RETHINKING THE POLITICS OF ART: The Machete Group at Slought

Saturday 19 March, 8:00 – 10:00pm

Slought Foundation
4017 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA

In an era in which many have declared the failure of the avant-garde and neo-avant-garde attempts to link art and politics, the Machete Group proposes to revisit this general problematic by emphasizing the need to reconfigure the conceptual matrix used to think the politics of art. Through an exploration of contemporary artistic strategies, the institutional framework of the arts, and the central role of systems of production, distribution and reception, we examine–from motley perspectives–a crucial question for contemporary aesthetic practice: “In order to rethink the relationship between art and politics in the current conjuncture, is it necessary to break with the essentialist assumption that ‘art’ and ‘politics’ are separate entities in need of a privileged point of connection?”

01. Brecht, ‘Five Difficulties’ (80 KB)

02. Rochlitz,’Subversion-Subsidy’ (964 KB)

03. Rochlitz, ‘Subversion Subsidy Preface’ (328 KB)

04. Saunders ‘Modern Art CIA CLEAN’ (68 KB)

05. Sontag, ‘Notes on Camp’ (60 KB)

06. Krebber, ‘ical krbbr prodly prsnts’ (4.8 MB)

ABOUT THE MACHETE GROUP
The Machete Group is an international consortium of artists and intellectuals based at the Marginal Utility Gallery in Philadelphia that organizes workshops, mini-seminars, screenings and other events open to the public. The guiding proposition of the Machete Group is that practice without theory is empty and theory without practice is blind. The goal of their work is to engender a rigorous and open atmosphere outside a strictly academic context that encourages autodidacticism, a willingness to question all forms of mastery and specialization, and the desire to think critically about artistic practice in an historically, socially and politically astute manner.

The Machete Group seminar at Slought will be run, like the other monthly seminars, by Avi Alpert, Alexi Kukuljevic and Gabriel Rockhill.