Free Association: Torn halves of an integral freedom, to which however they do not add up*

"[T]he discourse of madness also connects with the discourse of political, social, and religious history that speaks in each of us." - Felix Guattari

Taking this quote as a starting point, how might we understand the metamorphosis of free association that haunts the Western imaginary? And how might this discourse appear in the figure of a socially-engaged artist?

Reflecting on this question from a personal standpoint, Jonathan Baxter will briefly introduce the concept of free association as found in Marx and Freud, before developing the concept in the context of Judeo-Christianity.

Participants will be asked to consider what forms of political, social and religious self-censorship they practice and how this relates to the institutionalization of art.

Subtitle of the event is taken from Adorno's letter to Benjamin.*

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Free Association is a connected, critical and supportive space for arts practice and inquiry for artists, writers, makers and educators from a diversity of fields and artforms. We run a monthly meeting and use existing public resources to share, make and discuss, looking to take advantage of and actively contribute to open access and commons based models of culture, learning and working together.

Find out more: www.freeassociationglasgow.com