{"product_id":"the-tiger-in-space-georges-bataille-the-accursed-share","title":"the tiger in space | georges bataille \u0026 the accursed share","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eFor this next instalment of the bower books workshop series, our host Lily Dalton will be taking us through Georges Bataille’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Accursed Share\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e across its three volumes; moving through excess, eroticism and sovereignty. \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"docx_heading2\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"_5vwydp65ycaq\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"docx_heading2\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"_pdw8p96a1ca3\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese are guided, interactive and discussion-led workshops rather than lectures. Together we will read selected passages from Bataille, respond to contemporary examples, and work through a number of participatory exercises designed to put the ideas into motion. There is no prior knowledge of Bataille or philosophy required, and no expectation that you will have read \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Accursed Share\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e beforehand.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere will be three sessions in total, and attendance of one, two or all three is entirely up to you. Tickets will be available for Zoom and in-person.\u003cstrong\u003e In-person tickets include food, drink and extra material. Zoom tickets include live-stream, participation, digital extra material.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSessions will be held on Thursdays, across the 29th of October, the 5th of November \u0026amp; the 12th of November. They will run for two hours, 6.30pm to 8.30pm, in Brunswick, Melbourne. Full address provided on ticket purchase.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInformation on the workshop below. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"docx_heading2\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"_5vwydp65ycaq\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"docx_heading2\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"_pdw8p96a1ca3\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat happens when a society produces more wealth, energy, desire or possibility than it can meaningfully absorb? \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen desire exceeds the rules meant to contain it, when we try to imagine a life that does not have to justify itself through productivity, progress or use, what do we really see? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘the tiger in space’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eis a three-part workshop moving through the three volumes of Georges Bataille’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Accursed Share:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eexcess, eroticism and sovereignty\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Across close reading, collective discussion and participatory exercises, we'll use Bataille’s work as a set of problems to think through, and interact with.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBeginning with his theory of surplus and expenditure, we'll ask why accumulation eventually reaches a limit, and what determines whether excess becomes generosity, luxury, spectacle or destruction. From there we move into eroticism. On prohibition, taboo, transgression and discuss how we are told not to look at often, for nostalgia and reflection make up a powerful political, and personal tool. Finally, we arrive at sovereignty. This concludes on Bataille's difficult idea of a life no longer organised entirely around useful ends.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlong the way, the workshop will bring these questions into contact with contemporary life. Things top of mind for us all, the billionaire, ecological overproduction, militarisation, sexual spectacle, the commodification of desire, productivity culture, AI, leisure, art and how in this world, the primary motivator seems to be ‘usefulness’.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYou do not need prior knowledge of Bataille, economics or philosophy, and there is no expectation that you will have read \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Accursed Share\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e beforehand. In fact, we're going in relatively blind (except for Lily, who knows what she is doing). Selected passages will be read together in the room, with supplementary material available for anyone who wants to keep pulling at the threads afterwards.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe point is not to leave having “understood Bataille.” A suspicious objective for someone famously verbose and aloof. The point is to spend three sessions inside a set of questions that remain difficult in our world today:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat happens when there is more than can be usefully kept?\u003cbr\u003eWhy are we drawn to what we prohibit?\u003cbr\u003eWhat remains of a life lived beyond the demands of utility?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003esession one | excess\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ewhat happens when there is more than can be usefully kept?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBeginning with Volume I, we'll look at Bataille's idea of the “general economy”: a world organised not only around scarcity and production, but around surplus. Through reading, discussion and a participatory exercise in accumulation and expenditure, we'll think about wealth, growth, gifts, waste, luxury, war and the question of who gets to decide what can be spent.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003esession two | eroticism\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ewhy are we drawn to the things we prohibit?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMoving from wealth to desire, we'll explore Bataille's account of prohibition and transgression: how societies construct boundaries around sexuality, behaviour and the body, and why crossing those boundaries can become pleasurable precisely because they exist. We'll bring this into conversation with contemporary forms of shame, censorship, spectacle, moral panic and the commodification of desire.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003esession three | sovereignty\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ewhat remains of a life lived beyond the demands of utility?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFinally, we'll ask what it would mean to experience something without turning it into an investment in the future. Bataille's sovereignty appears in moments that resist calculation — art, laughter, pleasure, eroticism, idleness — but these moments are unstable. What happens when hobbies become side hustles, personalities become brands, leisure becomes self-improvement and even “doing nothing” has to be justified? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xhtml\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ewho is hosting: \u003c\/strong\u003eLily Dalton is a researcher and writer based in Melbourne, currently completing a thesis at the University of Melbourne on Gilles Deleuze, control and what she describes as “societies of ambience.” Her work moves across continental philosophy, literary theory and postmodern literature, with previous research on Samuel Beckett and Georges Bataille, particularly questions of waste, sovereignty and usefulness. She is interested in what happens when difficult ideas are brought out of academic space and into conversation with other people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xhtml\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003econtent note:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eBataille's work engages directly with sex and sexuality, violence, war, death, religion, pornography and political conflict, and some historical passages contain racist and colonial terminology. These subjects will be approached critically and in context. No graphic visual material will be shown, and participants will never be expected to disclose personal experiences.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xhtml\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"All Sessions | Standard","offer_id":50564318888019,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"All Sessions | Students","offer_id":50564318920787,"sku":null,"price":90.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"All Sessions | Zoom \/ Online","offer_id":50564318953555,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 1 | Standard","offer_id":50564318986323,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 1 | Students \/ Unwaged","offer_id":50564319019091,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 1 | Zoom\/Online","offer_id":50564319051859,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 2 | Standard","offer_id":50564187160659,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 2 | Student\/Unwaged","offer_id":50564187193427,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 2 | Zoom\/Online","offer_id":50564187226195,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 3 | Standard","offer_id":50564187258963,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 3 | Student\/ Unwaged","offer_id":50564187291731,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Session 3 | Zoom\/Online","offer_id":50564187324499,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/1_9e9937ea-cd34-428c-8877-d95504b19ceb.png?v=1790553782","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/the-tiger-in-space-georges-bataille-the-accursed-share","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}