OAS Node #1 [Prospectus][BETA]

[SUMMARY]:

The Occupational Art School proposes to conduct a three-month long residency at Bat Haus in Bushwick. The programming will consist of workshops, screening series, a reading group, exhibits and other arts, cultural and educational exchanges. What follows is a suggested outline of the residency, created with the idea that we can adapt it to better suit the space, to meet client needs and interests, and to accommodate artists and instructors who approach us with interest in participating in OAS@Bat Haus. 

[INTRODUCTION]:

OAS will model this phase of its program on the Spatial Occupation @Hyperallergic, a successful residency sponsored by Hyperallergic, the online art magazine. Exhibition features of OAS will be modeled on the OAS iteration tested at CoLab in Austin, TX. 

[COSTS]:

We will explore multiple approaches to sustainability for OAS, and the business model for the program will likely consist of a hybrid solution, consisting of fundraising, barter and subscription revenue or in-kind payments for services and participation. We seek to establish fair compensation for skillsharing and instruction. We will also need to compensate Bat Haus, which, as a new business, has its own fiscal responsibilities, beyond hosting OAS.

[COURSE PROGRAM]:

[M1] TIME: Starting with a field trip to see Christian Marclay's video installation "The Clock" the David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, we begin an exploration of Time, through art, philosophy, economy, society and politics. Eventually, we will try to develop a picture of how we are perceiving Time, in virtual worlds and the "real world" and how our perception of Time affects the art we make, what we do and how much we do "to make a living," and the pace or speed by which we engage with each other and the environment.

• [W1] "The Clock"
• [W2] True Time
• [W3] Time Management
• [W4] Free Time

[M2] SPACE & PLACE: Establishing a starting point in Bushwick, we proceed to map the world through a variety of virtual and actual cartographic tools, as an introduction to history, architecture, location [+]...; then we explore the dimensional space connecting these constructs to us - our feelings, or sensations; and finally, we examine the "fabric" that bind one's "insides" to the outside world to create a whole experience, as a matrix of interleaved phenomena - our senses.

• [W1] A Tour of Bushwick
• [W2] Spatial Occupation
• [W3] The Ties That Bind
• [W4] Exercising the Senses

[M3] BEING: If you could be anything you wanted to be, what would that be? What "being" would you choose? Is there a path you could navigate between where you are now, and where (and who) you would like to be? What's hindering your progress from Point A (here, now) to "Point Be?" What we do to help you on your journey?

• [W1] Road Trips
• [W2] Vision, or Visualizing Movement
• [W3] Dreams and Impediments
• [W4] The "Me" I Thought I Was 

[OVERVIEW]:

The course structure is not linear, as such. To begin with Time is to accept no known parameters for our exploration. No person knows the end of time, except as a conjecture, projection, imaginary, vision and/or fable. We are choosing a theme that will continue to exist as a "reality" beyond any limitations we might dream up for it, given our finitude. The finite is a state we share in our collective, and as individuals. Each of us has a timeline. Our collective has a life span. For OAS, in our point of origin, we will take a lighthearted approach to our finite condition, by informally pre-setting our undertaking as "fun time." In the time that we will engage Time, as our focus, our object, pretending time can be reduced to a "subject" of an inquiry, endeavoring to learn more about time, or at least our relation to it, we will assign objectivity to time, as an objective. That is, we will presume that Time can be situated in a recursive "scientific process." For the purposes of our task, then, each of us will play at being Time Scientists. 

We will refer to Heidegger for our axiom, our precept, that true time is fourth dimensional. It is a timely start point. Datamining, algorithmic modeling, mapping protocols, predictors, organizational templates and applications rely on 4d processes, now. Productivity is 4D. We can consider these phenomena to learn about the convergence of actual and virtual, material and immaterial, in time, in a place, or in sets, made up of many types of elements. Our medium or base is Time, but we can "use" time as a variegated means, in our program, to many ends. "Time-based media," as a subset, will be important in our fun-time school. We can quickly discern the endless possibilities for programming lessons. Anything that is governed by clock-time - from cooking to filmmaking - is subject to our inquiring minds. We can speculate infinitely on the Time Machine: Is a human being a time machine, is earth? Does Time have its own literature? Is that literature History? When experience diverges from the Historical record, what is that? And so on.

We can simply make an exercise of reviewing all the euphemisms of Time:

• For the time being
• Time is money
• Saving time...[+]

Or the music of Time:

• "Time in a Bottle" (Jim Croce)
• "Time" (Pink Floyd)
• "The Time" (Black Eyed Peas)...[+]

In an effort to generate a Big Picture of Things and People, we should perhaps assess The Wanderer and wandering in relation to Time, as well as the Epic. We commence with micro-wanderings and micro-epics, even if the latter seems oxymoronic. After all, we are committed to "fun time," and fun can be found in little things and doings. Would it be a surprise, if we discovered that certain geometry that connects small to large, and vice versa, this way? 

With aesthetics, we can investigate the appearance and evolution of the "Timeless" and the "Contemporary" in art. "Standing the test of time," as an evaluation for art, and more, a revelation about the nature of art criticism or philosophy derivative of art, provides a rich seam for us to mine. We can begin by asking if it is even possible to "make" a thing timeless or a timeless thing? Is it possible to extract something from time, in order to conserve or study it? Or, we can ask whether any thing is really indicative of its time. From here, we might bridge to the archive, or to the "popular." 

These days (which in this are not unique), "The End of Time" is a common enough subject, for Hollywood, for Apocalyptic religions. Perhaps we will get to that topic, before we're through. Is the "The End of Time" where the archive or database begins? What about virtual time, and the time to decide?

