Performative Dialog »The Social Life of the Universe«

Using science fiction, postcolonial theory, philosophy, and afrofuturism (defined by Alondra Nelson as »African American voices« with »other stories to tell about culture, technology and things to come«), this event explores possible ways to map out human biographies between the smallest biological components and immense cosmological spaces. How might we meaningfully think about life in a universe that is completely indifferent to our existence? What techniques and processes might productively be used to think about the question of scale when mapping instances far smaller than the human individual and far larger than the earth? What is the precise relationship between the »biography« of a person, a nation, a species, and the earth they variously inhabit?

At the current historical conjuncture – a moment of ecological crisis and its subsequent denial by policy makers across the globe – asking these questions seems more urgent than ever. Using sound, film, and performance, the participants in this performative dialogue imagine new relations to ourselves and to our environment.

The event starts at 4 pm with a performance lecture by Kapwani Kiwanga, followed by artistic responses by Janine Jembere, Dima Hourani, and Bill Dietz.

The Social Life of the Universe takes place within the framework of the current central topic Biographies and the Production of Space and is part of the 15th anniversary of the art, science & business program of Akademie Schloss Solitude. Idea and concept by Gavin Steingo.

The event will be held in English. Admission is free.

Please register via email to Luzi Gross, lg@akademie-solitude.de, + 49 (0) 711 99619 134