August 16 & 17, 2022 / 19:00 – 22:00
The Art Academy – Møllendalsveien 61, Bergen / with Danja Burchard, Brandon LaBelle, Sveinung Unneland and the Unfinished Institution
For the launch of the new series of Pirate gatherings planned for this semester, we focus on the topic of the Unfinished. In what ways does the Unfinished relate to creative practice, and the processes and experiences of artistic making? And is there something to be gained by way of Unfinishing, as a particular input into understanding subjectivity, and into what it means to perform as a self? Can the Unfinished be set in motion so as to allow for a greater sense of shared life, to also delay and tease the institutional imperative to finish?
Ideas and imaginaries of the Unfinished will be shared and explored, posed and embraced, which may act as a starting point for the new Pirate semester – to enjoy our pirate academy as a school of never-ending adventure and ceaseless creativity. Through presentations, shared discussions, screenings and group explorations, we’ll talk through and share in what it might mean to take on the role of being-unfinished.
Tuesday, August 16 / 19:00 – 22:00: we’ll start with introductory thoughts and perspectives by Brandon LaBelle on the topic of the Unfinished, which will unfold as a series of reflections and propositions: a sort of labyrinth of thinking so as to grow a range of imaginative pathways – including a discussion of the theories of G. Agamben, especially his thoughts on work and gesture; gesture as what upsets how life is brought into particular forms through an ideology of work: what would a formless activity be? Can we imagine life without work, or a work that works against itself? Following ideas of gesture, and the pleasures found in non-work, we’ll screen a film by the artists Alex Reynolds and Alma Söderberg; titled The Hand that Sings. The film gives expression to a profound sensing of the world around, leading to a wonderfully horizontal relationality of material vibration and musicalized togetherness.
Wednesday, August 17 / 19:00 – 22:00: We continue circling around ideas of the Unfinished, taking guidance from Danja Burchard, an artist and creative producer based in Bergen //// Danja will share her activities and research, expanding on a current area of interest that takes the name of Collapse – envisioned as a performative and discursive platform for collaborative research through the artistic practice of figuring-it-out. By experimenting with learning and unlearning, Collapse functions as a continuous laboratory investigating narratives, research, contemporary discourse, politics and performativity of our contemporary lives. Collapse departs from not-knowing, inviting those who are not so sure with the aim to create a content assemblage that is reflective of our shared curiosities – we’ll follow Danja through collective readings, through playing with words, bringing gestures and thoughts of unfinishing into the room /// we’ll conclude then with a presentation by Sveinung Unneland, on his current initiative, under the heading of The Unfinished Institute, which is a new studio complex in Bergen – what can an unfinished institute be? Let us share ideas and proposals which can help contribute to this new initiative!
