AltMFA Zine - This Might Be the FUTURE (full)

AltMFA zine

march 2018

This might be the future AltMFA's FUTURE PROGRAMME lecture series 2017-2018

Creative Responses Debora Mo & Nathania Hartley - Nuno Coelho | Amy Leung & Maru Rojas - Rosalie Schweiker & Margherita Huntley | Fritha Jenkins - Nina Power | Sadie Edginton & Irene Pulga - Giles Smith of Assemble | Johanna Bolton & Anousha Payne - Florence Peake | Andy Yau - Dave Beech | Eirini Kartsaki & Eldi Dundee - Daniel Oliver | Debora Mo - Francesca Cavallo | Naima Karlsson & Nathania Hartley -Â Hamish MacPherson | Sadie Edginton - Owen Parry

CONTENTS

iNVITED LECTURER & EVENT TITLE

Nuno Coelho ‘How Modernism Envisaged a New Future / Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction’ Rosalie Schweiker & Margherita Huntley ‘Teaching for People Who Prefer Not to Teach’ Nina Power ‘Against the Future!’

Giles Smith (ASSEMBLE) ‘News From Nowhere: Today’s Architecture is the Basis of Tomorrow’s Utopia.’

Florence Peake Movement Workshop Dave Beech ‘Art and Postcapitalism’ Daniel Oliver ‘Max Dyspraxe’s Post-Aprokrolips Chiperlaterartparty Revolution Reconstruction FunTime Time Time Travel Workshop’ Francesca Cavallo ‘Rehearsing Disaster’ Hamish MacPherson ‘So where exactly did the future come from?’ or ‘I can see the future, so can you and here’s how’ Owen Parry ‘Fandom as Methodology’

AltMFA RESPONSE

P.

Debora Mo Nathania Hartley Nicholas Brown

1 - 4 5- 17 18 - 21

Amy Leung and Maru Rojas

22 - 23

Fritha Jenkins Louise Ashcroft

24 - 28 29 - 33

Irene Pulga Sadie Edginton

34 - 35 36 - 38

Johanna Bolton and Anousha Payne 39 - 42 Andy Yau

43 - 44

Eirini Kartsaki Eldi Dundee

45 - 47 48 - 53

Debora Mo

54 - 58

Nathania Hartley Naima Karlsson

59 - 61 62 - 64

Sadie Edginton

65 - 66

Edited by Eldi Dundee Crucial editorial input from Nathania Hartley and Sadie Edginton

This Might Be The Future is published independently by AltMFA with generous funding from a-n The Artists Information Company.

www.altmfa.uk | a-n.co.uk Cover Photo from Daniel Oliver workshop by Louise Ashcroft

INTRODUCTION

ALTMFA ARTIST GROUP BURSARY – THE FUTURE UNKNOWN FUTURES: A YEAR OF PUBLIC TALKS, COLLECTIVE RESEARCH AND ARTIST PRACTICE, THEMED AROUND ‘THE FUTURE'

ALTMFA IS A FREE, OPEN ALTERNATIVE ART SCHOOL RUN BY ITS PEERS. AltMFA is a peer-led art school based in London,

Co-founder and current member, Louise Ashcroft,

established in 2010 as a free alternative to studying a

who applied for the a-n bursary on behalf of AltMFA,

university-based MA Fine Art in the city. It received an

said: “The group keeps thriving, despite having no

artist/group bursary award from a-n which funded a

resources, but we could achieve a lot more if we

number of strands stemming from a framework of

could plan a programme for the year so that research

collective research and creative practice themed

consolidates and evolves reflectively and coherently.

around ‘The Future’.

In the past, we’ve made a conscious decision to avoid funding, but we’re at a stage where we will really

These strands included a programme of visiting artists

benefit from this financial support.”

and expert lecturers who led talks and workshops; a zine acting as the collected culmination of creative

All the commissioned responses are presented

research and critical writing responses chronicling the

together here in this final publication produced at

shared ideas and learning that arose from our Future

the end of the programme. (You are likely reading an

programme, with fuller versions of works and texts

abridged black and white printed version or the full-

being published online via a new altmfa.uk website

colour on-line version with a more comprehensive

(built by AltMFAer Shinji Toya); and wider social media

representation of the artists' responses.)

promotion which enabled expanded membership and

You will also find the full, individual responses at:

greater public attendance at the talks and workshops

https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/altmfa-artist-group-

in the series.

bursary-the-future

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UPDATES FROM THE A-N

BLOG Contributors: Louise Ashcroft, Nathania Hartley, Sadie Edginton, Debora Mo & Eldi Dundee (photos collectively by same) Edited by Eldi Dundee

1 – Kicking off our a-n funded Future Programme as our first commissioned speaker, curator, design theorist and lecturer, Nuno Coelho gave two-talks-in-one at Christie's Education in April (10th, 2017) that spanned such seemingly divergent ages and subjects as ‘How Modernism Envisaged A New Future’ via 1920s chairs, Bauhaus kitchens, Hitler, and modernist design as resistance, into ‘Art In The Age Of Digital Reproduction’ which covered the aesthetics of violence, the Trump era, and eco futures.

