Against the tide of accelerating deregulation and privatization processes, renowned philosophers such as Slavoj Zizek, Alain Badiou or Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri have recently attempted to renew the concept of communism and the idea of common wealth, and artists and other practitioners likewise look into such possibilities. It is in this vein that Casco’s archive might be performed.
Both the archive and the meetings will be centered around a circular steel ring designed by NY based architectural collective common room for this occasion. The circular boundary is meant for gathering “around”, rather than gathering “in”, and engages with different ideas of what the “circle” could be. The multiple functions of Casco’s space—whether it be for research, meetings, presentations, construction, or performance—will be fully activated. Projecting as much as reflecting, and collecting new sources and references as much as archiving, will shape events in these two weeks. You are warmly invited to join us in this process.
'Come Alive!' is a series of discursive events organised for Casco’s twentieth anniversary, that looks into the social and artistic initiatives and movements of the recent past and their related historiographical processes, alongside Casco’s own. For the third event, questions and issues that have arisen from the two previous events in this series may reemerge such as the performative use of the archive and institutional responsibility; questions on the authority of historiography and the momentum for historical processes and methods; the frictions and contradictions between individuality, collectivity and social movements; and the position of art, or other cultural practices, and the tension with multiplicities of political action.
Gathering Around
Whilst different meetings between you and other surprise guests will take place throughout the two weeks, here are some meetings that have been arranged in advance with those guests whose particular interests lie in the commons, collectivity and collaboration.
21.06 19.00-21.00 Lars Fischer, founding member of common room and architect, New York City
23.06 15.00-17.00 Josien Pieterse, coordinator at Forum voor Democratische Ontwikkeling and researcher for Aletta, Institute for Women’s History, Amsterdam
24.06 18.00-20.00 Kobe Matthys, initiator of Agency and artist, Brussels
27.06 14.00-15.30 Oxana Timofeeva, researcher of Jan van Eyck Academie and co-editor of Chto delat, St. Petersburg
29.06 18.00-20.00 Bik van der Pol (Liesbeth Bik and Jos van der Pol), artists-duo, Rotterdam
02.07 19.00-20.30 Matteo Pasquinelli, researcher and author of ‘Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons’, Berlin
03.07 15.00-18.00 Anna Colin, curator of Gasworks, London
Gathering In
Casco is looking for materials to add to our archive, which will include both those from Casco’s past and references to Casco’s future, such as images, books, articles, films, stories. Please visit Casco with material or contact Yolande van der Heide: yolande@cascoprojects.org, +31(0)30 231 9995 for further inquiry.