The Alphabet of Feeling Bad shows an experimental interview with theorist and activist Ann Cvetkovich. Cvetkovich’s performance, which is based on conversations with the filmmaker, defines terms from A to Z such as "depression", but also everyday negative feelings like the impression of being stuck at an impasse, of feeling numb or not able to work, of being overwhelmed by demands, not acting adequate or not getting on, and accumulates them with a different meaning. In the tradition of initiatives like the SPK (Socialist Patient Collective) of the 1970s, negative feelings are not understood as individual failure or sickness. Rather the question is raised of how these could be collectively sensed as "public feelings" but also politicized in the context of neoliberal working conditions and of homophobia and racism. The film is inspired by the work of Lauren Berlant, Sara Ahmed, Heather Love and Ann Cvetkovich and by the conceptual works of Martha Rosler and Tracey Emin.
Besides working as an academic from queer-feminist perspectives on issues such as trauma and depression, Ann Cvetkovich is also a founding member of Feel Tank Austin, one of several activist groups in the USA who organise meetings and exchange as well as protests and public statements. Members of Feel Tanks Chicago carried out the International Parades of the Politically Depressed (2003, 2004 and 2007) and protested in pyjamas and bath robes under the slogan: "Depressed? It might be political!". Together with the Public Feelings groups from New York and Austin, Texas they also organised the conference Anxiety, Urgency, Outrage, Hope... A Conference on Political Feeling at the University of Chicago in 2007.
The Alphabet of Feeling Bad is based on the idea of understanding notions and concepts as tools that allow for feelings to become public, to feel collectively and to re-negotiate and politicise these feelings in queer-feminist ways.
Film credits:
The Alphabet of Feeling Bad, 2012, HD, 13 min
Performance: Ann Cvetkovich
Director: Karin Michalski
Collaboration: Renate Lorenz
Editing: Elfe Brandenburger
Camera: Robert Mleczko
Sound: Antje Volkmann
Color grading : Matthias Behrens / wave-line Berlin
Production: Karin Michalski
Support: Wassan Ali, Pauline Boudry
www.karinmichalski.de
The film refers to theoretical works by Lauren Berlant, Heather Love, Sara Ahmed, Ann Cvetkovich and other authors.
Unhappy Archive
"I call the archives ... ‚unhappy archives. It is not simply a question of finding happiness in such archives. Rather, these archives take shape through the circulation of cultural objects that articulate unhappiness with the history of happiness. An unhappy archive is one assembled around the struggle against happiness. ...The unhappy archives reflect on the collectivity of unhappiness. They resist the individualism that posits the unhappiness of one against the unhappiness of many. It is not simply that we recognize that unhappiness is collective or shared; it is also that we realize that challenging happiness can only be a shared project." Sara Ahmed
Furthermore the exhibition will present what could be seen as a possible starting point for an Unhappy Archive, a collection of texts, books, photos, drawings and other materials related to the questioning of norms of "Happiness". In collaboration betweeen Sabian Baumann, Karin Michalski and Andrea Thal this space would like to invite you to spend time reading or listening, or simply sit down and relax and maybe engage in discussions.
Besides books and quotes by Sara Ahmed, Lauren Berlant, Ann Cvetkovich, Elizabeth Freeman, Heather Love, Elspeth Probyn and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Unhappy Archive contains the following works:
Sabian Baumann
My Background, 1998, Pencil on paper, 23 x 31 cm (photo copy 21 x 29.7)
Erinnerungen, 2003, Pencil on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm (photo copy 29.7 x 21)
Der Therapeut (from the series Hier ist alles besser), 2004, Pencil and crayon on paper, 29.7 x 21 cm
Hast du deinen Abschluss geschafft? (from the series Hier ist alles besser), 2004, Aquarell on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm
Ohne Titel, (from the series Unter Wasser atmen), 2006/2006, Crayon on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm
www.sabianbaumann.ch
Dafne Boggeri
149 Anni Luce Dalla Terra / 149 Light Years From Earth, 2008, Poster edition, 60 x 44 cm
Lost, 2008, Poster edition, 60 x 44 cm
No Title Yet, 2008, Poster edition, A1
Costellazione / Constellation, 2009, stolen play cards, 6 x 8,5 cm
Errorist, 2008, T-Shirt edition
No Tears, 2008/2013, Spraypaint on wall
Elfe Brandenburger, T-Shirt worn by the artist
Midnighttalk (Bettina Stehli and Anne-Käthi Wehrli)
Broadcast from 11.12.2011, Radio Lora 97.5 MHZ, Audio on MP3-Players
midnighttalk.ch
More material on the subject can be found on the context page. Please follow the link on the top left of this page.
