Book Situation

“Toilet Tissues #1: Toilet Tissue and Other Formless Organizational Matters”

with Staci Bu Shea, Svenja Engels and Mafalda Gomes

Staci Bu Shea is curator at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons. Casco Art Institute is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Mafalda Gomes is a project manager in the field of sustainability and zero-waste, a feminist and sexual health researcher, and a volunteer at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons. Casco Art Institute is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Book situation “Work and Well-being” with Platform BK: Joram Kraaijeveld

Joram Kraaijeveld is a curator, teacher, and writer. Kraaijeveld is director at Platform BK, a Dutch artist association that operates as an active think tank for the arts.

Session 5: Unlearning Art Economy

with Centre for Plausible Economies: Kathrin Böhm

and Kuba Szreder, and the case studies including:

• The Asociación de Arte Útil: Gemma Medina and Christiane Berndes

• Company Drinks: Kathrin Böhm

• Casco Art Institute with Arts Collaboratory: Binna Choi and Erik Uitenbogaard

• Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) with Arts Collaboratory: Kabelo Malatsie.

Plus respondents including Witte de With Center for

Contemporary Art: Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy

Many of questions addressed in the session are entangled in an

economic stratum that is defined by the question of money and

that works as a pressure point for productivity and efficiency.

Bearing this in mind, we looked at the art economy from

the perspective of “diverse economies” that articulates all

forms of transaction and diverse value at stake other than

monetary value. Four case studies of four different types of art

institutional economies were presented, lending themselves

to collective consultancy towards more equal, sustainable, and

movement-orientated practice. This session was facilitated

by researcher-curator Kuba Szreder and artist Kathrin Böhm,

who together established the Centre for Plausible Economies

in 2018.

Christiane Berndes is currently Curator and Head of Collections of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Kathrin Böhm is an artist whose work is defined by its collaborative nature and commitment to the public realm. As a member of MyVillages, Böhm is the initiator of Company Drinks and co-founder of Centre for Plausible Economies.

Binna Choi is director at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons since 2008. Casco Art Institute is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Sofía Hernández Chong Guy is director at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam since January 2008.

Kabelo Malatsie is director at the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) since June 2018. VANSA is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Gemma Medina is an art historian, independent researcher, and curator. She is archive researcher and coordinator at Asociación de Arte Útil together with Alessandra Saviotti.

Kuba Szreder is an independent curator and researcher and his interdisciplinary curatorial projects combine artistic practices with critical examination of society. Szreder is lecturer in the sociology and theory of art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and co-founder of the Centre for Plausible Economies.

Erik Uitenbogaard is head over diverse economies at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons. Casco Art Institute is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Introduction of the Assembly and book launch with Annette Krauss, Binna Choi, Yolande van der Heide

Binna Choi is director at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons since 2008. Casco Art Institute is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Yolande van der Heide is deputy director at Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, where she began as an intern in 2008. Casco Art Institute is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Annette Krauss works as an artist, writer, educator. In her conceptual-based practice she addresses the intersection of art, politics, and everyday life. Her work revolves around informal knowledge and normalization processes that shape our bodies, the way we use objects, engage in social practices and how these influence the way we know and act in the world. Her artistic work emerges through the intersection of different media, such as performance, video, historical and everyday research, pedagogy, and texts. Krauss is head of the MA programme Fine Art HKU, Utrecht.

Yu-Lan van Alphen is developer and manager of the Dutch culture program at DOEN Foundation: the Bank Giro Loterij Fonds DOEN is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

Gertrude Flentge is developer and manager of the international culture and media program at DOEN Foundation. DOEN is a member of the Arts Collaboratory network with a focus on collective governance.

"We Are Parasites" questions how some right-wing politicians label artists as parasites, exploring how we are all parasites, as we are all, in fact, interdependent. Furthermore, the song mentions the 2011 letter "More Than Quality", written by Halbe Zijlstra - then the Dutch state secretary of culture - explaining his vision for cultural funding policy. In the song, it is argued that to ask for more than quality is, actually, just asking for quantity and productivity, while support for the arts should rather be fueled by care.

