Politics of Collaboration. Apolonija Sustersic and Maria Lind in Conversation with Emese Süvecz

 18.1.-20.1.2007; FKSE- Assocation of Studio of Young Artists VII. Budapest, Rottenbiller u.35.

We would like to discuss how, in a variety of contemporary art projects, the form and basis of collective activities have been presented, examined, and recently called into question. We are interested in how people work on a short-term basis, as well as on more long-term bases; how they spread their attention across various subjects, methods, lifestyles, and different political orientations; how they hope for some kind of emancipation; and last but not least, what sort of satisfaction—or frustration—results from working in a group. At the same time, the seminar deals with how these collaborative efforts often constitute a response to a specific, at times local, situation, and how they constantly run the risk of being swallowed up and incorporated into the very systems against which they are reacting. The collaborations examined include those between artists and artists, artists and curators, and artists and others, such as activists and architects. The seminar also aims to explore future prospects for the kinds of collective action in the art world that are geared towards long-term research and knowledge production.

The seminar will be based on case studies. Therefore we will bring up one project on which we have collaborated (Non Stop Video Club in Ljubljana in 1998), one project which Maria Lind has worked on (Totally Motivated: A Sociocultural Maneuver at Kunstverein München in 2003), and one of Apolonija Sustersic’s projects (Community Research Office in London in 2004).

Maria Lind is a curator and critic based in Stockholm. She is the director of Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm.

Apolonija Šušteršič is a visual artist and architect based in Stockholm and Amsterdam.