seminar for 15 persons
together with texts from: Pauline Oliveros, Corita Kent, Simone Weil, Silvia Federici, Ursula K.Le Guin, Alice Walker, Huw Lemmey, Hildegard von Bingen and Layli Long Soldier
visiting places: Cemetery of the Nameless, Karl Marx Hof, Satellite City Alterlaa, Wotruba Church/Sterngarten Georgenberg and Krapfenwaldlbad from Red Vienna
9 x 2.5 hours
2025

locations and documentation of the reading sessions © Pille-Riin Jaik

CONCEPT

One semester long course in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna focusing on methodology of "sociopolitical readings" in urban realms on outskirts of Vienna to situate oneself and diploma level art students practice into their immediate surroundings. Together with texts and exercises from Pauline Oliveros, Corita Kent, Simone Weil, Silvia Federici, Ursula K.Le Guin, Alice Walker, Huw Lemmey, Hildegard von Bingen and Layli Long Soldier we explored Cemetery of the Nameless, Karl Marx Hof, Satellite City Alterlaa, Wotruba Church/Sterngarten Georgenberg and Krapfenwaldlbad from Red Vienna.

The course was organized around a series of practical exercises (f.e Oliveros text scores) and engagements (Corita Kent assignements) to enlarge one’s ability to actively read the organization of the socio-political spaces. We visited together different architectural places of curiosity outside of the city center of Vienna in order to explore one’s engagement in the local context and artistic practices in relation to the politics and aesthetics of the cityscape. Different historical stories and fabulas as well as political texts were used as ignition spark to drift into one’s own fantasy, feelings and myriad relations to the spaces. Together we dwelled on failures of modernism, historical Red Vienna, late 20th century fantasies of the united world, hidden anarchistic islands and one’s own creative practice in the midst of this world of polycrises. At the end of the course students worked independently on their final presentation reflecting on how environments influence their artistic practice and why.

Pictures of the final presentations: textscore by Giorgia Polverini, 1st district on bike by Djoana Gueorguieva, presentation of, collage with sound by Kemi Anne Kinti Houndegla, presentation of a location Nil Zengin, silkscreen by Lisa Lupsina and mixtape by Pia Wilma.