The LCCA Evening School series is comprised of ten reading workshops as well as guest lectures by local and international professionals. Each reading workshop is focused on a specific spectrum of subjects and issues – the institutionalism of art, and the critique thereof, post-colonialism, feminism, active and socio-political strategies in art etc. Each topic is explored by reading and discussing texts pertaining to art history, philosophy, anthropology and other fields, including essays by such renowned authors as Alain Badiou, Jacques Rancière, Claire Bishop, Lucy Lippard, Hans Belting, Boris Groys and others. The series is based on examining current contemporary art processes and texts with a view to strengthening the development of critical thinking and debate within the art environment of Latvia.
The hosts of ‘The LCAA Evening School’ recommend attending all the workshops of the series; however it is also possible to take part in individual events. Attendees are asked to independently acquaint themselves with the texts selected for the particular workshop before each session. Participation is free of charge; the classes will be held in Latvian. Each class will be up to two hours long. To apply please email ieva.ast@gmail.com.
The next workshop APPROPRIATION STRATEGIES
on 11 February, 2014
The ‘recycling’ of images and pictures has been an important means of expression in contemporary art since 1980s, when it manifested the topical issues of so-called critical postmodernism (‘We are not in search of sources or origins, but of structures of signification’ – Douglas Crimp). It is still a widely employed strategy in art today; however, now the interests of this approach lie elsewhere. Artists today use existing works and materials to create active negotiations between various points of timespace. Art critic Jan Verwoert, who explores the relationship between contemporary art history and topical art, addresses this issue by proposing the use of the term ‘invocation’: post-1990s, artists have been living amidst multiple rotating historical axes.
Main text: Jan Verwoert, ‘Apropos Appropriation: Why stealing images today feels different’ (Art & Research. A Journal of Ideas, Contexts and Methods, 2007)
Further reading: Nicolas Bourriaud, ‘The Use of Forms’ (Postproduction, 2002)