Anartists – List for BDA – The Sundial Press

The Anartists team. Photo: Simone Richler//The Sundial Press

By Jacob Hartley and Aurore Laborie

President: Nolwenn Mahé

Vice President: Florian Kotimbi

Click here to see their Facebook page

What do you want students to know?

This list started out of a common observation: Although we found over 1200 students on campus and about 100 nationalities, this diversity is not represented artistically. We all shared the feeling in our list that there was a barren link between art and entitlement. The word “artist” is too often put on a pedestal, to a certain point that it ends up being considered as unreachable. Who dares to call themselves artists? Not many people, indeed. However, we all know someone who dances, draws, makes short films, writes, composes, acts, sings, sculpts, raps, etc. but most of the time we just don’t realize it. In the end, it appears the barriers we put in front of ourselves are based on an unclear distinction between artists and anartists ( ἀ-artist ) . We do not even seem to agree on what art is. Our list aspires to make Sciences Po students reflect upon the meaning of art. What is the difference between making and creating? What does it take to be an artist?, etc. We believe the main question we should all ask ourselves is: who are the anartists? “Anartist” is obviously a reference to Marcel Duchamp’s work. Yet, we do not claim to be his heirs, we decided to distort the meaning of this word as we did for J.Schumpeter’s “creative destruction”. Behind “The Anartists” there is the will of making people get out of their comfort zone, fostering a sense of intuitiveness, suggesting more improvisations, showing art under its raw form, making people engage in art and embrace it shamelessly and hence, let our creativeness roam freely. Sometimes destruction or, at least, emptiness in its pure form are prerequisites to creation. Were you to be in a post-apocalyptic scenario, detached from the old world, what would you decide to create? This mere thought experiment does not call for the abolishment of classical and traditional art, instead it puts us in a situation where we make the rules that shape our creation. These rules can be the ones already instituted or new ones, in both cases we decide. In other words, what we would like to put forward is a movement of liberation from the shell that the word “artist” can be in order to foster fertile inventiveness, creation and hence, art. Dare to be an-artist! Our main goal is to make art accessible to everyone. We want to organize events and workshops to help every student on campus, become the artists they secretly are inside, make them see that they are all legitimate to do art and create. The vision of Anartists is one where art is not exclusive to a certain group or style, it is a perspective through which we see art in everyday life, in details and in the simplest things. We consider the term “creative destruction” to be a good representation of our view. It is, indeed, a way to show that chaos is needed in order for beauty to flourish, that a mess can be the beginning of art and that wreckages can be the source of many inspirations. This allows for a kind of liberation and an expression of diversity. This is where our list innovates by making some events specific, for people to always feel at ease, heard and understood.

What do you intend to change, if you were to succeed in the elections?

Innovation is not always an easy task but thankfully, when it comes to art, the possibilities are infinite. We’re not thinking of changing the basic structure of how the BDA has been but there are definitely things we’d like to improve such as reinforcing the relationship with art through a multitude of events that will revolve around different themes. We go from the 60s to childhood and even use food as a source of artistic expression. Another thing that we’ll be working on is the interaction with students on campus. Anartists is not just about showing art through performances and exhibits but also about helping people dig inside themselves to find the artist inside them. It is through art workshops that won’t be monitored by a teacher for three hours every week, but will bring a cool atmosphere on campus, multiplying the number of artists everyday. At the end of the day, it is our goal to take the person as a passive spectator and help them discover the art they’ve been hiding all along.

What are some events you want to highlight that your list will offer this week?

Open your mic

This Open Mic is going to be different from the previous ones. In addition of being a cool night for people to come chill, have some drinks with friends and enjoy art through various performances, we’re asking students to share their culture with us, to bring stories from their childhoods, jokes from their native countries and songs from their motherlands and to perform them. It is a way to show that with all the differences, the BDA will always be a home to everyone.

Rap Battle – Creative Destruction

The Rap Battle is one of the events on campus that we’re most excited about. We’ll be asking people to prepare a slam poem or a text before hand and then come perform it in the context of a battle. Of course, improvisation is more than welcomed than roasting each other!

Dance Workshops (Hip-Hop and Afro Dance)

Misunderstood dancers, dilettantes, parties’ dancers, professionals, dance passionates, dancing kings and queens… This event will be a chance for people to reveal the dancers they are, to move their bodies and to expose their talent (or maybe even to discover it)! Professional dancers from Studio 511 will be in the Old Refectory on Thursday, April 19th for two incredible dance workshops: – 10-11am: Urban Hip-Hop : learn Hip-Hop and Breakdance style and figures – 1-2 pm: Sweat Africa: discover Afro Dance and move on all your favorite songs Come for a moment of relaxation and happiness! All you need is your energy and probably water. We thought these dance workshops were a good way, first of all to represent the art of dancing, but also a way to show that dancing can really be accessible to anyone, that you don’t need to be a professional to move, enjoy, and yes DANCE!