Speculating about the edges of thought or thinking ‘beyond thinking’ might be the most radical possibility of fiction. This kind of storytelling can be an important space for experimentation, where characters and their connected tropes take the form of radical agents for social change.
Daniel Rourke
The Noise of Becoming: On Monsters, Men, and Every Thing in Between
In this talk Daniel Rourke refigures the sci-fi horror monster The Thing from John Carpenter's 1982 film of the same name. The Thing is a creature of endless mimetic transformations, capable of becoming the grizzly faced men who fail to defeat it. The most enduring quality of The Thing is its ability to perform self-effacement and subsequent renewal at every moment, a quality we must embrace and mimic ourselves if we are to outmanoeuvre the monsters that harangue us.
Ytasha Womack
Afrofuturism: Imagination and Humanity
The use of the imagination for self-development and social change is one of the greatest tenants of Afrofuturism. Ytasha Womack will explore the resilience encouraged through the championing of the imagination, the tensions that arise through embracing hope, the separation of humanity from itself through the creation of the technology called race, and the power of storytelling.
Laurie Penny
Feminism Against Fascism
Feminism, like many political movements, is science fictional by nature. How can utopian ideas, including ideas about justice, carry us through the darkest times and inspire art and action?
ARTISTS/SPEAKERS
Sun 26 Feb - Thu 23 Feb
De Brakke Grond
Daniel Rourke is a writer and artist based in London. In his work Daniel exploits speculative and science fiction in search of a radical ‘outside’ to the human(ities).
Daniel Rourke
Sun 26 Feb - Thu 23 Feb
De Brakke Grond
Laurie Penny is an award-winning journalist, essayist, public speaker, writer, activist, internet nanocelebrity. Laurie writes about politics, social justice, pop culture, feminism, technology and men...
Laurie Penny
Sun 26 Feb - Thu 23 Feb
De Brakke Grond
Ytasha L. Womack is an author, filmmaker, independent scholar and dancer. She is author of the award winning book Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci Fi & Fantasy Culture.