‘In line with her 2017 work policy (which states that whenever Rosalie is invited she has to invite somebody else and share the fee with them), she [had] invited Margherita Huntley to join her in facilitating the session.’

2 – In May (22nd) we spoke to artist Rosalie Schweiker and designer Margherita Huntley at the MayDay Rooms, London, about work, the politics of education, precarious labour practices and feminist admin in a workshop called: ‘Teaching for People Who Prefer Not to Teach.’

We had some technical issues with the projector so Nina went freestyle and gloriously off topic into a brilliant two-hour open forum chat.

‘The workshop [was] based on a project Rosalie is working on currently, together with the artist Mirjam Bayerdörfer and designer Margherita Huntley. It is a collection of ideas, exercises, resources for “zero-hours” teachers, the kind of teachers who never get a permanent contract and are on the forefront of Britain’s neoliberal education market. It’s also questioning the current modes of art teaching and introduced other attitudes and values, such as collectivity, humour, experimentation and invisible labour.

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3 – In June (5th) Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at The University of Roehampton, Nina Power, shared her thoughts on Decapitalism, Accelerationism and giant floating piles of junk in a talk titled ‘Against the Future!’ at the MayDay Rooms.

4 – In July (24th) Giles Smith, a founding member of Turner-prize winning art, design and architecture collective Assemble, came to the MayDay Rooms to talk to us about Utopian visions and non-hierarchical working in a talk he called ‘News From Nowhere: Today’s Architecture is the Basis of Tomorrow’s Utopia.’

His statement for the talk read: ‘We are all profoundly adept readers of our built environment.

The politics with which it is designed and built today shape the behaviours and actions possible in its spaces tomorrow. This talk will explore a mixture of projects, some by Assemble, some by others, and their relationships to

this idea, in order to make the case our collective responsibility to the future to make good Architecture.’

We took a break in August as we do every year… …and then: 5 – In September (18th) artist, dancer, choreographer and teacher Florence Peake led a physically and emotionally intimate movement workshop at the Green Rooms Hotel in North London.

We got up close and personal experientially exploring the geography of the body, and how our sense perceptions and viewpoints altered as the borders and boundaries of each-other became less and less distinct.

6 – In October (20th) Dave Beech, artist, writer, academic, curator and member of the Freee (yes, that's 3xEs) art collective, came to Christie's Education to share his expertly honed insights in an intensely thought-provoking talk about ‘Art and Post-Capitalism’ – examining established visions of what art and life could be like after capitalism and questioning our ideas of utopian living and attitudes towards work and labour.

7 – Also in October (30th), performance artist and scholar Daniel Oliver held a hysterically fun art and performance workshop titled: Max Dyspraxe’s PostAprokrolips Chiperlaterartparty! upstairs at the Green Rooms Hotel, where we tore down the art world of the present and stepped into each other’s future worlds!

presented “glimpses from Rehearsing Disaster: her long-term exploration of pre-enactments.

Focusing on risk assessments, warning messages and survival manuals we will examine these techniques and explore how to exploit their possibilities through critical and creative exercises.”

9 – The penultimate talk of the series, on December 4th, was by artist Hamish MacPherson at Guest Projects. ‘So where exactly did the future come from?’ delivered in four parts, began with Hamish asking Eldi Dundee to perform a tarot reading on the future of the lecture itself, setting the tone for an immersive journey that took us through apocalyptic visions, future preparations, the human and non-human, our sense of being and of time.

10 – Our last lecture in the series 'Fandom as Methodology', was by artist and researcher Owen Parry on the 11th of the December at an AltMFA member's Hackney home.

Owen took us through less accepted and explored areas of the art world - dissolving traditional hierarchies to break down the distinction between the professional and the amateur, and the artist and the fan. We looked at the un-institutionalised, questioned what makes 'authentic' culture and explored obsession and belonging.

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8 – November (27th) saw esearcher and curator Francesca Cavallo’s workshop at the MayDay Rooms, where Francesca Photos: (previous page, top to bottom) Intimate scene from Daniel Oliver's performance workshop; snacks for an enthralled Nina Power audience; moving moments at Florence Peake's family friendly dance workshop (this page, top to bottom) A powerful powerpoint image from Nina Power's presentation; an ocularly jocular pair of jockey shorts from Owen Parry's talk; atmospherically immersive attempts to predict the future via dance, during part of Hamish MacPherson's fascinating event

a-n blog https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/altmfa-artist-group-bursary-the-future iii

DEBORA MO A Modest Proposal

In response to Nuno Coelho 'How Modernism Envisaged A New Future'Â & 'Art In The Age Of Digital Reproduction' at Christie's Education 10th April 2017

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NATHANIA HARTLEY In response to Nuno Coelho 'How Modernism Envisaged A New Future'Â & 'Art In The Age Of Digital Reproduction' at Christie's Education 10th April 2017

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Sample collective mash-up of AltMFA members' a-n commissioned creative responses - collaborative collaging session proposed and delivered by Sadie Edginton.