This song is part of Parasite Lottery, a pilot version of a collective lottery system for art organizations in the Netherlands and their communities proposed by Wok The Rock and Casco. Download the song and comic on www.parasitelottery.com.

Produced by Wok The Rock & Casco

Music by Leilani Hermiasih

Lyrics by Leilani Hermiasih & Wok The Rock

Vocal & Keyboards: Leilani Hermiasih

Comic stips by Wok The Rock

Vocals recorded by Daniel Hollos in Berlin, Germany

Mixed and Mastered by Brian Esselbrugge at Studio Brainwash, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Liner notes: Steyn Bergs

"Storm Over Cut" is about the diverse strategies that artists have employed to cope with budget cuts. The first verse presents those who are actively fighting policy, either through protest or through negotiations, The second shows how some are dealing with the situation by adapting, for instance by adopting entrepreneurial newspeak. Finally, in the third verse, there is "Parasite Lottery" itself as an attempt to create collectivity and solidarity.

This song is part of Parasite Lottery, a pilot version of a collective lottery system for art organizations in the Netherlands and their communities proposed by Wok The Rock and Casco. Download the song and comic on www.parasitelottery.com.

Produced by Wok The Rock & Casco

Music by Leilani Hermiasih

Lyrics by Leilani Hermiasih & Wok The Rock

Vocal & Keyboards: Leilani Hermiasih

Comic stips by Wok The Rock

Vocals recorded by Daniel Hollos in Berlin, Germany

Mixed and Mastered by Brian Esselbrugge at Studio Brainwash, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Liner notes: Steyn Bergs

Inspired by the eponymous 2002 Bowie song, as well as by the now-popular way of describing the long-lasting, detrimental effects of the 2012 budget cuts in the Netherlands, "Slow Burn" narrates the experience of someone affected by these cuts: restless, precarious, and feeling like a firefly caught up in a cobweb. The song imagines the period from 2013 - when the impact of the austerity measures first became visible - until 2018 - when artists and other cultural producers are still experiencing the effects of the slow burn, struggling to make ends meet and to find the funds required for artistic desire.

This song is part of Parasite Lottery, a pilot version of a collective lottery system for art organizations in the Netherlands and their communities proposed by Wok The Rock and Casco. Download the song and comic on www.parasitelottery.com.

Produced by Wok The Rock & Casco

Music by Leilani Hermiasih

Lyrics by Leilani Hermiasih & Wok The Rock

Vocal & Keyboards: Leilani Hermiasih

Comic stips by Wok The Rock

Vocals recorded by Daniel Hollos in Berlin, Germany

Mixed and Mastered by Brian Esselbrugge at Studio Brainwash, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Liner notes: Steyn Bergs

Pull The Plug is the starting point for Parasite Lottery, and was written from the perspective of the politicians and policy makers that are cutting cultural budgets.

As it so often is, the argument of Pull The Plug is mainly pragmatic: in times of crisis and exigency, it argues, there is no room for arts and culture, and the disgruntlement of those who think differently cannot change a thing about that. Furthermore, phrases like "leftist hobbies" make clear that pulling the plug is a conscious political move, as well an attempt at silencing of voices that are opposed to official policy.

This song is part of Parasite Lottery, a pilot version of a collective lottery system for art organizations in the Netherlands and their communities proposed by Wok The Rock and Casco. Download the song and comic on www.parasitelottery.com.

Produced by Wok The Rock & Casco

Music by Leilani Hermiasih

Lyrics by Leilani Hermiasih & Wok The Rock

Vocal & Keyboards: Leilani Hermiasih

Comic stips by Wok The Rock

Vocals recorded by Daniel Hollos in Berlin, Germany

Mixed and Mastered by Brian Esselbrugge at Studio Brainwash, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Liner notes: Steyn Bergs

Forum IV: Commoning Aesthetics with Annie Fletcher, Maria Lind, Stavros Stavrides, Marina Vishmidt, and Arseny Zhilyaev, organized by Casco & Open! Platform for Art, Culture, and the Public Domain