Art and Labor in Late Capitalism [Durham, NC]
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $340 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal at check out.
Lindsey Andrews: Art and Labor in Late Capitalism | 5-weeks | Sundays Oct 19-Nov 16 | 7:00-9:00 PM ET | 719 N Mangum St, Durham, NC
In a world where it’s technologically possible to meet our basic needs with a 15 hour work week, why do we work more than ever? And how did we come to spend so little of our time making, enjoying, and thinking about the social potentials of art? Over the course of five weeks, we’ll look at what theorists, writers, and artists have to say about the dehumanizing logic of the profit motive under late capitalism that leaves us living to work rather than working to live. We’ll investigate the rise of bullshit jobs: jobs that are useless to the point that even the person doing them thinks they are meaningless. And we’ll look at the contemporary push to monetize artistic and craft pursuits.
Together, we’ll trace the raced and gendered histories of labor exploitation, the tying of value to one’s “work ethic,” and the changing historical understandings of art. We’ll ask questions like: What exactly are we working for, and for whom? Do we want our jobs to be meaningful? Do we want art to be considered labor? Do we want to work at all? What would art look like in a world dominated by anti-work sentiments? And, finally, what would it take to center human flourishing, meaning-making, and beauty–not capital–in our lives?
Along the way, we’ll read, listen to, and look at works by David Graeber, Claudia Rankine, Johanna Hedva, Virginia Woolf, Jenny Odell, Robin D. G. Kelley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Karl Marx, Alex Rivera, William Burroughs, Kevin Beasley, and Frida Kahlo, among others.
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This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing the full-tuition or mid-level tuition tier in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $340 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal at check out.
Lindsey Andrews: Art and Labor in Late Capitalism | 5-weeks | Sundays Oct 19-Nov 16 | 7:00-9:00 PM ET | 719 N Mangum St, Durham, NC
In a world where it’s technologically possible to meet our basic needs with a 15 hour work week, why do we work more than ever? And how did we come to spend so little of our time making, enjoying, and thinking about the social potentials of art? Over the course of five weeks, we’ll look at what theorists, writers, and artists have to say about the dehumanizing logic of the profit motive under late capitalism that leaves us living to work rather than working to live. We’ll investigate the rise of bullshit jobs: jobs that are useless to the point that even the person doing them thinks they are meaningless. And we’ll look at the contemporary push to monetize artistic and craft pursuits.
Together, we’ll trace the raced and gendered histories of labor exploitation, the tying of value to one’s “work ethic,” and the changing historical understandings of art. We’ll ask questions like: What exactly are we working for, and for whom? Do we want our jobs to be meaningful? Do we want art to be considered labor? Do we want to work at all? What would art look like in a world dominated by anti-work sentiments? And, finally, what would it take to center human flourishing, meaning-making, and beauty–not capital–in our lives?
Along the way, we’ll read, listen to, and look at works by David Graeber, Claudia Rankine, Johanna Hedva, Virginia Woolf, Jenny Odell, Robin D. G. Kelley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Karl Marx, Alex Rivera, William Burroughs, Kevin Beasley, and Frida Kahlo, among others.
—
This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing the full-tuition or mid-level tuition tier in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.
**This course is in-person only. There is no virtual component. Participants must be age 21+
Full Tuition: $340 — Sliding-scale tuition options are available in the drop-down enrollment menu for you to self-select. To pay in installments, choose to pay with PayPal at check out.
Lindsey Andrews: Art and Labor in Late Capitalism | 5-weeks | Sundays Oct 19-Nov 16 | 7:00-9:00 PM ET | 719 N Mangum St, Durham, NC
In a world where it’s technologically possible to meet our basic needs with a 15 hour work week, why do we work more than ever? And how did we come to spend so little of our time making, enjoying, and thinking about the social potentials of art? Over the course of five weeks, we’ll look at what theorists, writers, and artists have to say about the dehumanizing logic of the profit motive under late capitalism that leaves us living to work rather than working to live. We’ll investigate the rise of bullshit jobs: jobs that are useless to the point that even the person doing them thinks they are meaningless. And we’ll look at the contemporary push to monetize artistic and craft pursuits.
Together, we’ll trace the raced and gendered histories of labor exploitation, the tying of value to one’s “work ethic,” and the changing historical understandings of art. We’ll ask questions like: What exactly are we working for, and for whom? Do we want our jobs to be meaningful? Do we want art to be considered labor? Do we want to work at all? What would art look like in a world dominated by anti-work sentiments? And, finally, what would it take to center human flourishing, meaning-making, and beauty–not capital–in our lives?
Along the way, we’ll read, listen to, and look at works by David Graeber, Claudia Rankine, Johanna Hedva, Virginia Woolf, Jenny Odell, Robin D. G. Kelley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Karl Marx, Alex Rivera, William Burroughs, Kevin Beasley, and Frida Kahlo, among others.
—
This class will take place in person at Night School Bar in Durham. Night School requires that students refrain from attending in-person classes when sick. For more on our class policies, see our FAQ. Instructors will also follow this policy. If your instructor is sick, class may be moved to online for a session or rescheduled to the week following the final scheduled session at the instructor’s discretion.
Sliding Scale: Night School Bar pays instructors and staff a living wage. We ask that people who make above the living wage threshold for their area strongly consider choosing the full-tuition or mid-level tuition tier in order to support our own living wage program. For Durham, NC, where we are located, the living wage threshold is $49,000 for an individual. All scholarship needs are self-assessed, and we will never request or require proof of need.
Scholarships: We are currently able to offer three full scholarships per class. Our full scholarship tier is a nonrefundable offering, limited to one per student per month. Because our scholarship funding is limited, selecting multiple full scholarships in a single month will result in disenrollment from all classes. If the scholarship tier you need is sold out please email us directly, and we will add you to a waitlist and notify you if additional scholarships become available. Please see our FAQ for more information, including installment plans and refund policy.