What counts as garbage or trash is a matter of opinion, depending on time and place. How does garbage come into existence, what makes garbage, and how is it being disposed of, and by whom? Is disposal even possible? Waste and its disposal have to do with energy (usage as well as production) and with the question of value, valorization and valuelessness. It is a matter of chemistry, economics, cultural history and politics, of literature and art, cinema and TV, of city administration and global corporations, it forms archives and tells story(s), it makes problems and is linked to ideas of order and disorder and therefore also to epistemologies.

This seminar will be about trash and crap, waste and useless stuff, cleanliness and dirt. We will look at: collectors, pickers, street sweepers, messies and hoarders, space junk, MA 48, Facebook cleaning crews in the Philippines, ideas of order, value standards, raw materials and cycles, bacteria and fungi, racism, questions of class and taste.

The project-based seminar takes place in exchange with the seminar "Schmutz und Schund" (Dirt and Trash) by Thomas Waitz at the Institute for Theater, Film and Media Studies at the University of Vienna. This includes a joint excursion as well as a shared project workshop.

To be announced in class.