Finally, we can couple time and movement, which is in formal expression, dance and other types of performance. It would seem we could learn much from those who devote themselves to the disciplines that situate the body in time, in a place (the stage), in media (our perceptual matrices, or consciousness, or attention, *and* time).  

[PRACTICUM]:

The Occupational Art School Node #1 will serve as the point of origin for OAS nodes. Through the website and the on-site program, OAS Node #1 will function as the dimensional platform for the school-at-large, fostering research, documenting the developmental progress of OAS, cataloguing courses, providing a forum for occupational art-related theory, testing models for sharing, hosting expositions and expeditions, and experimenting with alternate and prescripted forms of education, economy, collaboration, production, and community for occupational art and artists. 

Our faculty or teacher base will draw on the local pool of occupational artists and instructors from many disciplines, and from visiting or guest artists and instructors. As a rule, OAS will eschew rules for the principle of respect, in setting standards for selecting artist-instructors. We expect some of our faculty to be experts, and others to be enthusiastic amateurs, exhibiting a range of accomplishment through our programming. It is our hope that participating in our OAS will afford its own modicum of accomplishment for teachers. 

For every course of OAS, we will post a call for proposals, based on a given theme. If you have an idea for a class, panel, discussion group, demonstration, exhibit [+] related to the course theme, please submit it to artforhumans@gmail.com. In this inaugural OAS course, we will be experimenting with modes of exchange and developing our infrastructure based on the responses, suggestions and needs of the community we are serving and creating. 

Think of Bat Haus as our home room, for OAS Node #1. We don't presume to have all the answers. In fact, it's the opposite. We're commencing our enterprise with plenty of questions: For instance, "What is a 'school?'" We are looking at many types of learning models as precursors for OAS. We are also considering phenomena like "schools" of fish, and other kinds of "swarm" intelligence! It has been established that people learn in numerous ways. OAS will try to employ this kind of information in our instruction.  

[RECRUITMENT/SELECTION]:

In the beginning, OAS Node #1 will grow our community first by word-of-mouth, local flyering, e-lists, and social media. We are discussing later phases, but our intention is to grow solid and slow. 

[FACULTY]: 

Paul McLean, Chris Moylan, Jeremy Bold [+]: TBA

[GUEST LECTURERS, ARTISTS, TECHNICIANS, ETC.]: TBA

[CORE TEXTS]: On Time and Being by Martin Heidegger; Geometry, Relativity, and the Fourth Dimension by Rudy von Bitter Rucker

[STRUCTURE]:

OAS will present several classes weekly at Bat Haus. These will include lessons in applied technology, art and aesthetics, philosophy and media, and other subjects that we think will appeal to our neighbors in Bushwick, and to others who will want to make Bat Haus a destination for learning more about the great subjects we'll be covering. OAS will host excursions and tours that pertain to our course material, too. We will organize compelling exhibitions, demonstrations, a reading group, screening series, panels and lectures that utilize the features of Bat Haus, so as to present both our enterprises in the best light possible. OAS will encourage our students to become members at Bat Haus. 

The content of our programming will cycle from our online nexus at Occupy with Art to the OAS "brick'n'mortar'-based iteration at Bat Haus, returning to the web in archive form at occupywithart.com and our other Internet vehicles. Bat Haus will be free to post about our activities on the Bat Haus blog and website. OAS will foster ongoing discussions through forums and social media, as well as in social meet-ups that happen at Bat Haus and other off-site locations. 

OAS Node #1 [Bushwick] will be the first in what we hope are many alt.ed nodes that will pop up across the US and around the world, eventually forming an OAS network of affiliated schools. When possible we will cross-pollinate with other alt.ed organizations, including those now established in the NYC area, virtual classrooms and universities, and other open-schools appearing across the globe. In time, we would like to facilitate artist-student and -teacher exchange programs, such as residencies, visiting artist series and the like. 

Update on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 01:34PM by admin

[From Alex]:

Dear beloved;

As occupy matures and surpasses its nadir, we see us shifting our lines towards pedagogy. many "schools" and educational initiatives popped up, be it Freedom School, School of Disobedience, the Free University or now Occupational Art School.

this is a great place for our movement to be, and specially salutary to see older organizers taking this pedagogical role. Yes, i see #occupy as ultimately a school of revolt, and as we teach and do research, we just increase our chances to win.

I am glad that Paul Maclean and Jez are working to establish this Occupational Art School, full support from this old fella here! :) i think it was Superglitch who mentioned how usually artists in our movement are called in to "decorate" actions designed by organizers instead of actually artists plotting and designing this new world that we talk about. and yes, it is time to say enough and flip the equation around.

The OAS seems a great initiative that RevGames could be part of. In a way seems like the natural thing to happen, since we are the craddle of many fresh ideas and bold experiments in #OWS that usually (1) other organizers "borrow" and (2) end up predict the next stages of the movement. i've seen it many times.

I think i mentioned before how RevGames was a PLURIPOTENTIAL SPACE, that we didnt have to set a priori what we were about: people that make our group and their interests shape us. still believe this is our soul.

Here attached is another experiment. With jezzy's results with kaleidoscopes, i wish to push this further and play with the ultimate kaleidoscope: the Mind. or Crystallorum, "where reality refracts".

Attached please find a recording i made yesterday (day when we had the transition to Aquarius Age).

we can invite artists/illustrators to draw what they see with their minds when hearing this 8min piece, and post what we receive on OAS and Revgames tumblr. each mind refracts its imagination.

Love you all!