SOMA Summer 2012 will take place from July 02 to August 11, 2012.
This summer’s topic considers the transformation of labor in artistic practice from the Second World War to the present. Seminars and workshops will help the group reflect on the shift from a manufacturing to service economy in developed countries as well as new definitions of labor that have extended beyond all national boundaries.
SOMA Summer participants will revisit the legacy of conceptual art as a mode of production, the role of craft in contemporary art practices, and the pertinency of learning technical skills in art education. The group will also explore the possibilities of alternative economies, and look closely at the ways in which artists participate in decentralized, global networks of production.
All program activities will be in english.
Applications here.
Program 2012
*All activities and visiting artists/curators below posted have been confirmed. Nevertheless any information is subject to change.
WEEK 1 – Mon. July 2nd to Fri. July 8th
Group Critique: 12 hour group critique with Carla Herrera-Prats
These first two sessions allow participants to get familiar with each other. Everyone present a selection of works to the group for about fifteen minutes. We address the social, political and aesthetic implications raised by each project.
Off sideDF: 9 hour site specific workshop with Eduardo Abaroa
The workshop takes place in three different non-academic locations around Mexico City. By getting to know our surroundings and their history, we reflect and discuss on the concepts involving site-specificity and the possibilities of art to comment on specific cultural, political, social and geographical situations.
Miércoles de SOMA: Cuauhtémoc Medina.
Studio Visit: Yoshua Okón.
Individual critiques with: Cuauhtémoc Medina
WEEK 2 – Mon. July 9th to Fri. July 13th
Seminar: 9 hour seminar with Cuauhtémoc Medina
This is a seminar on curatorial engagement within global exhibitions
Miércoles de SOMA: TBD
Studio Visit on Thursday: Marcela Armas
Individual critiques with: Marcela Armas, Ruth Etevez, Carla Herrera-Prats, Yoshua Okón, Edgar Orlaineta, Luis Felipe Ortega
Visit on Friday: Museo Universtario de Ciencias y Artes and Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil
WEEK 3 – Mon. July 16th to Fri. July 20th
Intersections between the critique of political economy and critical strategies of art production: 9 hour seminar with Mariana Botey
This seminar departs from the notion of reification in Lukács, the later theory of image production as the totalizing effect of capitalism in Debord’s texts and films, Marx’s argument of art as a “nonproductive production,” and Adorno’s concept of art’s autonomy.
In the course of this seminar we will revisit key notion such as production, market, exchange, distribution, objectification, cognitive and symbolic capital, value formation, commodification, fetishism, appropriation, residue and modes of circulation and tension between object and subject. Our discussions will mobilize these categories within concrete examples of art production and will touch upon a revision of related set of problems within post-Marxist and Marxist cultural criticism such as “materialism,” “hegemony”, and “collectivism.”
Miércoles de SOMA: Mariana Botey
Special lecture: Tyler Rowland
Studio Visit on Thursday: Abraham Cruzvillegas
Individual critiques with: Mariana Botey, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Irving Dominguez, Carla Herrera-Prats, Gonzalo Ortega, Raúl Ortega, Tyler Rowland
WEEK 4 – Mon. July 23th to Fri. July 27th
Critical Theory and Art Criticism: 9 hour seminar with Sande Cohen
This seminar will discuss the increasingly globalized situation where critical theory has been banished from public life. Such theory is not doing too well in the schools, either… This seminar will read in a few sources of criticism, Deleuze, Foucault and Baudrillard, and discuss their notions of art and discourse and pose a few problems: is critical art an oxymoron? Is art-history always reactionary? Might artists develop alternatives and what might that be?
Miércoles de SOMA: Sande Cohen
Studio Visit on Thursday: Mónica Castillo
Individual critiques with: Magalí Arriola, Mónica Castillo, Sande Cohen, Carla Herrera-Prats, Chip Lord, Vicente Razo, Amy Sara Caroll.
Special lecture series: Chip Lord, Amy Sara Caroll and Ricardo Dominguez
WEEK 5 – Mon. July 30th to Fri. August 3th
Seminar: 9 hour seminar with Paul Pfeiffer
Miércoles de SOMA: Paul Pfeiffer
Studio Visit on Thursday: Mario García-Torres
Individual critiques with: Mario García-Torres, Nate Harrison, Carla Herrera-Prats, Víctor Palacios, Bárbara Perea, Paul Pfeiffer.
WEEK 6 – Mon. August 6th to Fri. August 10th
Preparation for Open Studio (August 8th)
Individual critiques and group critiques with: Anthony Graves and Carla Herrera-Prats
Miércoles de SOMA: SOMA SUMMER OPEN STUDIOS
The Open Studios will be coordinated by Szu-Han Ho.
Visit on Friday: Jumex Collection and Teotihuacán.
Application Requirements
Applicants must demonstrate significant experience in their field. They are expected to participate in all of the program’s activities. The size of the group is limited to thirty participants. Applicants must hold a valid passport.
Online applications will be accepted until Sunday April 15th, 2012. However, the size of the group is limited to thirty participants. The application review process begins March 1st, 2012.
Tuition and Housing
Tuition is $ 3,000 USD for the six-week program, which does not include accommodations, per diem or transportation. $5,500 USD is a reasonable total budget approximation for the six-week stay in Mexico City (tuition, housing, food, recreation, transportation). SOMA Summer will assist participants with locating housing. We have a special rate at Hostal Virreyes: http://www.hostalvirreyes.com.mx.
Financial Aid
Scholarships/tuition remission are available based on portfolio review and proof of financial need. Send request letter along with your application.