Slought in New York at ZONE: Chelsea Center for the Arts

May 4, 2019

An archival exploration into the activities of Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, featuring information about past projects with William Anastasi, Arakawa + Gins, Günter Brus, Hélène Cixous, Braco Dimitrijevic, Fred Forest, Hermann Nitsch, Dennis Oppenheim, David Stephens, Marjorie Welish, et al.

How can organizations located on the periphery of major international art cities contribute to and provoke the cultural and political landscape? What can a young organization that resists the market-driven orientation of today’s cultural institutions achieve with minimal private funding and an all-volunteer staff? An archival exploration into the activities of Slought Foundation in Philadelphia since its inception in 2002. It will feature information about past projects with William Anastasi, Arakawa + Gins, Günter Brus, Hélène Cixous, Braco Dimitrijevic, Fred Forest, Hermann Nitsch, Dennis Oppenheim, David Stephens, Marjorie Welish, as well as documentation of over 200 past performances, conversations, exhibitions, and publications at Slought Foundation that explore new futures for contemporary political and cultural life.

Slought in New York at ZONE:Chelsea Center for the Arts

Curated by Aaron Levy, Jean-Michel Rabaté, and Osvaldo Romberg

Opening Reception

6-9PM, Thursday November 29, 2007

In conjunction:

Thursday, November 29th, 7-8pm

“Should Art Abolish Art?”

A conversation with Arakawa + Gins and others

Moderated by Jean-Michel Rabate and Aaron Levy; Introduced by Osvaldo Romberg

Friday, December 7^th, 6:30-8:30pm

“In Defense of Sloth: A Primer”

Organized by Cabinet Magazine and Slought Foundation by Aaron Levy and Sina Najafi

Saturday, December 8, 2007; 11:00am-5:30pm

“In Defense of Sloth: A Symposium” at The Great Hall, Cooper Union

Organized by Cabinet Magazine and Slought Foundation

Hosted by and in partnership with the Cooper Union, Irwin S. Chairman School of Architecture

SPOTLIGHT

In Defense of Sloth: An Eclectic and Entertaining Series of Presentations About that Most Philosophical of Vices: A PRIMER

6:30 – 8:30PM, November 29, 2007

Organized by Cabinet Magazine and Slought Foundation

Theories and polemics about sloth have figured widely in Western thought in the work of artists, philosophers, and cultural critics as diverse as Aquinas, Nietzsche, and Malevich, as well as Marx, Kierkegaard, and Wilde. In Dante’s Purgatorio, for example, sloth is described as being the “failure to love God with all one’s heart, all one’s mind, and all one’s soul.” A more secular viewpoint on sloth is provided by Paul LaFargue, Karl Marx’s son-in-law, who authored the influential The Right to be Lazy(1883) and tirelessly campaigned for a three-hour work day. Likewise, in his manifesto “The Praise of Laziness” (1988), Zagreb-based artist Mladen Stilinovic suggests that Western artists are too preoccupied with promotion and production, and are thus less artists than producers.

The project has been organized in conjunction with Slought in New York, an archival exploration into the activities of the Philadelphia-based Slought Foundation, on display from November 29-December 15, 2007 at Zone:Chelsea Center for the Arts. The “In Defense of Sloth” project is collaboratively organized by Aaron Levy, Slought Foundation, and Sina Najafi, Cabinet Magazine, in association with undergraduate students in the 2007-2008 Russell Bergman Foundation Curatorial Seminar in the University of Pennsylvania Departments of English and Art History.