Workshop on Workshops

A workshop is a designed situation in which a group of people can discover, make, practice, or understand something together. Unlike a lecture, a workshop cannot succeed solely because the person leading it knows something. Its material is the people in the room: their attention, interpretation, behavior, knowledge, relationships, and responses to one another. Over two sessions, Workshop on Workshops looks at facilitation through a loose genealogy of scores, constructed situations, participatory instructions, and practices of attention drawing from Fluxus event scores, Sol LeWitt’s instructional works, the Situationist International, Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening, and other relational practices. This workshop is for anyone whose work involves bringing people together and helping things happen. That might mean running meetings, hosting events, leading a team, or making participatory work. You don’t need to think of yourself as a facilitator to join. If you’re interested in how a group of people can be invited into a shared experience, this workshop (on workshops) should give you useful things to think with and try out. Program On Day 1 (Oct 24, 12–4PM), participants experience and analyze a series of workshops designed by the facilitator. Then everyone develops a workshop of their own. On Day 2 (Oct 25, 12–4PM), Index becomes a temporary festival of workshops: participants sign up for one another’s programs, each person facilitates once, and everyone participates in several workshops designed by their peers. Learning Outcomes By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to: Think about facilitation as the design of conditions rather than simply the delivery of content. Write instructions that provide enough structure without unnecessarily determining what happens. Design for participation. Develop an invitation that helps the right participants understand why they should join. Facilitate a short participatory experience. Scholarships Index scholarships are designed to benefit members of our community who do not have expendable cash to pay for the course, and those for whom the class price is not accessible. These need-based scholarships will go to the candidates who best demonstrate why they should be chosen for the free spot to our class based on the following criteria: Belong to groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the graphic design and creative industries Do not have jobs that would pay for these courses as professional development Cannot independently afford the class at list price Share our value of intentional community The number of selected applicants chosen is subject to the discretion of Index and the instructor, but every course will select at least one. Apply for a scholarship here. Applications close October 16th. Instructor Bio Elie Andersen is co-founder and director of Index, and a garden3d associate.