Unmeasurable Economics

Critical reading of funding applications and evaluation reports in the arts.
Testing, evaluating, controlling, measuring, monitoring, indexing: These terms stem from scientific and industrial work practices but since the 50s applied to human behaviour and society. Since the 18th century, they have contributed to understanding human behaviour, and create more efficient production. But when these measures are applied on the artistic production, they turn into an attempt to measure the unmeasurable. It is the expression of the deficit in language to evaluate affects and effects such as care, inspiration or imagination.
Funding application and evaluation reports for cultural production are micro reflections of the values and politics underlaying the systems producing them. They are the public system’s struggle to justify the role of art and art’s struggle to remain autonomous. In this event we will look at examples of funding applications from different contexts and periods. We will take the opportunity to really understand how they function, independent from time pressure of a deadline or from the purpose of producing a project, but as literary materials from which we can reflect on political discourse, artistic production today and the values which are being expressed in these forms.
More info & registration to follow soon!
This event is collaboratively organized by Elena Veljanovska, Ela Kagel, Yael Sherill and Jorge Vega Matos.