Hello from SymbioticA 9 March 2020
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THIS WEEK:
Making SPACE for Feeling: (Re)configuring the Future with Speculative Fiction
Date: 13 March 2020
Time: 3:00pm
Location: SymbioticA
Speakers: Laura Collier & Kathryn Prince
At the 2019 Hugo Awards, Ada Palmer proposed the idea that authors of speculative fiction are all scientists. In Palmer’s words, the genre studies the world and tests hypotheses in innumerable simulations, “thereby giving every generation new tools of empowerment, analysis, action and global progress – social, as well as technological.” Indeed, speculative fiction has long been used as a tool with which to envision future realities, and may be re-tooled to imagine tangible avenues towards a more hopeful future.
In this presentation we will explore the genre’s function as a liminal space of experimental thought, where theories and ideas are ‘beta tested’ within fictional worlds, before being deployed through trade fiction, and into the imaginations of the audience. Together, we will further consider the ways that speculative fiction, while not necessarily a social reality in the ‘concrete’ sense, encourages dreams of the future as a shared collective experience.
Laura Collier is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia. By employing an adapted history of emotions approach, in conjunction with xenofeminism and activist theory, Laura’s thesis explores ways in which speculative fiction narratives by women imagine a future for humanity, and considers the power inherent in the utopian imagination. Laura tweets at the handle: @thelauracollier
Kathryn Prince is an Associate Professor in English and Literary Studies whose current project, “Actor, spectator…detector?”, considers the limits of facial recognition, biometric data, and more human-centric cues in relation to emotion detection in the theatre and beyond. She is Leader of UWA’s node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions and Director of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at UWA.
[Palmer, Ada. “John W. Campbell Award Presentation Speech 2019.” Dublin WorldCon. 18 August 2019]
Image: Mario Azzi on Unsplash
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Flesh Out of Water
Date: 20 March 2020
Time: 3:00pm
Location: SymbioticA
Speaker: Tony Jones
In this informal artist's talk, Tony Jones will take us through some of his prominant public sculptures including 'Eliza' (the bronze diver in Crawley Bay) the CY O’Connor Horse & Rider in North Coogee and Standing Figure in East Perth. Through his experience as a Western Australian artist Jones will discuss initiatives such as Praxis, PICA & AGWA through to teaching and the work of Western Australian artist Brian McKay and theoretician Donald Brook.
Tony Jones is a sculptor/artist/teacher who has worked in Western Australia for some 50+ years whose public artworks can be found in the Perth metropolitan area and the regions. The sculptures often but not exclusively reflect a life lived close to and on the Indian Ocean and the Swan River.
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BioMess: Call for Collaborators
The Weisman Art Museum is organising an iteration of BioMess by Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr. The exhibition will celebrate the incredible diversity of life and challenge our perceptions of norms and strangeness in the natural world. In preparation for the exhibition, the artists invite scientists to propose examples of organisms in the animal kingdom that defy cultural ideas of the self, bodies, gender, sex, identity, and reproduction. Based on these proposals, the Weisman Art Museum will form a collaborative team of artists and scientists to curate the exhibition.
INFO
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