January – March, 2013, Ptarmigan, Tallinn, Estonia.

Systems reward the assertive. The worlds of economics, culture, academia and science all follow a strict adherence to Darwinist principles. The strong triumph; the weak are swept away. All attempts to rectify this, through state activity, the social conscience or charity are subject to the same systems that nurture these inequalities.

The rules of law binds these spheres, yet these ties are not absolute. The concept of legality is fluid, and those who have conquered these systems are often the ones who least observe the regulations which have benefited them.

In the realm of art and aesthetics, legality is rarely questioned except in explicitly activist-orientated projects. It’s a fluid concept that often exists as an unobserved parallel to critical dialogue, or an undercurrent.

For the first quarter of 2013, Ptarmigan (EE) will schedule activities around the theme of (Il)legal Aesthetics. Spearheaded by our resident artist Mindaugas Gapsevicius, Illegal Aesthetics will loosely encompass a variety of activities that revolve around similar concerns. Explicitly embracing the educational realm, (Il)legal Aesthetics refers to activities that straddle the gap between legal and illegal. These activities will explore concepts such as law, permission and property. We will investigate responsibilities and possibilities; we will attempt to discover (il)legal forms of action and aesthetics.

(Il)legal Aesthetics is organised within Migrating Art Academies framework in collaboration with Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association, Estonian Academy of Arts and Ptarmigan Tallinn. The laboratory is partly supported by KUNO network and Kulturkontakt Nord. More information @ Migrating Art Academies website