A Factory as it Might Be is a new project by Patrick Staff conceived as part of Stages in the Revolution, a programme curated by The Island for the Whitstable Biennale 2012. The project takes its title from William Morris' 1884 essay which proposed a re-imagining of factories as the primary social sites of the town, combining work and leisure with technical education. Morris ultimately proposed that these new sites might reduce the working hours of their community. Situating three constructed stages around the small aggregate factory in Whitstable's harbour, the project will explore sites of social exchange and performance; arts, industry and leisure; crisis, congregation and the social relations of production. From these stages, alongside freely distributed pamphlets and an open working space on Whitstable's high street, meetings, workshops, participatory research, enactment and discussion groups will be undertaken considering questions raised by the project and the wider context of the Biennale itself.

SCHEDULE:

Wednesday 5 September, 18:00-20:00
Workshop / Discussion with Margareta Kern and Patrick Staff
Stages in the Revolution Hub, 60 Harbour Street

One hundred years after William Morris published his text ’Factory as it Might Be’, the UK experienced the dismantling of the coal industry, irrevocably affecting communities, class consciousness and trade unions in a massive economic and political restructuring. We will start by watching excerpts from the campaign videos ‘What Future for Us?’ which focuses on the struggles of the mining community and by reading excerpts from Morris’ text.  As markers in a complex history of labour, these documents lead us into exploring how to situate ourselves now in relation to the current restructuring, but also as prompts to looking at the ethics and politics of working with radical historical documents and archives within artistic practices.

As cultural workers, we’d like to explore and potentially propose ways of conceiving art which, as put forward by Brecht, empowers a way of thinking of history as an archive of resources that can be ‘functionally transformed’ (‘umfunktioniert’) for future struggles.

This workshop is free and open to all.

Sunday 9 September, 16:00-17:00
Performance with Patrick Staff and Laura Evans
Harbour Stages 1-3

Wednesday 12 September, 18:00-20:00
Workshop with Patrick Staff
Stages in the Revolution Hub, 60 Harbour Street

Sunday 16 September, 16:00-17:00
Performance with Patrick Staff and Laura Evans
Harbour Stages 1-3

For further information or to enquire about taking part in A Factory as it Might Be please email:

info [at] theislandarts [dot] org or call +44 (0)7968 477 636