Apt in collaboration with Artspace Studios.
You are invited to take part in a close reading of Karl Marx’s ‘Capital - Capitalist Production – Volume 1’, over 13 monthly meetings.
There are many reasons for reading Capital and each participant will have their own motives for getting involved in the reading of this text. The reading group is supported by Artspace Studios, a fitting environment providing an ideal artistic setting to explore the text. Artspace Studios has served Artists living in Galway for the pass 22 years and continues to provide a healthy environment allowing open discussion and debate around contemporary issues of concern to visual artists. The short ponderable statement below is intended as a starting point for reflexive conversation during the following meetings.
Art production is a blueprint, a perfect example of the process of capitalism. On the other hand, Art is one of the last refuges of Marxist thinking, creating a critical space to consider capitalism.
Marxist theory is often referred too in both Art conversation and texts. This reading group is offered as a platform to explore the Marxist filter with respect to Art production. The ‘Capitalist Production’ text is intended to provide a structure for this exploration, through discussion, debate and further reading.
The structure of The Reading Group.
The reading group is designed to accommodate as many people as possible. Meetings will take place for the most part in Galway, at Artspace Studios, although other venues may be employed. If you are unable to attend regular monthly meetings but would like to follow the reading of ‘Capital’ and part take in some aspect(s) of the groups activities you are very welcome, either on the blog or at a meeting later in the year.
The reading timetable follows a 13 part podcast by David Harvey produced while lecturing at The City University of New York in 2008. The video and audio podcasts and for more information on David Harvey please go to http://davidharvey.org/
The reading group will meet on the last Wednesday of each month. At each meeting a video podcast will be viewed, followed by group discussion on the ‘Capital’ text and cross texts read, along with the material covered on David’s podcast. The video podcast section starts at 4.30 pm and is optional as you can enjoy/study the video or audio podcast in your own time, before joining the group for the discussion section of the meeting at 6.30 pm. The meeting adjourns to Live at 8 @ The Number Eight Bar, the Docks, for the light refreshment section/session.
A TEAM BLOG;
This team blog has been set up as a posting area for pooled knowledge, photographs, videos, comments, ideas, interesting and related sources of information and written texts from reading group members. Each participant in the group is invited to become an author on this Blog. For these who are unable to make the monthly meetings regularly, this maybe a site of importance, keeping up to date with the activities of the group.
A number of guest speakers will be invited to present to the group during the course of the thirteen reading group meetings, from various disciplines, from Art Practitioners, Critics to Academics, etc.
For those wishing to take part in the reading group please email aptletters@gmail.com to register. If you know of someone who may be interested in this reading group please forward on this information.
The first meeting will take place on the 28th of January 2009 at Artspace Studios, Unit 7 and 8, Addley Park, Liosban Trading Estate, Galway. Tel: 091 773046
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Do you know what time its to take place?
ReplyDeleteReally hope to make it.
Interesting. 2 things... Referring to Marxism as a filter has generally been reserved for Liberals and Conservatives. That is, they claim Marxists do not see the whole of reality merely a section of it. And why, oh why, would one claim "Art is one of the last refuges of Marxist thinking"? There is simply no basis for this suggestion at all.
ReplyDeleteJust a few immediate thoughts-
ReplyDeleteI just had a look at the first lecture while at the same time the TV was on and I was watching the panic in every one here in Ireland.In particular the recent addresses yesterday in the Dail didn't add any confidence to the nation and how unnerved everyone is.
Marx was right in that Capatalism funtions on the basis of Motion. His approach to a very loose notion of what is
Commodity, is an interesting notion.
Its also interesting that our country and its society is unravelling before our very eyes as a result of fear and stagnation. People are afraid to spend money, and seemed to be crippled by the notion of "the other", "whats next to come", "how worse is it going to get now" and dont see the correlation between spending and functioning as an economy/society, . When motion stops.. it all falls apart.
The Commodity in a sense could be:confidence in motion.
Actually I just Thinking of a good book to read along with this Neal Stephensons "Baroque Cycle" Trilogy: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World.
ReplyDeleteIn Particular the section in "Systems of the World" in the very humourous section on the incident of the Lead...
its really funny and an excellent trilogy.
Goes into how the british pound was designed by Issac Newton etc.
I can bring them along to one of the meetings if any one is interested in reading them!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteJust a few quick links that may be of interest :
The following question "How can the cultural sector survive the financial crisis?" was tackled by Helmut K. Anheier in January this year- please see http://www.labforculture.org/en/content/view/full/39830
Helmut K. Anheier (Ph.D. Yale University, 1986) is Professor of Sociology at Heidelberg University and the academic Director of the Heidelberg Centre for Social Investment. He is also Professor and Director of the Center for Civil Society and the Center for Globalization and Policy Research at UCLA's School of Public Affairs. Anheier's work covers the civil society, the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, organisational studies, policy analysis and comparative methodology.
In 2008, he published "Cultures and Globalization: The Cultural Economy" :
www.sagepub.co.uk
This one is a text by Loren Goldner, an activist and writer based in New York and Korea, who has been writing about the 'global credit bubble' for over 30 years. the text on this link is recent (oct 08) and while it is quite US centric, and seems to be a work in progress, it is an interesting Marxist analysis of what's going on.
http://home.earthlink.net/~lrgoldner/october.html