NICHOLAS BROWN In response to Nuno Coelho 'How Modernism Envisaged A New Future' & 'Art In The Age Of Digital Reproduction' at Christie's Education 10th April 2017

Quote from: Bishop, Elisabeth. "Letter to Anne Stevenson, 20th January 1963." In Poems, Prose, and Letters, 851. New York: Library of America, 2008

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AMY LEUNG & MARU ROJAS Planning For People Who Prefer Not To Plan In response to Rosalie Schweiker & Margherita Huntley 'Teaching For People Who Prefer Not To Teach' at MayDay Rooms 22nd May 2017

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FRITHA JENKINS

Here of Late: A Slow Response to the Nina Power Talk

Nina Power 'Against the Future!' at MayDay Rooms 5 June 2017

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EXTRACT - View the full work at: https://tinyurl.com/yawrjbg4

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EXTRACT - View the full work at: https://tinyurl.com/yawrjbg4

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LOUISE ASHCROFT Investopedia v. Urban Dictionary Responding to Nina Power 'Against the Future!' at MayDay Rooms 5 June 2017

EXTRACTS (Sections A, L and Z) - View the full work at: https://tinyurl.com/ydgczx4o

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IRENE PULGA

Untitled under one roof In Response to Giles Smith (ASSEMBLE) 'News From Nowhere: Today’s Architecture is the Basis of Tomorrow’s Utopia' at MayDay Rooms 24 July 2017

https://vimeo.com/246681634

SADIE EDGINTON In response to Giles Smith (ASSEMBLE) 'News From Nowhere: Today’s Architecture is the Basis of Tomorrow’s Utopia' at MayDay Rooms 24 July 2017

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JOHANNA BOLTON & ANOUSHA PAYNE In response to Florence Peake Movement Workshop Green Rooms 18 September 2017

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ANDY YAU In response to Dave Beech 'Art and Postcapitalism' at Christie's Education 20 October 2017

EIRINI KARTSAKI Responding to Daniel Oliver 'Max Dyspraxe’s PostAprokrolips Chiperlaterartparty Revolution Reconstruction Fun-Time Time Time Travel Workshop’ at Green Rooms 30 October 2017

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ELDI DUNDEE Responding to Daniel Oliver 'Max Dyspraxe’s Post-Aprokrolips Chiperlaterartparty Workshop' at Green Rooms 30 October 2017

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NATHANIA HARTLEY Responding to Hamish MacPherson ‘So where exactly did the future come from?’ or ‘I can see the future, so can you and here’s how’ at Guest Projects 4 December 2017

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8 March 2018 at 18:00–21:00 at Guest Projects Sunbury House, 1 Andrews Road, E8 4QL London Sample collective collages by AltMFA members, from a session led by Sadie Edginton

NAIMA KARLSSON A READING OF HAMISH MACPHERSON: “IT'S GOING TO BE CALLED EITHER ‘SO WHERE EXACTLY DID THE FUTURE COME FROM?’ OR ‘I CAN SEE THE FUTURE, SO CAN YOU AND HERE'S HOW.’” at Guest Projects 4th December 2017

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SADIE EDGINTON In response to Owen Parry Fandom as Methodology at Eirini's Place (a private residence) 11th December 2017

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Poster by Sadie Edginton

Kind thanks to a-n (The Artists Information Company), Yinka Shonibare Studios & Guest Projects, MayDay Rooms, Green Rooms Hotel, Christie's Education, all the speakers who were asked and said yes (and even the speakers who said no), all the AltMFA members who worked - paid or unpaid - on organising, admin, design, editorial and promo tasks for the series, all the lecture and workshop participants, all the AltMFA members who created outstanding and unexpected responses to the talks and events, all the AltMFA members who collaborated on the mashed-up creative responses in the collaged version of this zine conceived and led by Sadie Edginton, to Sadie again for her assistance in getting all the zine versions printed, to Shinji Toya for creating the new AltMFA website, and to Louise Ashcroft for co-founding AltMFA in the first place, 8 years ago.

Abridged and Edited by Eldi Dundee with the invaluable Editorial Assistance of Sadie Edginton and Nathania Hartley for AltMFA 2018

This might be the future Nathania Hartley Nuno Coelho Amy Leung Maru Rojas Rosalie Schweiker Margherita Huntley Fritha Jenkins Louise Ashcroft Nina Power Irene Pulga Giles Smith Assemble Johanna Bolton Anousha Payne Florence Peake Andy Yau Dave Beech Eirini Kartsaki Eldi Dundee Daniel Oliver Debora Mo Francesca Cavallo Naima Karlsson Hamish MacPherson Sadie Edginton Owen Parry

AltMFA 2018