The Politics of Appropriation
Instructor: Stephen Collis
Duration: Sunday 8 August 2010: 1-5PM
Capacity: 12 Students
“A democracy of the multitude is imaginable only because we all share and participate in the common. By ‘the common’ we mean, first of all, the common wealth of the material world—the air, the water, the fruits of the soil, and all nature’s bounty…. We consider the common also and more significantly those results of social production that are necessary for social interaction and further production, such as knowledges, languages, codes, information, affects, and so forth” (Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri, Commonwealth).
Appropriation has long existed as a practice in the avant-garde, but it seems to have new purchase amidst discussions of “flarf,” conceptual writing, file sharing and the so-called “information commons.” In this workshop we will explore various appropriative writing practices—from old fashioned book sources to flarf and Google sculpting to the linguistically saturated urban environment. How do these practices differ? What are the politics of “sharing” or “stealing”? Whose property is language anyway? Whose words are we using?
Readings: There are three readings that will be emailed to students prior to the workshop.
Requirements: Bring paper, scissors, glue/tape, and a laptop if you have one. We’ll tear a strip off this world.
Fee: $75.00