This seminar offers a cross-reading between art and theories of economies, an open field where diverse agents and multivalent lines of inquiries converge. In the Marxian tradition, the question of value is approached by examining productive relations in art: artistic labor as not subsumed in the capitalist productive logic (Beech) or choosing to structurally align with reproductive labor (Stakemeier, Vishmidt). Intersecting with the inflated art market, itself a contentious topic, this leads to theorizations of devaluation (Phillips). Focusing more on the cultural than the institutional aspect is the ‘politics of value’ (Appadurai), whereby the figure of gift plays an vital role in mediating social relations among ‘dividuals’ rather than individuals (Lee). The affinity of art to ‘dividuality’ and affects enables us to re-conceptualize volatilities and sketch out ways to collectively explore volatilities (Martin). These teoretical debates will be animated by artistic speculations.
Navigating the critique on art and economics, the seminar also has a theory of change in view, which engages with art and economies in order to transform both, by way of a prefigurative politics enacted through art.