FAUXTHENTICATION Art, research, fraud, and authenticity in neoliberal academia

A talk by Bogdan Szyber (Stockholm University of the Arts)

In his talk, Bogdan Szyber will discuss  his current research on the overlapping effects of three key components in the production of artistic research:

·      Academia as a Site of Performance

·      Online Economy of Digital Labour as Actors

·      Conceptual Art and Institutional Critique as a Method

Using theatre as a metaphor and dramaturgy as a methodology, and incorporating discourses on class, gender and the global digital economy, Bogdan Szyber analyzes the intersections between neoliberal pressures for academic excellence and the uses of fraud in higher education industries, which are fueled by the “invisible” work of the digital global proletariat.

Bogdan Szyber has worked with various hybrid forms in the performing- and visual arts since 1983, always in collaboration with his colleague Carina Reich. He has a background in performance and site-specific art, and has created over 80 productions -- from ballets to the Royal Opera ballet of Sweden, to live death-metal music, experimental film, as well as radio theatre projects, daily urban rituals with thousands of participants throughout Sweden.

His latest non-commissioned work dealt with the commercialization of the arts in connection to the feeling of guilt evoked by street beggars, and fictitious documentary film dealing with women and revenge.

He is a PhD candidate at The Stockholm University of The Arts /UNIARTS.