Party as Form Online Lecture Series

Taking place online, this lecture series extend the discussion begun in PRAKSIS Residency 27: Party as Form, convened in May-June 2024 by transdisciplinary artist/educator Kelly Lloyd and curator/writer Shannon Stratton. During the residency, participants explored theories and practices of celebratory social gatherings, positioning partying both as a social phenomenon and creative medium.

McKenzie Wark – Raving

Revisit this online lecture by writer and scholar McKenzie Wark, part of the Party as Form series. Wark discusses her recent book Raving, exploring the vibrant, underground queer and trans rave scene in New York City. Set in undisclosed spaces, Raving reflects on techno—a Black music genre—as a source of resilience and sonic exploration amid uncertain futures. For queer and trans bodies, raving becomes both art and technique, an experience open to anyone willing to let the beat lead them.

Leo Felipe – a sex shop of drugs & food

a sex shop of drugs & food explores a dystopian world where partying blurs the lines between protest and captivity, and revolution itself becomes an aesthetic ideal. In this event, Brazilian writer and curator Leo Felipe introduces the background behind and approach to writing his latest novella, 'a sex shop of drugs & food', before reading and discussing sections from it.

Brandon LaBelle - Happy Tears - the uncertain life of the party

Artist and writer Brandon LaBelle shares insights on parties as sites of creativity and collective knowledge-making. Drawing on research from his book, Party Studies, LaBelle explores themes of exuberance, breakdown, rapture, and the transformative nature of partying. By framing parties as “epistemic locations” of radical (un)doing, he considers how revelry can teach us through excess, blending hospitality and aggression, joy and sorrow, and leading to what Georges Bataille calls “Happy Tears”.

This talk series was made possible with support from KORO (Public Art Norway).