Art and Labor

Tis the season to have a wide ranging discussion on spirituality. We start with Gnosticism and end with Falun Gong lol. Religion and tradition are being thrown around by all sorts of political actors, can the left compete without the big untraceable and untaxable bux?? We’re stuck in the Merry Christmas Let Them Eat Cake … Continue reading "Episode 105 – Christmas Stimulus"

We’re joined by journalist and eminent historian of Posadsim, Andy Glittliz aka @spaceprole of @the_antifada podcast! We discuss his excellent book from Pluto Press I Want to Believe Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism. How did a principled working class organizer become a cult leader? Are there parallels to conspiracy theories today? Even massively popular reforms … Continue reading "Episode 104 – UFO IS NURSE FOR OUR SIN PLANET with Andy Gittlitz"

We pump the breaks on our quarantidinal (word I just made up) looseness and read Emilie Anne-Yvonne Luse’s “This Is the Future Liberals Want”: The Crisis of Democracy and the Salon des Indépendants in Interwar France (1918–1939) from the second issue of Selva Journal. Read the piece and the of rest of the issue here! … Continue reading "READING – Selva Journal on the Salon des Indépendants"

We revisit Hito Steyerl’s “In Defense of Poor Image” to make a point about naiveté of the American left during the Obama administration. The web was a frontier, meaning conditions have always been ripe for dissemination of far right disinformation as well as highly polished neoliberalism. It’s a positive development that left popular discourse is … Continue reading "Episode 103 – Indefensible Poor Image and Prestige TV"

This is (almost) the dawning of the age of Aquarius, how red will that dawn be? OK’s been a little fixated on China, would a new global superpower be beneficial to international communist movements? We try to focus back in the art and labor realm with the 3rd part of the Nika Dubrovsky and David … Continue reading "Episode 102 – Can We Abolish the Art World?"

In a crumbling democracy dictated by the bourgeois, regime change is mostly aesthetics. Biden Harris is serving us a kinder, gentler imperialism, while also giving the wink big to Thatcherism. Complete with corporate sponsored jingoism and drones. More the vibes of a Superbowl commercial than a celebratory tailgate. We also discuss local strategies, the Trump … Continue reading "Episode 101 – Election Aesthetics"

*Join us on twitch for a special 100th episode/fuck the election stream on Tuesday! Don’t go through the horrors alone!!* We discuss the Contrapoints voting video, catch up on a recent art worker round table, and have a light debate on the Baltimore Museum of Art deacquisition controversy. There’s a very funny idea to make … Continue reading "Episode 99 – Public Process and Deacquisition"

We start with some clarity on the question of sex work under communism (well mostly this essay does), but eventually we enter the territory of “we don’t know” when it comes to the very differing left tendencies and strategies. Lucia has a beautiful show of paintings, the gallery is surrounded by beautiful upstate autumn, go … Continue reading "Episode 98 – Modes of Production"

Anti-government plots from the right, and feminist art from cis men? It’s more likely than you think. Getting public art contracts and getting away with murder is WAY easier if you’re man. Also, why are American dudes on Reddit so into defending Hong Kong, is there a reason why the BLM protests aren’t as respected?? … Continue reading "Episode 97 – New Cold and Civil Wars"

Is Trump a Bimbo? What is dark academia, is it the same thing as the intellectual dark web? Are Hawaiian shirts problematique? We discuss internet fashion trends and the aesthetics of politics with certified tiktok zoomer Biz Sherbert (aka @markfisherquotes)! If you like the podcast and want more, please consider supporting us: https://www.patreon.com/artandlabor. Follow us on twitter and instagram. You … Continue reading "Episode 96 – Bimbos, Boogaloos, and Trump, Oh My! with Biz Sherbert"

We keep on the “art” promise of this podcast and discuss the recent announcement that the massive Philip Guston retrospective has been pushed to 2024 citing the current political climate and fears the audience just won’t understand the context of the work. The press release is asinine and ahistorical, isn’t art suppose to hep us … Continue reading "Episode 95 – Resurgent Cultural Conservatism?"

We say THANK U, NEXT to RBG and do an art world update. Massive layoffs abound, and the Guggenheim buys the banana, can someone good at the economy please help them budget this?? Direct demands for scumbag board members to be removed from museums is great, but doesn’t it feel like these open letters are … Continue reading "Episode 94 – The Museum Political Cycle"

9/11, 9/11, what went down with building 7? It’s a mystery to this day!! That’s right folks it’s 9/11, so we went off on another conspiracy theory episode. The far right is able to weaponize justified mistrust in liberal institutions to further their genocidal political projects, and the left doesn’t have enough power to counter … Continue reading "Episode 93 – Conspiracy Class Politics on the Far Right"

Special thanks to Ovid for supporting us, use promo code “LABOR” to get a great deal on their documentaries! Apologies for the construction sounds towards the end of the episode! We discuss the the right’s strategy of “throw spaghetti at the wall” and see how many people can be tricked by populist-flavored lies. We also … Continue reading "Episode 92 – The Politics of Everybody"

OK and Lucia met up IRL in a weird little park. Enjoy the summer sounds of cicadas and ice cream trucks!! We had a wide-ranging philosophical discussion about reconstructing political imagination. We debate the role of art, fantasy, and fandom in our increasingly brutal reality. Support us on Patreon to hear the first hour of … Continue reading "Episode 91 – Reconstruction and Fantasy"