How could artists practice love with institutions, and vice-versa?

On the occasion of the Amsterdam performance community gathering at Cometogether #5, on March 5-7, Fransien and I would like to propose a conversation around art, love, care, ethics, politics and institutions.

The conversation will take place in Frascati on March 5, from 9.30 till 11.30 pm, with small intervalls, so the actual schedule is: 21:30-22:00, 22:05-22:35, 22:40-23:05, 23:10-23:35.

The special schedule for the talk reflects how we managed, in conversation with the organisation, could find a way to manage our and the institution`s agenda to fit the schedule of the program, we will be doing 5 minutes breaks so that new people have the opportunity to join us, while still try keep a fluid development of the talk throughout the 2 hours.

We want to try collectively address the question: How could artists practice love with institutions, and vice-versa?

Thinking that artists should talk more openly to each other about working conditions, we propose to speak from the I-perspective, cracking open the usual theoretical or bureaucratic speak, relating to real situations.

This conversation is the continuation of a project Vera Sofia Mota started in 2014, entitled: `The more of us there are, the faster we will reach our goal! Interviews I: Anonymous, João Fiadeiro, Janez Janša, Milo Rau, deufert&plischke, Myriam van Imschoot, Vera Sofia Mota.` To be published yet.

In this series of interviews, performance artists give an insight in their ideas on work ethics, contents of work, the political potential of their art and their relation with art institutions and policies.How do art and artists function in and survive the regulations of the institutional field? How do they function in a market place, that seems to be so far from artistic values and processes of creation? How could we overcome the ditch between the artists/the art work and the institutions?

Inspired by these interviews and the work of American philosopher Michael Hardt, specifically his conference on love as a political concept, `About love` (2007), we will propose a discussion on how love and care could be politically addressed, to try answering questions like: How could artists and institutes develop a practice of care as a way to empower each other? How could artists practice love with the institutions, and vice- versa?

Conversation proposed by Vera Sofia Mota & Fransien van der Putt

Cometogether #5 - Frascati, Amsterdam
https://cometogether.amsterdam/

Photos: Reinout Bos, Fransien van der Putt, Vera Sofia Mota