Report of the Open Source Publishing workshop at Bâtard Festival

Welcome! Presentation by OSP (Ludi, Pierre, Antoine).
Introduction of the collaboration agreement and the role in the practice of OSP.

Buren - collaboration

Oshin and Melissa.
See the workshop as a challenge to create visual documents.
Have a practice of writing letters to each other.
Background in Visual Arts, where fees are genrally lower than in theater.
How to find the balance in taking jobs and their renumeration.
A contract or proper fee can make the relationship more clear. A proper renumeration makes responsibilities and obligations clear.

Would articulating your practice allow you to negotiate a better fee?
Putting things into words brings the risk of closing it of?

Goal of the day is to challenge in defining the practice.

Julie (Caveat) : Interesting how the collaboration agreement is more a definition of values rather than an agreement. I'm wondering what feedback you get?
Pierre (OSP): Quite no feedback in fact. This new version hasn't been send yet.

Julie: Find a way to welcome comments, and disagreement!
At the moment the document is quite authorative and doesn't really invite for a discussion.
Disagreement doesn't seem to be an option with the new version of the agreement.
How will this document deal with comments?

Ludi (OSP): As a document it is quite ambitious; we want to discuss a lot. We've already cut a lot.
Pierre : What is enough, what's the right level of lenght?

Eva : A read more? Annex?
Gijs (OSP) does not agree with that. The current document highlights all stuff, give some hooks.

Loraine: people do not read contracts. So how to make "more time"?

Eleni (near Caveat): What do you want with that document? It's seems that it has lot of different roles...
Ludi and Pierre gives examples.
What is the goal of this document?
A good collaboration?
Perhaps there are too many possible goals.

Ludi : Do you use a document?
Eleni : Its very difficult in visual arts to impose your terms... + An exemple of long negociation.

Loraine : does it make sense to rephrase what institution send? Or an standard email to answer to patterns could be identify. https://egbg.home.xs4all.nl/counterscript.html

We are graphic designers as an example where graphic designers try to collectively explain their practice and protect from 'exploitive' contracts.

Johanna: last contract I signed was contract as an educator, quite hard to exchange about. All elements in the contract are coming from the federal government and therefor non negotiable. Quite important elements are actually defined in it.

School discussion, contracts, how much we are bond to it, how free we are

Gijs: In Caveat, its also an opportunity to use legal contract to try to explain what we do

Eleni: What's the difference between a contract and a manifesto?
Gijs: Within a contract you can negociate on an agreement.
Pierre: A manifesto is mainly public, whereas a contract is private.
At OSP we are wondering how to punlish our accounting documents.
In open source the question of intimacy and public part is quite complex.

Loraine: At the level of the institutions, how to deal with transparency? How can you evaluate without having a clear view on the numbers? Cf. good discussion with Alberto Garcia del Cassio.

Laurie: to have a list of questions.

Julie: how to create space for negociation.

Loraine: it's a question of priviledges. Most of the time, we are afraid of creating tension. I want to be in position of asking questions!

Lola (Caveat): a thesis on relationship contrats

Yshaï (Caveat): video artist
In motion design, some client need to have clarifications to avoid painful situations. Parallel to osp - in this practice there is a lot to explain to the collaborator ~ to educate
Often dealing with a studio where everythings is dealed in advance

Laurie: contracts where we can only insert your name and a few things

Antoine (OSP): graphic designer also in Luuse. We do not have that kind of document. We've been into trouble with an institution. We need that document for many reaon : question of tproduction, time. The instituion in question havse a very productivist vision. Their vocabulary is very reveling aboutr that. But also how to represent a practice? Not only the finished object? What come as influence, as readings? how to give birth to a project, what was useful. The practice is always in movement. How to represent it not as a double, but more like different "fracas". Versioning is one example, like with OSP documents. To be able to read the genesis of a cultural production, like 10 years after.

Lola: How have you solve the problem with the institution?
Antoine: We have stopped. They have said : "We do not need a contract, we are humans"...
Loraine: this is so basic things about work rights. Ludi: yes, but we do not even respect ourselves our natural body rythms.

Gijs: the question of institution that screw you by accident.

Laurie: I want to share a story. I asked for a budget at FWB. I was wanting to do a movie. So in two parts : the movie + post production (Atelier des Jeunes Cinéastes and/or Argos). They have the "no-budget" label. Then you give your author rights for 10 years. Argos leaved. Then I've asked the .doc of the contract, and i've modified it. And now they will use my modified version!

Loraine: Interested in this from a feminist approach. I don't know so much from really basic worker rights. How to use that old knowledge?
Laurie : doing a toolbox!
Julie: Yes but tools are dangerous also, sometimes existing tools are opaque.
All: Open source tools!
Julie: how law is disconnect to other things. So we need to connect to law! Tools that open up the power relationships.
Loraine: activism?
Julie: hacktivisme! If you get radical it could become confronting. Radical in a friendly way.
All: Friendical!

Einar (intern, OSP): As a student, you have no idea. I only have an intern contract.

Stijn (Caveat): visual artist, Été 78. A conscious contract. Between me and an institution, but also with participants. Julie: a way of conscious contracting, from the US realm, with an holistic vision. Coming back to insuring risk, common goal, common ground. Against templates. Layers as mediators, peacemakers.

Lunch

Deal : * Abba - money money money * Network - money speech (video youtube) * power of three — Experimental Jetset (liver) * processes work situation - notamuse * marcel duchamps - interview (parlait de travailler le moins possible) * brian eno — don't get a job (video) * hypernormalisation — passage trump + poutine * ménélik — bye bye * reportage Arte — bonheur au travail * revue faire n°15 — mucem * set sigeulaub — artists agreement (contrat papier) (université manque d'argent) * sophie calle, kasper koening à paris @ arte * Keri Smith - How to feel miserable as an artist, 2010 * John Baldessari, Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell, 1966-1968 * Raphael Rozendal — Haiku * Générique Godard — chèques, combien coûte un film * Saâdane Afif — contrat * 10 rules for teachers and students — John Cage * Thomas Hirschorn — monument * settlement avocat lieu - passer un pacte entre juge avocat débattre * musée à vendre en faillite — Marcel Broodthaers