02.10- 05.11
Exhibition

Work vs Study

Venue: Non-Random Gallery
1111 Budapest, Bercsényi u. 7.

Work vs. Study is an exhibition by the students of the Intermedia Department of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest. In the framework of the course How to Make a Work of Art, led by professor János Sugár, in each year since 2015, the students analyzed the current dilemmas of being an art student in Hungary.  The earlier phases of this program was exhibited at previous end-of-semester shows, and for OFF-Biennale Budapest, these are combined into one exhibition that is accompanied by 2-3 one-night events.

The Work vs. Study project looks at, among others, how a significant number of students is forced to work besides their studies in order to finance their living. All of this keeps them in such an existential position in which they have to choose; that is, their studies are hindered by work. The only way for them to fend off the impossibility of being at two places at one and the conflicts of interest is to reduce the time and energy spent on their studies. This condition leads to bad feelings and uncertainty that also impels pretense, individual solutions, or indecency during their university years. After finishing their studies, this compromise—in better case scenarios— transforms into a feeling of having missed out. In this situation, which affects many, thinking about work is a kind of taboo subjects. The project attempts to make this suppression a part of studying art.

The exhibition includes, among others, the pieces presented at the end-of-semester show organized in 2016, entitled If I Don’t Ask, Then I Don’t Think Either? In the 2016/2017 academic year, with the support of PATTERNS Lectures (www.erstestiftung.org/patterns-lectures), for which we applied together with the cultural-community space Müszi, we were able to dedicate a major part of the project to familiarize ourselves with ideas about the radical rethinking of economic systems, which is only seemingly distant from art. We invited guest lecturers who work with similar themes as the Work vs. Study project, and we made the lectures presented at Müszi available online to everyone (https://muegyetem.wordpress.com/about). The process is concluded with a publication that will be launched as part of our exhibition at OFF-Biennale Budapest.

Supporters: Intermedia Department, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest; Patterns Lectures.

Special thanks: The Municipality of Újbuda, Eleven Blokk Art Foundation

Related programs: https://iskolavsmunka.tumblr.com/