Irresistible Revolutions: Systems Change and Art at the Edge of the Future

media release: LECTURE: Irresistible Revolutions: Systems Change and Art at the Edge of the Future

Thursday, September 19, 2024, 5 PM CDT, Elvehjem L140   (Zoom option here)

Lecture Abstract:

We are living in a speculative moment. 2024 is the year articulated by several authors as being the year that everything changed- from Octavis Butler (2023) to Star Trek Deep Space Nine (2022). Indeed,  2024 has been predicted by several speculative artists to be a time of upheaval and change. This talk will explore systems change and abolition as a futurity process and will consider what speculative fiction can help us to worldbuild in the now. Rooted in Toni Cade Bambara’s suggestion that it was the role of artists to make the revolution irresistible and exploring speculative fiction projects Ancestors, Do You Read Us: Dispatches From The Future and MBL Freedom/Antarctica, this talk will highlight the work of Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware and others using art to inspire hope and change.  

Reference:

Alexander, Lisa Doris. “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” In The Routledge Handbook of Star Trek, pp. 37-45. Routledge, 2022.

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. Grand Central Publishing, 2023.

WORKSHOP*

Creating Change: Practicing the Future Together

Friday, September 20, 2024

*Please contact cvc@mailplus.wisc.edu for required readings and reading notes.