Speaker Max Haiven to launch new book, kick off discussion at KCAD

Dr. Max Haiven will present the major ideas from his book, "Crisis of Imagination, Crises of Power: Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons" with a special focus on the enclosure of creativity, at Kendall College of Art and Design's Fed Gallery on Tuesday, October 21 at 3:00 p.m. 

In this era, cities, entrepreneurs and investors often use the idea of creativity to express their commitment to innovation, progress and dynamism. With such powerful interests advocating for creativity, are we seeing the dawn of a new freely expressive moment that values imagination and culture? In his new book "Crisis of Imagination, Crisis of Power", Max Haiven argues that we are instead experiencing a suppression of the social and civic functions of the imagination, and that this dysfunction is at the core of our most pernicious problems: inequality, ecological destruction and the feelings of hopelessness and futility toward any viable alternatives.

The ideas in "Crisis of Imagination, Crises of Power" are relevant to artists, activists, urbanists, educators and entrepreneurs, especially those interested in the central role that culture and creativity can play in the development of alternate ways of living required to overcome these challenges. Max Haiven provides pathways through these difficulties starting with a constructive critique based on clear, scholarly analysis.

Dr. Haiven will engage these topics in this lecture and a discussion- both free events and open to the public.

Artists, students, activists, creatives and cultural entrepreneurs are invited to a discussion with Max Haiven on the practical realities of cultural work and the complex dynamics and processes at play when art, money and labor engage in the creative city. The discussion will draw from Dr. Haiven's work (text links available in advance) and from works on display in the "I Am: Money Matters" exhibit in the Fed Galleries @ KCAD.

Max Haiven is a writer, teacher and organizer, and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Art History and Critical Studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada. His research focuses on themes including the financialization of society and culture, social movements and the radical imagination, the politics and economics of culture, critical art practices and social and cultural theory. He writes articles for both academic and general audiences and has been published in venues including Truth-Out, Dissident Voice, Social Text, Cultural Studies, Cultural Politics and Interface: A Journal For and About Social Movements. He is author of the books "Crisis of Imagination, Crises of Power: Capitalism, Creativity and the Commons" (Zed Books, 2014), "The Radical Imagination: Social Movement Research in the Age of Austerity" (with Alex Khasnabish, Zed Books, 2014) and "Cultures of Financialization: Fictitious Capital in Popular Culture and Everyday Life" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). Haiven comes to Grand Rapids as part of an international speaking tour that includes presentations in Berlin, Istanbul, Thessaloniki (Greece), Sapporo (Japan), Los Angeles, Oakland, Vancouver, Montreal and Vilnius (Lithuania).

These events are presented by the Office for Public Culture at GVSU and are co-sponsored by: the Visual Studies Studio in the Department of Art and Design at GVSU, The Fed Galleries, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. The Office for Public Culture is a project in the Brooks College for Interdisciplinary Studies at GVSU. 

For more information and recommended texts: http://opublicculture.org/