AFFECT is Agora’s program for collaborative artistic practices in Berlin, currently in its third edition.

AFFECT 2016 is conceived as a 7-month-long program consisting of seven consecutive modules, each led by an international artist who invites participants to collectively explore a topic, develop a set of practices and research methodologies over the period of one month, culminating in a public event presented in the city of Berlin.

Resembling an immersive academy, AFFECT 2016 programme offers a diverse curriculum of workshops growing out of the research and practice of the Berlin-based facilitating artists and curators.

Program modules 2016

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-1/" target="_blank"># 1 WHILE WE WORK: A Temporary State of Affairs

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-1/">Facilitated by Judith Lavagna

May 2 – 28 

Departing from the interest in reconsidering "the exhibition" as a critical medium and a creative process beyond its conventional forms, WHILE WE WORK takes on a creative context in mutation that witnesses different momentums of work and labor. This workshop intends to explore which roles artists take on as cultural producers, the merging of artists as curators and the interweaving of those 'junction-makers' in search for performative expression. Structured towards active frameworks, case studies and research methodology, Lavagna proposes to conceive an exhibition together with selected Berlin-based artist as a final event which will investigate the context of Agora's new space.

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-2/" target="_blank">#2 THE ARTISTIC MISSION: Dismantling professionalism in a for-profit economy?

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-2/">Facilitated by Diego Agulló

June 1 – 29

A collective investigation on what is the role of art in the given economy, the workshop will provide the participants with a frame to problematize together the way they access the professional structure. A mutual practice of self-examination on what is the purpose of making art, which value system operate behind their professional practices, and what are the tactics and strategies to infiltrate to and affect the professional structure from within. The purpose is to understand the constitution of the political body as the fundamental matter of social transformation within the realm of our everyday life actions.

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-3/" target="_blank">#3 The Institute for Endotic Research: Reading Bodies

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-3/">Facilitated by Lorenzo Sandoval

July 4 – 31

This workshop facilitated by Lorenzo Sandoval is focused on researching about the relationships between body and text. The participants will approach libraries, archives and its potential performativities. An exploration of the everyday life and the immediate surroundings focusing in the body - as object and subject, as medium and device, as a place of inscription where reading is a never passive writing gesture, and as mediators who have the ability of activating their political agency. As output of the workshop Lorenzo Sandoval proposes the construction of a negotiated library made of inner “s(h)elves.

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-4/" target="_blank">#4 COM(m)O(n) Club Radio

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-4/">Facilitated by Thelma Bonavita

August 1 – 27

For this workshop, Thelma Bonavita invites participants to compose and perform an experimental radio station culminating in a final exhibition. The participants will transform Agora´s new space into a functioning base to explore its meanings, matter and entanglements. The purpose of this collective experience is to produce and explore the notion of a common space, where the primary framework is the body and the mind, working together to create a sound environment of ideas in movement - as if one could materialize the act of thinking.

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-5/" target="_blank">#5 If you don't pay attention to me, I WON’T PAY ATTENTION TO YOU: on the role of the collective in an attention economy

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-5/" target="_blank">Facilitated by Sarah Lewishttp://agoracollective.org/affect/module-5/%20">

September 5 - 30

 If we think of scarcity as the driving force of an economic model then, given today’s incessant inundation of information, what is becoming increasingly scarce is the attention we are able to pay and command. How does this scarcity affect, jeopardize or enhance the experience of working collectively? Utilizing a set methodology we will leverage imagination to more deeply engage with each other and elements around us by attempting to create an ecology of attention. We will switch roles, rotate authorship, view, observe, explore proposals put forth, and collectively edit and perform our generated material.

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-6/">#6 CONGLOMERATE: One-Shot Sacrifice

http://agoracollective.org/affect/module-6/" target="_blank">Facilitated by Kinderhook&Caracas, directed by Sol Calero, Ethan Hayes-Chute, Derek Howard, Christopher Kline and Dafna Maimon

October 4 - 29

CONGLOMERATE acts as a TV Network based at Kinderhook & Caracas, a Berlin-based project space run by Sol Calero and Christopher Kline. CONGLOMERATE invites the participants to develop a short “TV Special” based on the theme of “Sacrifice” - which connotations can range from the esoteric to the everyday. Through workshops, group presentations and discussion, CONGLOMERATE will work with participants to create a single, final, one-shot (non-stop) scene composed of various set elements, props, actors, miniatures, costumes, sounds, etc, to be featured in the frame of a final Wrap Party within the created sets.

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The program of AFFECT is initiated and hosted by Agora Collective e.V. 

Agora is a member of CAPP: COLLABORATIVE ARTS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, a cross-European network of institutions supported by Creative Europe - Culture Sub Programme between 2015/2018 under the flag of “Art in social and community contexts”.

Methodology / How it works

A hybrid between an educational program and a thematic artist’ residency, AFFECT proposes its participants to arrive at a final collective project based on experimentation, processuality, interdisciplinarity and critical engagement. Each module takes the form of a participatory workshop revolving around a central research question supported by a series of activities proposed by the facilitators. Participants will have the opportunity to collectively delve into the proposed research question, bringing in their own sensibilities, practice and experience. Collective exercises, urban explorations and site visits, readings and discussions will pave the way towards the co-generation of a final event which will allow the group to share and exercise some of the module’s findings in a public format. 

AFFECT 2016 premiers the new production possibilities inside Agora’s 2200m2 experimental project space in the Kindl Complex in post-industrial neighborhood of Neukölln. The current context of transformation and redevelopment of the former factory area with the creation of a Center for Contemporary Arts and Agora itself will be part of the experimental arena for the upcoming participants. Emphasis of AFFECT 2016 will be placed then in the production and presentation of the final event. 

Practicalities / How to apply

Modules from May to September are now open for participation. You can apply to one or more of the AFFECT modules by filling in the application form in our website. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and selected participants will be notified within twenty days upon application. We accept applications until 30 days before each module begins. 

Each group accomodates 15 people. AFFECT is based on an interdisciplinary approach; some of the main fields of interests for the development of the program are: Visual Art - Film - Sound and Music - Dance/Choreography - Theoretical Practices - Philosophy - Writing - Architecture - Curation - Performance - Creative Science Crossovers - Ecology - Political/Social Activism - Web Programming - Design - Innovation - Animation – Technology.

Accepted participants are requested to pay a deposit of 150,– EUR to confirm their spot in the module. This amount will later be deducted from their enrollment fee. Payment of the second instalment of program (150,– EUR) is due prior to the starting date of each module.

*Cancellation policy: Agora will issue a full refund of the enrollment fee if contacted 30 days prior to the module start date. No refund shall be offered after modules have already started.

If you have further questions about the program or the application process, please contact affect@agoracollective.org

Know more about the program, team and spaces in our project website and APPLY!

http://www.agoracollective.org/affect">www.agoracollective.org/affect/apply
affect@agoracollective.org 

Agora Collective

Mittelweg 50

Berlin - Neukölln

12053