SLOW CAPITALISM: SLIME ECONOMY

THE GOETHE-INSTITUT NEW YORK
& ZENTRALE INTELLIGENZ AGENTUR (ZIA)

PRESENT

SLOW CAPITALISM: SLIME ECONOMY (NEW YORK)

A series of three events: May 29, 7pm & May 30, 3pm & May 30, 7pm
Plus a related special-event screening on May 24 beginning at 10:00am

"Capitalism on speed has enjoyed a long night of hearty partying and excess. But now we’ve woken up with the hangover to end all hangovers with most of our economic certainties shattered. Is it time for a new, a slower capitalism? In a series of talks and performances, the Berlin-based socialist-capitalist joint venture Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur (ZIA) [Central Intelligence Agency] will explore ideas for an economy on the slow, looking at new developments in design, collaboration, digital collaboration, and DIY-cultures.

But Slow Capitalism is not simply about deceleration. Rather, it tries to make different, productive use of increasingly compressed time in a global society. ZIA agents will look at the conditions and consequences of today's temporal crunch and experiment with various counter-strategies, and issue their own temporary homemade currency, Slime, which will serve as a symbolic nexus, marking the re-entry of portable power from the sphere of the virtual into a more viscous reality.

Friday, May 29, 2009, 7:00 pm: Faster, Capitalism! Kill! Kill!
Join the Slime Economy: Swap your greenbacks for a pot of Slime currency and start speculating! Waste it on drinks at the bar or try to make a slimy fortune at the casino. But watch out: when the Federal Slime Reserve floods the market with vast quantities of freshly minted slime, the bubble will certainly burst.

In The Hedonistic Company ZIA agents will outline their enterprise as a virtual company. Using their rules, you can learn how to build a socialist-capitalist company and how to work together and still stay friends. On this first evening you can also test your bullshitting skills by participating in ZIA's original PowerPoint Karaoke contest. Are you ready to take the stage for an impromptu presentation of some of the sleaziest and funniest bullet-point-ridden slideshows ever?

Saturday, May 30, 2009, 3:00-6:00 pm: Der Wörkvergnugen
Fed up with your work routine? Lost your job? Try something new! In this afternoon installation, ZIA will put you to work. You can apply and get paid for jobs which are normally not granted any economic value. Our employment program offers diverse activities such as napping, reading, enjoying a conversation over a cup of coffee or playing the video game classic Pong. But before you can start,make sure you fill out the application forms correctly and be prepared for a personal interview with our job counselors. For your work you will receive the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, paid in the equivalent amount of Slime currency.

Saturday, May 30, 2009, 7:00 pm: Slow Capitalism
On their second evening, ZIA will present a string of projects dealing with the new, slow economy: Kathrin Passig will be Putting the Pro into Procrastination, discussing ways to waste your time wisely and how to get stuff done without any self-discipline at all. Holm Friebe will present The Brand DIY, outlining how the selfmade- revolution is changing the rules of work, production, and consumption. Finally, Sebastian Sooth will talk about Hallenprojekt: Connecting Co-Working Spaces in Berlin and Around the World and will explain how co-working enables us to work the way we want to live.

The Berlin-based Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur (ZIA) is a socialist-capitalist network of freelancers. Operating at the interfaces of academia and journalism, marketing and art, Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur develops its own projects and cultural formats, offers custom-made solutions, and takes on special missions for commercial clients. The ZIA agents presenting Slow Capitalism are: Philipp Albers, Martin Baaske, Holm Friebe, Peter Glaser (via video from Berlin-Spandau), Moritz Metz, Jörn Morisse, Kathrin Passig, Cornelius Reiber, Christian Y. Schmidt (via video from Beijing), Sebastian Sooth, and Thomas Weyres.

Visit them at: http://www.zentrale-intelligenz-agentur.de/

Sunday, May 24, 2009, starting at 10:00am
As a special adjunct and introduction to the theme of Slow Capitalism, the Goethe-Institut Wyoming Building is proud to present Alexander Kluge’s monumental 2008 film, Nachrichten aus der ideologischen Antike: Marx– Eisenstein–Das Kapital. [News from Ideological Antiquity: Marx–Eisenstein–Capital.] Eighty years after Sergei Eisenstein’s plan to make a movie out of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital , trailblazing German filmmaker Alexander Kluge examines this phenomenal project, creating cinematic miniatures about Marx’s theory, which to us now seems as close or as far as antiquity. Kluge’s film features conversations with noted intellectuals Peter Sloterdijk, Dietmar Dath, Oskar Negt, Boris Groys, Rainer Stollmann and many others, offering a multitude of perspectives on the book that changed the world. Kluge, one of the groundbreaking directors of the New German Cinema, has a unique genius for transposing the realm of the intellect into powerful and provocative cinematic imagery. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind introduction to an extraordinary work. Please note that the film will be shown in German only! 570 minutes.

Location:
Goethe-Institut New York, Wyoming Building
5 E 3rd St (at Bowery)
New York, NY 10003
www.goethe.de/wyomingbuilding
Tel: 212 439 8700
Closest Subway: 6 at Bleecker Street
All events are in English, unless otherwise noted. Admission is free, no reservations required

The Goethe-Institut New York is a branch of the Federal Republic of Germany’s global cultural institute, established to promote the study of German and German culture abroad, encourage international cultural exchange, and provide information on Germany’s culture, society, and politics. The Goethe-Institut Wyoming Building, its new event space, is a cultural venue in the heart of New York’s vibrant downtown arts scene."