Art and Labor

We go through the demands of Bad Art World’s A contribution towards a programme for the arts on a brutally hot August evening in NYC. It’s a contemporary application of Trotsky’s manifesto on revolutionary art. “Eighty years ago the world was entering another great opening. Then, too, there was a gap between what was necessary … Continue reading "Episode 13 – Bad Art World"

We’ve decided to start reading art manifestos in full and providing light commentary. First up, of course, is 1938’s Towards a Free Revolutionary Art ghostwritten by Leon Trotsky, signed by Diego Rivera and André Breton. Trotsky was one of the leaders of the Russian revolution, he was famously forced to flee to Mexico. Thanks to … Continue reading "READING – Manifesto: Towards a Free Revolutionary Art"

We yelled at the mayor! This episode is a response to a recent Chapo Trap House interview about music, identity politics, and activism (listen here: https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/unlocked-amber-interviews-aaron-j-leonard).  We want to challenge the podcast left to do better coalition building, and to think more critically about art’s potential in revolution. We encourage folks to consider Rivera’s Manifesto: … Continue reading "Episode 12 – Art as Agency (and The Dirtbag Left)"

A Fucking Didactic Educational AUDIO File! We basically spin a weird collage about surveillance and privacy (a lost cause). A lot of time traveling this episode. We go back in time 5-7 years when folks were rushing Youtube with How To videos like it was the dang gold rush. We receive a prescient transmission from Jack … Continue reading "Episode 11 – HOW NOT TO BE SEEN"

The department of defense, the CIA, and the FBI have all had a hand in influencing art, culture, and academia. We discuss the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Marvel movies, Rockefeller, modernism, futurist fascism, and Mexican muralism. Are you bummed about MFAs and institutional partnerships with banks? Us too buddy.  If you like us please consider donating … Continue reading "Episode 10 – Post Cold War Art and the CIA"

Content warning right at the top, this episode we discuss guns, violence, and suicide. We read through the Hito Steyerl essays “Is the Internet Dead?” and “The Terror of Total Dasein: Economies of Presence in the Art Field” We get into the complicated life and death of Nasim Najafi Aghdam, algorithms, junktime, access, and therapy. … Continue reading "Episode 9 – The YouTube Shooter (The Internet vs Dasein)"

We saw Sorry to Bother You and it was THE BEST MOVIE and THE ONLY MOVIE! We celebrate Chairman Boots Riley’s new masterpiece. We try to process the race and gender roles depicted in the film, but we’re way more excited to do a working class analysis. We’re now offering bonus materials on our Drip … Continue reading "Episode 8 – Sorry to Bother You"

Art is being used to fund and perpetuate war. The stateless wealthy use the art market as a tool to extend and maintain the class divide. Learn all about it in this mostly serious and depressing episode. My cat lightens the mood at one point. I wonder if the next 20 episodes of the show … Continue reading "Episode 7 – Museums in an Age of Planetary Civil War"

We had a tweet go viral! Artnet published a pseudoscience garbage article claiming that artists’ brain chemistry causes them to not what to be paid for their work, we told them to fuck off with that noise. This episode breakdown the discourse, and get into plenty of tangents along the way!! This episode was recorded … Continue reading "DISPATCH – Welcome to Art and Labor!"

HITO STEYERL DANK MEME STASH! Hey ya’ll, we’ve got some FEELINGS this episode. Half this episode is venting about some strange/shitty art world jobs we’ve had. We also mention decolonization practice, Walter Benjamin, cultural Marxism, and Imperfect Cinema as a foundation for Steyerl’s In Defense of Poor Image. Accessibility is the key word of this ep. … Continue reading "Episode 6 – A Drunken Intro to Hito Steyerl"