[Nettime-bold] Aesthetics and education?

[acm acm <artofficial2@yahoo.com>]

What is VAC-UP? 

VAC-UP stands for "Virtual Aesthetic Curriculum User
Program." It is a PROformance designed by artofficial
construction media that attempts to address in both
pragmatic and symbolic ways problematic aspects of
aesthetic training in institutions of higher
education, such as job placement. 

What is "problematic" about the "aesthetic training in
institutions of higher learning"? 

Well, acm believes that there are many aspects of the
education process that are problematic for aspiring
cultural producers. There has also been some
discussion of such problems in various other forums
that suggests that it is not just us complaining. Some
of the aspects we would like to address are: the
contradictions in the inverted relationship between
rising educational costs and decreases in "real" work
opportunities; the small number of jobs available
compared to the large amount of recruiting; the
justification of these trends with neo-social
Darwinism (the survival of the fittest) coupled with
blatant social engineering. 

Does VAC-UP offer solutions, or just complain? 

VAC-UP is, of course, not an entity in the individual
sense of the word. VAC-UP cannot offer solutions, per
se, but is rather designed to aid in the development
of possible solutions through an opening up of
discourse about education. So, from acm's perspective,
this is part of a solution, but we would caution that
any interpretation of both problems and solutions
include their political economy. 

What does ACM mean by "PROformance"? 

acm's use of the term "PROformance" is meant to
suggest the connection between VAC-UP as a cultural
product, and VAC-UP as a professional endeavor by ACM
as educational practitioners. The performance method
of VAC-UP does not preclude the affect of such actions
beyond "the stage" so to speak. This is merely a
continuation of established ideas about art, critical
theory, and specificity (Joseph Kosuth, etc..)coupled
with recent developments in contemporary aesthetics
(Andrea Fraser,
etc...)and education. 

Can ACM put these words into action? 

Yes and no. ACM is committed to the goals set forth in
VAC-UP and ACM members will do what they can to
institute VAC-UP concepts in their own professional
lives. ACM is also actively pursuing the
implementation of VAC-UP as a collaborative venture,
and will work with institutions and organizations in
just about any capacity willing to take VAC-UP or
similar programs on.

http://www.artofficial-online.com/vac-up


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