In this module, we want to unlearn “copyright”, that is, a particular social construction consisting of individual authorship, stable works, audiences, personal property, and markets. Not only is this construction far from universal, rather it emerged in Europe of the 18th and 19th century, but it imposes considerable violence on practices that do not fit its categories.
For a long time, these have been primarily those rooted in non-western traditions that always had very different concepts of works of art and their social life. Today, in the digital word, the problematic construction of copyright becomes visible in the West, in day-to-day practices as well as in temporary forms of art and culture, which are based on re-use, flexible forms of authorship and abundance beyond markets.
We will start with the notion of “unlearning”, from post-colonial theory, and move back and forth between non-western and digital cultural practices.
The module will be held in English and most texts will be in English.
Tuesdays, 17:30 - 21:00, Room 5.K11
Course requirements:
Swiss Copyright law
Bundesgesetz über das Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte
Art 2: “Werke sind, unabhängig von ihrem Wert oder Zweck, geistige Schöpfungen der Literatur und Kunst, die individuellen Charakter haben.”
Art 6: “Urheber oder Urheberin ist die natürliche Person, die das Werk geschaffen hat.”
Background: History of Copyright Wikipedia
Unlearning and Epistemic Disobedience
“‘originality’ is one of the basic expectations of modern control of subjectivity” (Walter Mignolo, 2009)
Waibel, Tom (2013): „ Praktiken des Ungehorsams“, ZfK - Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften 2, S. 101–105.
Toward a De-Colonial Common Sense (Review of Walter Mignolo's “The Darker Side of Western Modernity”, 2011)
Tlostanova, M. V. und Walter Mignolo (2012): Learning to unlearn: decolonial reflections from Eurasia and the Americas, Transoceanic studies, Columbus: Ohio State University Press. READ p. 12 (last parapgrah) - 17 (first paragraph)
When Art is illegal
Good Copy Bad Copy (2007) 0:00 -11:00
Boon, Marcus (2010): In praise of copying, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. (Read: What is a copy?, S12-22, 36-40, Read Copying as Appropriation 204 - 237) (Alan) © MURAKAMI Brooklyn Art Museum, April 5–July 13, 2008 Filip Noterdaeme's protest intervention pictures of fake-fake market
Nadia Plesner:
DARFURNICA (2010)
Law Suit By Louis Vuitton (2011)
Her statement in court (2011).
Court rules in her favour (2011)
Goldsmith, Kenneth. 2011. Uncreative Writing. Managing Language in the Digital Age. New York: Columbia University Press.(https://monoskop.org/media/text/goldsmith_2011_uncreative_writing/) Read: Introduction & Chapter 5. Why Appropriation? (Mohamed)
"Awareness is critique" An interview with Kenneth Goldsmith. Spike Art Magazine, 22.08.2017
Read Glaskin, Katie (2011): „Dreaming the Thread: From Ritual to Art to Property(s) Between“, in: Strang, Veronica und Mark Busse (Hrsg.): Ownership and appropriation, Oxford ; New York: Berg Publishers, S. 87–104. (Damian)
Bardi Jawi Dancers, 2009 https://youtu.be/CC5NIWQXykw
Roy Wiggan, Profile Short Street Gallery
Clip, Visit at an Art School, 2011 https://youtu.be/yTAxva6vg54
At the Waterhole, John Bulun Bulun
Read The Protection of "At The Waterhole" by John Bulun Bulun (Copyright Case 1989)
Han, Byung-Chul (2011): Shanzai: Dekonstruktion auf Chinesisch, Berlin: Merve. (Vorbereiten (SASKIA): Kapitel 2 (Orginal), Lesen ALLE Kapitel 3 (Siegel der Musse) Vorbereiten (SOPHIA): Kapitel 4 (Kopie,)
Read Xiang, Liqing. 2015. Copyleft Appropriation Art in China. Exhibition (Aug 15-Nov 15, 2015), Shanghai: Power Station of Art. p. 38-78 (Nina, Tim)
Read: Felix Stalder Commons, informational (Dictionary Entry) 2017
Read: Richard Stallmann The GNU Manifesto, 1984 (James & Rafal)
Read: David Bollier Commoning as a Transformative Social Paradigm, 2015 (Nathalie, Cynthia, Daniel)
Read On the Commons: A Public Interview with Massimo De Angelis and Stavros Stavrides, e-flux 2010
[https://vimeo.com/146224655 | [UN|COMMONS: Yochai Benkler Interview]], 2015 12:00 min
Elinor Ostrom Interview start 6.33
Guest: Cornelia Sollfrank
Read Sollfrank, Cornelia. 2015. “Kenneth Goldsmith’s Claim to Uncreativity.” Pp. 40–50 in No Internet – No Art. A Lunch Byte Anthology, edited by M. Bühler. Eindhoven: Onomatopee. (Ueli, Varun)
READ ALL: Nicolas Bourriaud: Relational Aesthetics, 1998 (2002). Chapter: Relational Form. s.11-24 (Haquim)
Prepare: Claire Bischop (2004) Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics. OCTOBER 110, Fall 2004, pp. 51–79. (Leonie, Zoe)
Prepare: Walead Beshty Neo-Avantgarde And Service Industry Notes on the Brave New World of Relational Aesthetics Texte zur Kunst, Issue No. 59 / September 2005 “Institutionskritik” (Mario)
Ben Lewis: Art Safari. Is relational art an ism? (2004) 29 Min.
We will read and discuss the student papers
