Conversation Piece: “I shop, therefore I am!”—on critical consumption in a post-growth society with Economist Ernest Aigner

How are we to critically question and reduce individual consumption in a system geared towards economic growth? In the context of the exhibition CRITICAL CONSUMPTION, we address this paradox and talk with Economist Ernest Aigner about how a post-growth society might look. How can we downsize the economy and thus respect the limited resources of our species and planet while avoiding the risk of social and ecological collapse? And beyond that, what would reducing consumption and production—as a method of achieving ecological sustainability and a higher standard of living—actually look like?
Tue, 16.1.2024 7 pm8 pm
MAK – Museum of Applied Arts
In the context of the exhibition CRITICAL CONSUMPTION

THE FORMAT CONVERSATION PIECES
We need to talk! In the art education format Conversation Pieces we will speak with artists, activists, scientists, and personalities from various fields about select objects from the MAK Collection. Conversation Pieces is dedicated to themes like diversity, feminism, participation or loneliness, symbiotic bodies, racism in collections, planet care, and much more. We use the MAK as a polyphonic place for the exchange of ideas and to engage in various sociopolitical discourses and problems that enable new perspectives on an extraordinary collection. Conversation Pieces can be understood as an impetus to make widespread pictorial worlds and narratives visible and to critically question them by talking about them together.

TICKETS
In addition to the event fee, a museum ticket (admission ticket, MAK Annual Pass, Kulturpass, etc.) is required to attend the event.

Buy tickets here / Tickets available at ticket desk from 6 p.m. on day of the event

Online Presale:
€ 12 (incl. admission to the MAK)
€ 5 (if admission to the museum if free, eg with MAK Annual ticket)

Tickets on site on day of the event
€ 17 (incl. admission to the MAK)
€ 10 (if admission to the museum if free, eg with MAK Annual ticket)

Use the online registration tool for reduced admission, or take advantage of the new Conversation Piece 2024 subscription.

SUBSCRIPTION
All Conversation Pieces for € 100,- including admission to the museum on the day in question. For subscriptions please contact education@mak.at

Calendar

Speculative Archaeology—New Perspectives on the History of Architecture in the Anthropocene