The seminar involved analyzing texts to extract and interpret a key term, then creatively visualizing this concept through the blending of urban textures and landscapes, crafting surreal cityscapes that reflect the nuanced meanings of these terms.
The texts explored the themes of:
- CLIMATE JUSTICE
- URBAN MEDIA
- URBAN TECHNOLOGIES
Urban Resilience
Definition: The capacity of urban areas to adapt to crises, focusing on socio-economic and racial inequalities, environmental threats, and infrastructure renewal. It emphasizes reactive strategies for maintaining viability and governance, prioritizing adaptation over proactive planning.
TEXT: S. WAKEFIELD, ”CRITICAL URBAN THEORY IN THE ANTHROPOCENE”
Political Ecology
Definition: A field of study examining the interplay between social dynamics and environmental changes, focusing on urban climate responses, influenced by social institutions and global capitalism. It integrates urbanisation analysis, environmental concerns, and sociopolitical structures to address ecological and justice issues.
TEXT: KIAN GOH, “CLIMATE JUSTICE AND URBAN FUTURES”
Blasé Attitude
Definition: An adaptive indifferent response manifested by urban dwellers in response to the overwhelming variety and intensity of metropolitan stimuli, leading to a perception of homogeneity and lack of distinction among experiences. This attitude emerges as individuals adjust to urban life, resulting in a diminished responsiveness to and interest in their surroundings.
TEXT: GEORG SIMMEL, “METROPOLIS AND MENTAL LIFE”
Simulacrum
Definition: A precise replication that challenges distinctions between authenticity and imitation. It affects the perception of cultural and historical authority, turning traditions into marketable commodities. Simulacra blur the lines between reality and imitation, prompting reconsideration of originality and impacting cultural understanding.
TEXT: DAVID HARVEY, “TIME-SPACE COMPRESSION AND THE POSTMODERN CONDITION”
Ironic Political Myth
Definition: A narrative framework advocating feminism, socialism, and materialism, challenging traditional political unity methods by highlighting ideological contradictions. It promotes hybrid, non-hierarchical organization and nuanced, complex engagement, and advocates socialist-feminist change.
TEXT: DONNA HARAWAY, “CYBORG MANIFESTO”
Gender Abolitionism
Definition: A transformative principle advocating for transcending traditional gender norms, by dismantling societal and power structures enforcing gender roles. It envisions a society free from gender-based power imbalances, intersecting with broader anti-oppression movements and challenging capitalist oppression, towards non-hierarchical governance.
TEXT: LABORIA CUBONIKS, “XENOFEMINIST MANIFESTO”
