Other Options Symposium
The STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University presents Other Options Pittsburgh, a symposium on alternative economics and value systems April 11-13 at Goods & Services, 2628 East Carson St. The weekend-long symposium, which explores how local actions relate to global capitalism, includes an art exhibition, panel discussion, macroeconomics workshop, cottage industry expo and Sunday Soup on the South Side as well as guided tours, dinner and a dance party in Braddock.
The symposium is the collective effort of the ReTool Project at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry; Goods & Services, a project space affiliated with the Carnegie Mellon School of Art; InCubate, a group of arts administrators and arts historians from Chicago; and Braddock Active Arts, an artist collective working in Braddock, Pa.
Other Options Pittsburgh highlights a confluence of thought and activity around economics, resources, and exchange, said Carolyn Lambert, fellow in the Studio for Creative Inquiry. While interviewing people who work off-the-books as part of the informal economy, we met other artists and groups who share our interest in systems of value. The network organizing this symposium represents only a small cross-section of the many artists currently seeking alternatives to mainstream capitalism. We’re using art-based activities as a way to test out tools and strategies that could create real change.
The symposium opens Friday, April 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. with an art exhibition curated by InCubate and produced in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon students at Goods & Services. The exhibition looks at artist groups who are re-interpreting, altering and creating infrastructure that affects their everyday lives and artistic practice. Artists in the exhibition include Robin Hewlett and Carolyn Lambert (Pittsburgh), Forays (New York/Montreal), Phil Orr and Ryan Thompson (Urbana-Champaign, Illinois), Material Exchange (Chicago), and Carnegie Mellon graduate and undergraduate students. The exhibition will continue through May 2.
On Saturday April 12 at 2pm, a panel discussion, Exploring our Options, will showcase four models of community organizing and artistic practice that question dominant value systems and suggest practical alternatives. On Sunday April 13th at 12:30pm, activist Matt Meyer will lead a workshop on macroeconomics, educating participants about the global economic infrastructure and its relationship to small-scale alternative practices.
This symposium is supported in part by the Sprout Fund, the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, and the Center for Arts and Society at Carnegie Mellon. For more information, contact Carolyn Lambert at 412-398-1122 or visit the ReTool website for a complete schedule of events at http://retool.wordpress.com.
On a side note, don’t forget to check out Debris Magazine’s 4th issue that just came out. Visit my previous post for more info and to see about contributing work to the Pittsburgh based literary/art magazine.
Pittsburgh, STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon, Sprout Fund, Other Options Symposium, global, capitalism, economics
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