THE
PUBLIC
SCHOOL
HELSINKI

Advertising pervades every aspect of our lives.  This class will look at how advertising, the language of the global corporate system, has reached into society.  We will look at the history of marketing, and specifically how it developed in the 20th century alongside psychological theories of the time.  We will discuss topics such as: Is advertising a form of creativity?  How can one resist or fight against ads (looking at detournement, billboard modifications, etc.)?  What are the 'weak spots' in a marketing campaign and how can they be exploited?  What happens when tropes of commercial advertising are used to promote non-profit or artistic ventures?  What about viral marketing?  Subliminal advertising?  Product placement?  

Classes wil be in a seminar/discussion format, perhaps with screenings.  

It would be fantastic to have a Helsinki-based version of this class:  http://la.thepublicschool.org/class/1984

(I have not copied the proposal as it would be quite different, including the title, obviously!)

I envision this as a class that meets maybe once per month, each time with a different 'teacher' meeting in a different space across the city.  The teacher of that particular week can organise tours around the physical spaces we discuss, and the class (like the Los Angeles one) would focus on spectres -- things that have disappeared, places that have been changed and altered through the inevitable stages of "progress".

Any appropriate readings could be passed around and discussed, likely in Finnish (I only propose this in English because I don't speak Finnish, but please, run this class in your own language!  It's about Helsinki, after all!)

We can follow some of the ideas of the LA class, such as remapping, time capsules, etc.  I'm particularly interested myself in class-boundaries (economic, linguistic, social) that may have been eroded as Helsinki has developed into the modern city that it is.

The Wire, a television series that ran on HBO from 2002 through 2008, is critically regarded as the most accomplished television programme in the history of the medium. Over 60 episodes, David Simon and Ed Burns laid out a stunning portrayal of the American empire in decline, covering a variety of topics that transcend typical television portrayals. 

Now that it has finished its on-air run, The Wire is resonating as a great philosophical statement.  In addition to the critique of political systems, drug policy, urban planning, the media and educational structures, it explores the role of individuals who are stuck in the systems of contemporary society.  This class, designed for those who are already familiar with the series, will examine the major themes put forth by the show in a seminar format.

I’ve sketched out some suggestions for seminars to organise, with a few readings that have come to mind, but this is very much a fluid proposal so I would be more than happy to hear anyone else’s ideas (particularly with regard to readings).

• Session one: Baltimore: city of scars
  With an ensemble cast and story lines that continually expand outwards, the one central ‘character’ in The Wire is the city of Baltimore, Maryland.  Never before has a city been represented with such depth and understanding.   While Simon’s portrait of Baltimore is without precedent, it is also a critique of the death spiral that has plagued many other American urban centres.

  This seminar will look at elements of The Wire that reflect failures of political and social policies specifically leading to  urban decay.  For example: the terraces/high rises, Bunny Colvin’s ‘Hamsterdam’, real estate speculation.

  Readings from: Mike Davis, “Dead Cities” and “Planet of Slums”; Jane Jacobs “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”

• Session two: You are being watched
  Though it’s often overlooked because of other themes in the series, The Wire comments upon individual liberty through frequent themes of surveillance and wiretapping (even giving the show its title).  As a show created in the aftermath of 9/11, the increasing encroachment of government powers is echoed by the police department’s investigations — while secrecy abounds in all of the systems portrayed on the show (government, drug dealers, the police, etc.).

  This seminar will look at how Simon and Burns deconstruct the idea of ‘privacy’ throughout the series.  As viewers, we often empathise with the police, cheering for their surveillance efforts to be successful, but of course the situation gets messy when the rules are not always followed.  What is the moral basis for these rules?   How does this comment upon the public debate regarding the Patriot act?  Can these issues be extrapolated to examine torture/waterboarding or the numerous other illegal activities of the Bush administration?  We will also look at the outputs of surveillance - recording, and imaging - and how this comments on the medium of television itself.

