Discourse and Discord: A Public Symposium
Architecture of Agonism from the Kitchen Table to the City Street
Discourse and Discord: A Public Symposium
April 12–14
Copresented with and at the Walker Art Center
In an era of cultural conservatives and the liberal elite, Occupiers and Tea Partiers, civil uprisings and government crackdowns, perhaps the one point of agreement today is there’s no shortage of disagreement. But if that’s true, then why isn’t there more debate—not online flame wars, not the televised jockeying of political candidates, but live, in-person dialogue?
That question was a starting point for this three-day symposium on agonism in the public sphere. A term unfamiliar to many, agonism describes an approach to politics that embraces difference and disagreement as an important part of democracy. As a series of talks, workshops, actions, and playful experiments, Discourse and Discord aims to explore the structures or “architectures”—whether it’s the built environment, online technologies, songs, or recipes—that can draw people together for genuine dialogue and debate. It also reinforces the notion that democracy thrives on and even requires an agonistic foundation: the friction of varied publics and participation by people of different minds, views, and beliefs.
Join with a range of other unlike-minded people to debate and discuss, disclose and expose—and find out what happens when you move beyond agreeing to disagree.
In Dialogue: Krzysztof Wodiczko and John Rajchman
Mack Lecture
Thursday, April 12, 7 pm Free
McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center
Join a conversation on art, design, and agonistic democracy with artist Krzysztof Wodiczko and philosopher-theorist John Rajchman.
Voices in Residence
Featured throughout the Symposium
Jacquie Fuller and Molly Balcom Raleigh are the Voices in Residence for Discourse and Discord. As cofounders of the Prairie Fire Lady Choir—a Twin Cities singing group that marshals the collected skill of its singers to operate—Fuller and Raleigh draw on their experience in “creating harmony through discord” to lead informal vocal and choral expressions with participants of the symposium.
Structures for Discord
Conversation
Friday, April 13, 10 am–12 noon Free
McGuire Theater
Four practitioner-theorists discuss agonism as a political philosophy and the channeling of discord: Carl DiSalvo, Marisa Jahn, Warren Sack, and Mark Shepard.
The D+D Tweet Choir
Friday, April 13, 10 am–12 noon
McGuire Theater
During the panel conversation Structures for Discord, the D+D Tweet Choir comprised of Jacquie Fuller, Molly Balcom Raleigh, and their team of volunteer singers will translate selected tweets from the audience into song lyrics, forming a critical and comic response to the speakers’ dialogue.
Embodying Agonism
Workshop
Friday, April 13, 12:30–2:30 pm $10 ($8 Walker members)
Gallery 8
Warren Sack leads a workshop that uses bodies and chairs to enact discourse and discord. Lunch included; preregistration required.
From the Table to the Streets
Pecha Kucha
Friday, April 13, 3–5 pm Free
McGuire Theater
A rapid-fire presentation of projects oriented to public space, including those by recipients of Art(ists) on the Verge commissions.
Discourse Karaoke
The Third Place
Friday, April 13, 8-midnight
$5-$10 suggested donation
Wing Young Huie Photography Gallery
3730 Chicago Avenue S, Studio B
Minneapolis, MN 55407
Start with a chalkboard mixer where people pair up with someone they don’t know and they discuss these questions:
- Describe a political issue that is not black & white to you. Describe one that is.
- How do you think race affects politics?
- Which candidate (local, national, historical) do you most identify with and why?
- What do you think is the biggest threat to our society?
- What influences your political beliefs the most and why?
Each partner chooses the other’s answer that they think is the most interesting. Each person then writes their answer on a 5 x 7 inch mailing label and wears it for the rest of the evening.
Karaoke ensues for the remainder of the evening from a selection of classic and contemporary protest/patriotic/political songs. Duets and larger singing groups are encouraged.
Engaging the Avenue: Agonistic Tactics for Social Design
Workshop
Saturday, April 14, 10 am-4 pm
FlatPak House
$10 ($8 Walker members)
This workshop will explore how ideas about agonistic democracy translate into design tactics. Using Hennepin Avenue as a site, we will conceptualize and prototype a series of agonistic interventions that engage the physical and media spaces of Hennepin Avenue where debates about the future of this urban corridor are unfolding. Activities will include rapid research into the history of Hennepin Avenue and its planning process, brainstorming, lo-fidelity prototyping, and the presentation of concepts. Participants from all backgrounds are welcome to attend, the only requirement is a willingness to engage in radical imagination and hands-on political design!
Led by Carl DiSalvo, Assistant Professor in the Digital Media Program in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Lunch included. To register, call 612.375.7600.
Harmony from Discord
Workshop
Saturday, April 14, 10 am–4 pm
Star Tribune Art Lab
$10 ($8 Walker members)
Jacquie Fuller and Molly Balcom Raleigh host a workshop inspired by the collaborative working process of the Prairie Fire Lady Choir—a group well-versed in creating harmony from discord. The outcome of this workshop is to channel ideas from the symposium into a chorally-expressed, consensus-shaped statement on collaboration and agonism to produce a song. Participants are required to work as a group to write, learn, and perform a song in a public space. You do not need to know how to read sheet music or be a good singer to participate.
Lunch included. To register, call 612.375.7600.
Inciting the Street
Workshop
Saturday, April 14, 10 am–4 pm
$10 ($8 Walker members)
Barnes Conference Room
Neighborhood banners often bring to mind inspiring images and colors that mark the street as a prosperous and inviting place. Frequently used as products of urban decorating schemes, banners dress up a neighborhood and make it feel like a friendly place, ready for consumers, and free from controversy. In this workshop, participants will learn about signs that incite, rather than sugarcoat, the streets and neighborhoods they represent. “Banners on Broadway,” for example, is an ongoing public art project of Juxtaposition Arts that uses the banner to stir dialogue and debate and to express the hopes and concerns of North Minneapolis residents. Using these case studies as models, participants will conceptualize and prototype their own neighborhood banners. Key questions to prompt dialogue and design ideas include: What messages do you think people need to see on your street? What worries or inspires you? How would you graphically represent your idea at a scale legible to passing cars and pedestrians? How would you argue for your message when decision makers thought it was too controversial or inappropriate?
Led by Banners on Broadway partners; Kristine Miller, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Minnesota; and guests from Juxtaposition Arts.
Lunch included.
To register for workshops, call 612.375.7600. All lectures will be webcast on channel.walkerart.org.
Pro+agonist: The Art of Opposition
A new book and deck of cards by Marisa Jahn explores the productive possibilities of agonism, a relationship built on mutual incitement and struggle. Illustrated in black and blue—the colors of a good bruise—Pro+agonist: The Art of Opposition brings together writings by interdisciplinary thinkers, artists, scientists, CEOs, crackpots, war strategists, psychotherapists, and philosophers who raise questions about the importance of political dissent, the function of discord in discourse, the rules of escalating conflict, the roles of parasites within systems, and more. Readers will emerge with a greater understanding about how to duke it out and an appreciation for taking it to the streets. Cosponsored by Northern Lights.mn, Walker Art Center, and REV-. Limited supply available at the symposium.
Support
Discourse and Discord is copresented with the Walker Art Center. Mack Lectures are made possible by generous support from Aaron and Carol Mack. Additional support is provided by the Jerome Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and US CITRIS Data and Democracy Initiative.