The school exists in relation (opposition, subversion, supplement, mimicry) to Syracuse University’s School of Art and Design, which embodies typical US art school and university educational practices.

The AS in The AS is a platform for self-organization: its activities are generated through suggestions, proposals, conversations, and finding ways to make things happen.

In her essay “A Pedagogical Turn: Brief Notes on Education as Art,” Kristina Lee Podesva describes some aspects I would like to explore with The AS in the AS. I will simply quote her here:

1. A school structure that operates as a social medium.
2. A dependence on collaborative production.
3. A tendency toward process (versus object) based production.
4. An aleatory or open nature.
5. An ongoing and potentially endless temporality.
6. A free space for learning.
7. A post-hierarchical learning environment where there are no teachers, just co-participants.
8. A preference for exploratory, experimental, and multi-disciplinary approaches to knowledge production.
9. An awareness of the instrumentalization of the academy.
10. A virtual space for the communication and distribution of ideas.

robo-rainbow from mudlevel on Vimeo.

Machine Project Public Engagement Artist in Residence Report (9.6 Mb PDF)

A year later, what seems most interesting about this project is not just what the public experienced, but everything that took place behind the scenes – the conversations with artists, the challenges inside and outside of the museum, the logistic and philosophical issues involved in attempting to suggest other uses for a major cultural institution. The report includes introductory essays by Machine Director Mark Allen and Hammer Director of Public Engagement Allison Agsten, a roadmap for how the projects were produced (in case you want to try this at your own museum) and extensive interviews with both the artists and museum staff.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to see how the public engagement sausage gets made.