curated matter

An article summarising the Heterotopia of Walt Disney World presentation that I gave in October 2009 is now published in the February edition of the Philosophy Now magazine. The article is part of a series of papers about ‘continental tales’ and the concept of narrative in Continental philosophy.

Citations from the short and very interesting book written by Marc Augé in1995 (contemporary philosophy and anthropology):

• “If a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place. Supermodernity produces non-places, meaning spaces which do not integrate the earlier places: instead these are listed, classified, promoted to the status of ‘places of memory’, and assigned to a circumscribed and specific position.”
• “Our towns have been turning into museums (restored, exposed and floodlit monuments, listed areas, pedestrian precincts) while at the same time bypasses, motorways, high-speed trains and one-way systems have made it unnecessary for us to linger in them.”
• “A person entering the space of non-place is relieved of his usual determinants. He becomes no more than what he does and experiences in the role of passenger, customer or driver [...] he obeys the same code as others, receives the same messages, responds to the same entreaties.”

More about places on http://curatedmatter.org/welcome-to-my-place/

The Welcome to My Place project is launched! Check out the first contributions here and please feel free to add your own videos.

The aim of the project is to encourage people to film the places that matter to them. Workshops will be organised to better understand the meaning of ‘places’ through the usage of videos. Please contact me if you would like to collaborate. I’m looking for artist cartographers, communities, professionals and academics interested in the study of places and their subjective relations.

The video of the Philosophy and Management Pecha Kucha presentation given by Laurent Ledoux at Recyclart is now online.

Find here more details about how the pictures and Polaroids were curated.

Thanks to Jefolo, Chris Jordan, kide, QundL, Benjamin Sandri who generously let us use their photographs and to Nancy L. Stockdale, Thomas van der Vlis and Compton.m who published their Polaroids under a Creative Commons license.

The slides of the lecture I gave few weeks ago can now be consulted here. I used the example of Walt Disney World to illustrate the concepts of Utopia, Heterotopia, Postmodernisn and Consumerism. It would have taken me two hours to explain all the relations between them and the theme park. My presentation was limited to half of that time and only a subset of the slides were used for the Philosophy for All lecture. Don’t hesitate to leave your feedback. I hope that the slides are still understandable even without any comments.

Foreword

What means Progress nowadays? Who defines it? What is our verdict on past and present visions of the future? After having believed in so many utopias, and having been so close to so many dystopias, do we still want to imagine an ideal future? Can we? The Dreams of Progress exhibition intends to introduce the visitor to these questions by screening eleven videos from corporations and artists.

The first set of videos explore some of the utopias envisioned by corporations from the 40s until now. They offer an insight into the social values of their time: efficiency, order, technology, consumerism, knowledge, sustainability and globalisation to list only few of them. In their form, the videos are the natural descendants of utopian visions from authors such as  Thomas More and Aldous Huxley. However, they each offer a unique solution for the future, radically new or in continuity of past ideals.

The second set of videos are by emerging video artists from around the world. Some of artists describe their own vision of the future, others express their perspective on the ambivalent notion of Progress. Rather than reaching a consensus, their videos put forward a wide range of perspectives, from nostalgia to optimism, cynicism to embracement. The videos give a glimpse at how the current Western generation put in perspective ‘Progress’ since their childhood, and how they live it today.

Both sets are distributed on five screens with the intention of exploring the dialogue between the videos. The visitor is asked to make his own judgement on whether what he sees is propaganda lead by self interest, or a genuine proposition for a better future; if the videos advocate ‘Progress’ or instead distance themselves from such beliefs.

The exhibition does not provide any concrete answers, but instead intends to place the ideas of Utopia and Progress at the centre stage of the social debate. The world needs more than ever to meditate on its course, in what some describe as a profound global crisis, economical, environmental and ideological. Utopias and visionaries tend paradoxically to emerge in the least favourable circumstances. For some, they testify on the capacity that has humanity to  choose itself until its most unlikely destiny. For others, they are a chronicle disease.

• Videos part 1: Visions for the future
• Videos part 2: Microsoft productivity vision for 2019
• Videos part 3: Artistic views at the past
• Videos part 4: Discovery of Magnetic North
• Videos part 5: Artistic reactions to Progress

To New Horizons, Handy (Jam) Organization, USA, 1940 – 23 min.

“Definitive document of pre-World War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by General Motors. Documents the ‘Futurama’ exhibit in GM’s ‘Highways and Horizons’ pavilion at the World’s Fair, which looks ahead to the ‘wonder world of 1960.’”

Century 21 Calling, Fairbanks (Jerry) Productions, 1964 – 14 min.

“Romp through the futuristic landscape of the Seattle World’s Fair, centred in the Bell System pavilion.”

Future of Cities, Squint/opera, UK, 2007 – 4 min.

“The film was commissioned by The Danish Royal Academy of Architecture and is part of a publication outlining the outcome of the International Federation for Housing and Planning Congress that took place in Copenhagen in 2007. ‘Futures of Cities’ is a selection of contributions presented during the congress. These contributions consist of work from miscellaneous architectural practitioners, ten principles developed by ‘Monday Morning’ and competition entries from the student competition that took place as part of the event.”

• Comments on these visions for the future
• Videos part 2: Microsoft productivity vision for 2019

Productivity Future Vision 2019, Microsoft Office Labs, USA, 2009 – 6 min.

“While the future is impossible to predict, we are constantly looking forward, analyzing trends, and gathering insights to gain a deeper understanding of how investments in computer technology can help us live more productive, fulfilling, and sustainable lives. We welcome you to join us in this journey.”

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• Comments on the 2019 productivity vision from Microsoft
• Videos part 3: Artistic views at the past

Some Things Won’t Change, Adam Pelling Deeves, UK, 2009 – 3 min.

“Some Things Won’t Change is a remix of Design For Dreaming, set at the 1956 General Motors Motorama. Downloaded from the Internet Archive, it was made in response to Remyyy’s Same Video (http://vimeo.com/remyyy), Different Use game on Vimeo in which a chosen video is reworked by participants. A cutup technique was used in which samples of the original soundtrack were looped along with the accompanying video.”

Fictional recall, Urizen Freaza (Spain) and Misty Woodford (USA), 2008 – 1 min.

“Fictional Recall is a collaborative project based on resurrecting forgotten memories. I purchased a plastic bag full of Super 8 reels for 10€ at the flea market. When screening them I discovered that what I had in my hands was nothing but somebody’s family memories. After the first shock, I began to feel really disgusted by the fact of this memories being sold, rejected or, at least, forgotten. I projected all the footage and cut it in 1 minute length clips which didn’t follow any intention or idea and that I offered to writers to give them a second life.”

Flying, Sam Fuller, USA, 2006 – 2 min.

“Please see the video for description. This video was made for the fun of it. It was shot the April 20th, 2006 on the 31st floor of 200 Water Street. After picking the window lock we filmed 17 takes.”

• Comments on these artistic views at the past
• Videos part 4: Discovery of Magnetic North