"Think about the general nightmare of standing nude in public, but add something else you fear, like standing nude on a scale."

Lisa Yuskavage

february 6 | 7-9PM | Old School
Critique the Critique
prospectus
The Night Course begins with a conversation focused on the foundation of the art school complex--the group critique. Through an open discussion we will examine the group critique’s place within the current university system, its subjective forms and values, and what role it might play in future education models. Art professors and professionals have been invited to share their thoughts on a loose panel prior to a general public forum.

The audio recording of this event was made possible through the generous support of the ICA Philadelphia .
course material
panelists
Anna Neighbor
Anthony Elms
Ryan McCartney
Caleb Beckwith
Kristen Alyce Snow
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february 18 | 7-9PM | Grey Space
Speed Date your Artist Statement
prospectus
Do you love your artist statement? Does it love you? Are you friends with benefits? Bring your one page or less artist statement to this workshop and have it read by and receive feedback from local curators, gallerists, writers, and editors. Twelve minutes with each consultant and its time to move on. Couples therapy meets speed dating meets tough love--all to make your statement the apple of your eye and not the ol’ ball and chain.
course material
suitors/consultants
Becky Hunter
Sarah Eberle
Mashinka Firunts
Matt Kalasky
Kristen Mills
J. Louise Makary
Nell McClister
Ben Will
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march 4 | 7-9PM | Old School
Figure(d)rawing: Symposium of Limbs
prospectus
This figure drawing class/workshop will be a mixture of traditional and experimental drawing exercise. There will be one model and there will be sound. Participants will mostly draw individually, perhaps somewhat collaboratively, but also partially theoretically. NOTE: There will be a nude model present during this course.
recommended materials
  • vine charcoal

  • white or kneaded eraser

  • woodless graphite pencil

  • drawing paper

led by
Rubens Ghenov is a Brazilian born artists, curator, and teacher working in Philadelphia
event photo album
event photo album
march 18 | 7-9PM | Old School
Digital Productivism
prospectus
This class proposes a conversation regarding the possibilities and limits of creative production provided by digital technologies, especially recent advances in information and communication media. Many a discourse around digital art today recalls the techno-euphoria of the historical avant-gardes, promising greater access to and participation in the making and distribution of images and perspectives, knowledge and objects. As social, political, and economic upheavals over the past two decades have drastically altered the demands placed on creative production, this class aims to assess the current relation between art and technology, its potential to transform the way we think about art and labor, as well as the dangers of re-creating new semblances of radicality.
course material
led by
Philip Glahn is Associate Professor of Critical Studies and Aesthetics at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University.
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"It emerges from a perceived need to chart this activity as well as a reminder (to those who might assume that they are inventing the wheel) that the road stretches back farther than imagined."

-Richard Torchia

april 1 | 7-9PM | Old School
An Exploration of Artist-Run Spaces (Philadelphia)
prospectus
In the guise of a proper lecture with a power-point and such, this talk is an historical exploration of artist-run activities (galleries, collectives, etc.) in Philadelphia with an emphasis on the past three decades. This talk will seek to place Philadelphia's activities (current and historical) into a national context, and examine the idea of an artist-run space "movement", which may or may not have started during the latter half of the 20th century.
course material
led by
Annette Monnier has been a member of three different groups of artists that have founded three different art spaces (currently; PRACTICE), one of the things she presently does is write a bi-monthly art review column for the CityPaper.
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april 15 | 7-9PM | Old School
New Animism
prospectus
In Understanding Animation, Paul Wells defines animism as “a pre-rational, pre-scientific state of relatedness to the organic interconnectedness of the natural world,” one that could provide a framework for thinking about the marvelous locomotion of stationary objects in animated film. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno saw a dialectical relationship between animism and technology, suggesting that “animism spiritualized the object, whereas industrialism objectifies the spirits of men.” Does this new animism liberate objects or threaten human life? In this session we will consider the animistic impulse in the visual arts, springing from the grotesque and the arabesque, to early animation, and finally to newer theories of talking objects and plasmatic technologies that move in the world today.
course material
led by
Katherine Rochester is a Ph.D. candidate at Bryn Mawr College in the History of Art and a critic for Artforum Magazine.
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april 29 | 7-9PM | 2048 E. Huntingdon St.
Light Refreshments on Radical Pedagogy
prospectus
To conclude the semester join peers, colleagues, and soon to be friends for a night of food and conversation. Have a seat at the supper table and pass the wine as we consider the language and spirit of radical pedagogies past. What subdued the fervor of dialogue surrounding radical education? What is to account for our historical amnesia and is their any recovery?
course material
led by
Suzanne Seesman is an artist and educator that splits her time between Richmond, VA and Philadelphia.
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