koefoed vitual imaginaries of sustainability esa2010
DESCRIPTION
Presentation for the stream "Cultures of Unsustainability" at European Sociological Associations conference on "The Making of Worlds", October 2010.TRANSCRIPT
Virtual imaginaries of sustainability
On- and off-line community soliciting and action generating
Chronotopes of system-change generation
Oleg Koefoed
ESA Conference
Stream on Cultures of unsustainability
Milano
October 8th 2010
The outline Cultures of sustainability: creating participation and reflection
– Action research / Action-philosophy
– A new culture of things
Ontologies of participative media and a couple of questions..
Case: EDUFashion / Openwear / Ethical Economy
Examples: FakePress: iSee, Picnic, Radiant Copenhagen
Action-philosophical conceptscape
eventalities
sustensions
complexity
transdisciplinarity
action-philosophy
transculturality systems thinking
sub-subjection rhiz-culturation
technicity
chronotopics
co-creations
ubiquitous computing
virtual imaginaries
emotive activism
individuation
sociality
cultures of sustainability
New urban and virtual realities
The horizon: cultures of sustainability
C of S are the horizon of change and/or the result of conscious and intended processes
of deep cultural reflection and change, creating a change on a cross-systemic level and installing a potential 'new order'
in the relations between humans, between humans and nature, and between
humans and things
..or they could be the results of processes of realizationcaused by a series of recurrent crises and
disasters, forcing humans to change the way thatthey inhabit the world and relate to it
- always after the act = cultures ofunsustainability?
Participation and reflection!
Artists/cultural agents are channels of reflection
Linking reflection to things, to materiality!
Participation – bottom up change?
Issues of speed and proximity
New new media ontology (Lash, Beer, Hayles, etc)
Technology that goes/is/makes 'everywhere'
- picks up information- shares it with or without participation
- makes new creative work possible- works for both companies and artists- reintegrates the prosthetic element
- allows for community building- disperses potentiality (post-hegemony)
- what does it do for 'c of s'?
C of S → a new culture of things
‘the movement of computation out of the box and
into the environment’ (Hayles, 2007)
The relative power positions change..
presentation>representationCulture of objects (Lash & Lury '06)
Augmented realityUbiquitous computingGadgets, gadgets..Tools of empowerment?
Examples for speculation
”We can transform any space or surface into a display using electronic devices combined with location-based technologies, sensors, augmented reality and innovative visual surfaces. Furthermore, interactive surfaces are transforming the world, people and their activities.
It is progressively more possible – and accessible – to “write on the world“, layering contents, meanings, visuals and sensations that anyone can compose, diffuse and communicate.”
(from fakepress.it and their presentation yesterday here)
PROSUMERS?CRITICAL MASSES?
Examples for speculation
PICNIC (and penguin armies, etc...)Lots of creativityLack of focus on sustainability – a trend??Broad appeal to 'creatives'..BUT.. creates JOY and COLLECTIVE ENGAGEMENT
Strong on new media/technicity and socialitylack of sustainability
Examples for speculation
RADIANT COPENHAGENDeeply engaged, very elitarian artistic project
Creates reflection but does not engage to action– is this a problem?
Sustainability highlighted through futurist reflection
Strong on transculturality, but lack of emotive activism
EDUFashion / Openwear
Research & developmentOpen Source fashion designEthical, collaborative platformBottom-up education experimentsEthical economy software toolCommunity building cross-culturesCareer-changing engagementSystem challenge from periphery
(when/how/why) does it work?
direct (personal/P2P) creative action
extensive community engagement(new media adaptation)
playfulness and unpredictability
action over theory(but can be virtualizing and imaginary)
sustension (now) over sustainability (future)
small steps of engagement
...?
Discussion