Treating space as an object of inquiry within the Humanities may initially appear abstract (not to say absurd) – particularly when the focus shifts from science-fiction representations toward outer space itself: that is, toward our concrete interactions with and entanglements in the universe beyond Earth. However, as has been widely demonstrated, performances and performative actions…

How can a tiny model of the solar system reveal the responsibility involved in knowing? This question stayed with me after the Transmission in Motion seminar on Theatre, Moon Studies, and Interplanetary Entanglements. Planetary knowledge is often imagined as distant, even though it is always grounded in specific materials and forms of mediation. Charles LeDray’s…

When we hear the word extraterrestrial, we often think of aliens, visitors from another planet, another galaxy, another world. But as humans explore deeper into the vastness of space the question arises, are we not, to some extent, also extraterrestrial? Thinking about ourselves as extraterrestrial beings dissolves the false separation between Earth and outer space…

In his new book, Forty-Four Esolangs (MIT Press), Daniel Temkin challenges conventional definitions of language, code, and computer, showing the potential of esolangs—or esoteric programming languages—as pure idea art. The languages in this volume ask programmers to write code in the form of prayer to the Greek gods, or as a pattern of empty folders,…

In the workshop “Frogs and Clowns: An Object Orientation of Protest Today”, Anneke Jansen (Theatre Programming, SPOT Groningen) and Iris van der Tuin (Utrecht University) introduced ‘object orientation’ as a collaborative method that initiates interdisciplinary conversations. By using an object as a starting point, researchers collectively reflect on what kinds of perspectives arise from their…

  What is a clown nose? Is it a nose or, rather, something that conceals your nose? Does this concealment make you a clown? My second coffee of the day has just kicked in, and I am ready to “unpack” the small spongy sphere in front of me. Soon enough, I am reminded of Dumit’s…

What do you think of when I mention a frog? A slimy green creature? A silly-looking jumping creature? A cute little dude on a leaf? Unless frogs are particularly scary to you, the idea of someone in an inflatable frog costume would probably be a mood-lifting sight, a welcome bit of silliness added to your…

by Ani Encheva “The multiple dimensions that make up objects also make up ourselves, as well as our categories. Telling the stories of an object therefore begins unpacking our own clichés, our certainties, our affects.” – Joseph Dumit (2014, 349) In encountering the inflatable frogs and clowning artefacts that populate contemporary protest, we are invited…

On November 25th, Dr. Tamara Borovica (RMIT University) will lead the workshop “Affective Cartographies: Sensing and Mapping Climate Emotions”, hosted by the Futures + Literacies + Methods Lab. Dr. Tamara Borovica has designed Affective Cartographies as a practice-led workshop that explores how we can think, feel, and know through the body. Using body mapping as…

What remains of a person after death? And what happens when technology becomes a means to fill that void? Technology as a tool for grief The theatre performance Roman & ELIZA by Ulrike Quade Company is about technology as a tool for grief, and relationships between humans and griefbots. The performance is inspired by the…