SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public Domain / NAi Publishers present Open. Cahier on Art and the Public Domain, no. 23: Autonomy — New Forms of Freedom and Independence in Art and Culture:

In this time of ideological and political crises, in which people and things are increasingly thrown back on their own resources, autonomy is considered again. But how does autonomy, the wish to take matters into one’s own hands and have significance independent of old structures, relate to the call for engagement and performativity? This issue, made in collaboration with Sven Lütticken, examines autonomy from the standpoints of art, art history, philosophy, political theory, and cultural criticism, and attempts to escape the limitations of thinking in terms of engagement on the one hand and autonomy on the other. Continue reading

Memefest Festival of Socially Responsive Communication and Art 2012: Debt (la dette, χρέος, dolg, задолженность, долг, debito, дълг, ŝuldo, חוב, schuld, deuda, borc …) :: Call for Submissions — Deadline May 30.

Memefest, an international organization dedicated to promoting new, productive and relevant forms of cultural activism, together with the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, this year introduces the Memefest/ Griffith-QCA award for ‘Imaginative Critical Intervention’. Continue reading

Berkman Luncheon Series: Dalida Maria Benfield: Unexpected Development: Decolonial Media Aesthetics and Women’s ICT4D Video :: April 17, 2012; 12:30 pm :: Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts + webcast :: RSVP required for those attending in person via this form.

ICT4D (Information Communication Technology for Development) powerfully frames women’s grassroots video production in the Global South, much of which is distributed widely through YouTube. Often, these videos reproduce racialized and gendered discourses — legacies of colonialism — in their narratives of economic, social, and technological progress. Continue reading

The Artistic Mode of Revolution: From Gentrification to Occupation by Martha Rosler, e-flux.

This Is Not A Protest Song! Art, Civic Engagement And Networking :: Lectures: March 21, 2012; 9:30 am - 2:30 pm (open to all) :: Workshops: March 21-22 :: Wissenschaft & Kunst, Bergstraße 12, Salzburg, Austria.

This symposium covers questions of art, political engagement and activism by focusing on practical working methods.

Throughout history, art has been assigned a range of roles. Aside from the beautification of life, distraction or representation, the acquisition and transfer of knowledge and experiences are still seen as highly important. Continue reading

Theory in Action, the journal of the Transformative Studies Institute (quarterly publication print ISSN: 1937-0229 electronic ISSN: 1937-0237), is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal, whose scope ranges from the local to the global. Its aim is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and the discussion of current research (qualitative and quantitative) on the interconnections between theory and action aimed at promoting social justice broadly defined.

The journal editorial board does not privilege any particular theoretical tradition or approach and there are no word or page limits for its articles. TIA publishes papers that connect academic scholarship with activism, what R.K. Merton calls ‘theories of the middle range.’ TIA values radical and unconventional ideas, expressed in different styles, whether academic or journalistic. Continue reading

Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution - Assembled by Andrew Boyd with Dave Oswald Mitchell:

From Cairo to cyberspace, from Main Street to Wall Street, today’s social movements have a creative new edge that’s blurring the boundaries between artist and activist, hacker and dreamer. But the principles that make for successful creative action rarely get hashed out or written down.

Until now.

Beautiful Trouble brings together ten grassroots groups and dozens of seasoned artists and activists from around the world to distill their best practices into a toolbox for creative action. Continue reading

The reSource for transmedial culture, a new framework for the transmediale festival, aims to create a distributed platform for networking, curating and research throughout the year 2012 and beyond by envisioning the festival as a peer-production context of sharing knowledge and practices. Continue reading

Artists!

The US Congress is about to pass an internet censorship bill written by the copyright and corporate music and film lobbies, claiming that this bill is written in your name to “protect creativity.” The law would allow the government or corporations to censor entire sites — they just have to convince a judge that the site is “dedicated to copyright infringement.”

In fact, PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are backed and largely written by the Hollywood film industry, namely the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which is trying to sell goods and ideas that are already free. Continue reading

Low Lives: Occupy! :: March 3, 2012 :: Open Call for Artists and Presenters - Deadline: February 6, 2012

Low Lives launches new program in partnership with Occupy With Art and The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics.

On March 3rd, 2012, Low Lives: Occupy! an international platform designed to enable artists, audiences, and presenters in alliance with the Occupy movement to support the occupation, will transmit live performances, actions, and happenings online as they occur in real time around the world. Participating artists, artist collectives, Occupy groups, and presenters worldwide will expand the reach and visibility of the Occupy protests by broadcasting to an international community and audiences. Continue reading