Wealth, Price and Value
Workshop at Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, 20.10.–24.10.2023
Academy of Art in Szczecin & Live Art and Performance Studies, Uniarts Helsinki
In recent times, financial markets, institutions and investors have had a very profound influence on art production, art education and artistic research, changing the way we practice and think about art. The very significant time in the 20th century when these two fields (art and economics) came into relationship was in the 1970s, when u.s. dollar was not anymore related to the value of gold (material resource) . These changes rearranged the whole social field, and the production of money. At the same moment in the 20th century (1960/1970), a similar shift took place in art practice. Conceptual artists challenged material-based art production (sculptures, paintings, etc.) and its speculative value for the creation of “non-material” based artworks that could be more easily and quickly disseminated.
The aim of the project is to comment on issues related to the economy, art practiceand art education in the current context. Special guest — Dr Jan Sowa (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw) will give a lecture — „What are you really buying, when you are buying art? Labor, value and singularity in late capitalism” in which by using the tools of critical theory, the mystery of the artwork-as-commodity will be provisionally unpacked.
In the framework of lectures by dr Jan Sowa, prof. Tero Nauha, prof. Anna Orlikowska, dr. Łukasz Jastrubczak the impact of the economy and its narratives or models on art and art education will be discussed. We will reflect on how artists and art educators respond to the social and subjective pressures of value creation. What kinds of resilience, discursive critique or forms of expression should be developed in institutions and communities? What forms of resistance might be effective in this context? What new art forms or practices are needed in a financialised society?
At the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, students from Live Art and Performance Studies (LAPS) at Uniarts in Helsinki and students from the Academy of Art in Szczecin will collaborate to create works that respond to the questions raised during the seminars, the effects of which will be presented to the public in the framework of the presentation that will be held on October 24th, 6pm at Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko.
Participants:
Shaghayegh Ansari Manouchehrabadi
Paria Mohajerani
Valpuri Raappana
George Rallis
Duncan Robertson
Maija Suominen
Xiaole Wang
Niko Wearden
Magdalena Babicz
Marta Cieślak
Katarzyna Jadczak
Ana Kulak
Wiktoria Kubis
Alicja Małek
Piotr Michalski
Kajetan Wójcik
Mikołaj Tomczak
Leaders: prof. Tero Nauha (UniArts Helsinki), dr Łukasz Jastrubczak (Academy of Art in Szczecin)
Lecturers: dr Jan Sowa (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw), dr hab. Anna Orlikowska (Academy of Art in Szczecin)