  Readings from: Laura Mulvey: “Death at 24 frames per second”, others???

• Session three: Systems I: the faithful
  The Wire is unparalleled in its nuanced depictions of institutions.  In every place you look, you find a set of rules and boundaries that are imposed upon its participants - the police department, the political structure, the school district, the justice department, the family, the drug trade, journalism, the dock workers, etc.   No one apart from possibly Frederic Wiseman has ever so delicately illustrated the challenges and contradictions that result from an individual’s behavior within such structures.  Throughout The Wire, individuals are poised at the apex of choice, consequence and morality — and none escape unscathed.

  In this first session, we will focus on the characters who (generally) uphold the systems that they function in.  William Rawls, Avon Barksdale, Stan Valchek, Erv Burrell, Jay Landsman, Chris Partlow and Snoop, Bodie, Klebanow, Brother Muzone, Proposition Joe, the Deacon, Senator Clay Davis, Maurice Levy, Wee-Bey … the list is practically endless. 

• Session four: Systems II: The pariahs
  In the second session on systems and institutions, we will look at characters who are more overtly troubled   by the boundaries placed upon them, and examine the effects of their choices.  Do the creators of The Wire place value judgements on their characters, or are they merely tools to tease out the more troubling aspects of the systems?

  We’ll look at Marlo Stanfield, Frank Sobotka, Roland Pryzbylewski, Omar Little, Scott Templeton, Mayor Carcetti, Cedric Daniels, Lester Freamon, Stringer Bell, and a certain James McNulty.  As well as others.

  Readings for both of these seminars are open to suggestion.  The current Public School class on The Soul at Work by Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi may have some crossover material regarding Marxist views on alienation, work, and subjectivity.

• Session five: An American family
  The Wire knows no boundaries; it peered into the social structures that were previously only represented as caricatures (if at all) on the television screen.  This seminar will explore how the show constructs (or deconstructs) aspects of human life, including parenting, martial fidelity, homosexuality, and sexual politics.  Does Simon represent the family as another system, as rigid as the police department or the drug cartel?   How does race affect the different portrayals? 

  Readings: suggest something!

• Session six: Cynicism and hope in Charm City
  Despite the occasional dramatic flourish, I believe The Wire is the most realistic scripted television I have ever seen.  This realism is often seen as pessimism or cynicism - the repeated portrayal of moral and systematic failures (as well as the violence) leads many to condemn the show as ‘depressing’.

  However, anyone who has watched it knows there are many rays of hope.  David Simon has said in interviews that he is particularly interested in redemption, and there are many moments of little inspiration to cut against all of the heartbreak.

  The question of this seminar is: Does David Simon offer us solutions?   Is he criticising the structures of the failed empire as a devil’s advocate, or is he pushing a manifesto of his own?  We will look at interviews, writings and other supplemental material as well as selections from his other television work (Homicide, The Corner, Generation Kill).  Does Simon believe in redemption that can transcend the confines of the controlling structures he portrays?

Again, suggestions, comments, recommendations and addendums PLEASE!

readings in contemporary neoliberal thinkers and politicians. in this class we will look at and discuss american empire in the bush and obama eras and their use of classical neoliberalist strategies and tactics (as discussed in the prior neoliberalism class on the chicago school) both at home and abroad. particular attention could be paid to the 2008 crash and neoliberal responses to it. 

Helsinki Public School will be hosting classes and events inside a shipping container (kontti) this summer located at Kalasatama.

Pixelache festival sponsored an 'Art and sustainability' workshop at Ptarmigan in January, in which some electricity-generating devices were built - bicycles etc. -- which were exhibited in front of Kiasma during the festival.

We would like to take the existing creations and create more new ones, to be placed "permanently" at the Public School kontti to provide power and electricity for future classes and events.  (Even if the container is provided with "regular" electricity).

We will have a workshop to build more devices!  New design ideas are welcome too!

Make some cheese!