43 664 24 500 89
dermond@steirischerherbst.at
