I left My PDF in Arnhem

Fictional activists and rebellious fictions; the politics of student work and the work of being a student; activism and exhibitions. Riffing on the 2015-16 Roaming Academy, Location Location Location, these motifs will likely enter into this intensive, year-long group publishing project.

Each session will take the form of a group writing workshop. In connection with the MA Werkplaats, participants will collectively draft, edit, design and publish an illustrated novella. The novella refers to a short novel or extended short story. As a genre, it pertains to the field of minor literatures, while in its material possibilities, it evokes a paperback format that can be distributed and consumed with less solemnity, and more ease.

While the basic plotline and form of our novella are predefined, the tenor, narrative arc, character development and imagery are all up to the participating students. The use of English as the sole language is equally up for debate.

In essence, the workshop focuses on hands-on writing skills, on the strengths and limitations of fiction, on collective decision-making, and on the tenuous relationship between text and image. But it is also informed by the above patterns that inform students of Contemporary Art in general, and students at the DAI in particular.

As for the plot: A student in the Netherlands heads for Bandung, Indonesia, where she hopes to join a grassroots art collective battling the forces of gentrification threatening the neighborhood.

This class unfolds in close collaboration with the Werkplaats Typografie and will also be attended by WT-students. 

COOP Academy 2 (publishing class): I Left my pdf in Arnhem from Month to Month