Invited to Stockholm in spring of 2015 to work with the graduating MA and BA students of the Royal Institute of Art on “making a publication,” the two foreign editors of A:Art (Stuart Bailey and Angie Keefer) instead found themselves swept into the death throes of a decades-old struggle between rival institutions over the current identity and possible future of a national art scene. The book is a chronological account of events that unfolded among the Academy, the art school, its students, assorted government ministries, and the Swedish press, with accompaniment from various outside texts, including Raymond Williams’ Keywords, an ...

Alternative lexicons, sonification of thought, cultural software, hauntologies and political bodies, are some of the possibilities that are offered here as a means to contribute to a renewed set of ideas towards design agency. Presented here as both lecture and prompts, sections may be read aloud as scripts, as action with others; or single pages torn out to become a tactic for experimentation; or an image to evoke a totem of belief that might interact with others. Active Agency is a series of speculative lectures on design as an agentive phenomena encompassing language, matter, ontology and sound. Supported by Research at Camberwell, ...

Aesthetic Programming explores the technical as well as cultural imaginaries of programming from its insides. It follows the principle that the growing importance of software requires a new kind of cultural thinking — and curriculum — that can account for, and with which to better understand the politics and aesthetics of algorithmic procedures, data processing and abstraction. It takes a particular interest in power relations that are relatively under-acknowledged in technical subjects, concerning class and capitalism, gender and sexuality, as well as race and the legacies of colonialism. This is not only related to the politics of representation but also nonrepresentation: ...

Afghanistan: A Lexicon uses the form of a lexicon to present a nonlinear narrative of twentieth-century Afghan history as a recursive loop of modernization attempts, revolts, collapses, and recoveries.The lexicon covers seventy-one terms, most illustrated by archival and original images, including: vocabulary unique to Afghan politics, like bi-tarafi, jirga, and nizamnamah; terms that have specific meanings or resonances in the Afghan context, like “infidel,” “martyr,” and spetsnaz; key players and places, from Bacha-i-Saqqao to Hizb-i-Islami and from the Bala Hissar to the Microrayan; and special entries on recurrent events and themes that form the weft and warp of the century, ...

Astroturfs of Offense is a diagram and glossary of terms related to the topic of astroturfing. The project is a collaboration between the New Models community and Shifting Uncertain Situations (S.U.S.). S.U.S. is an agency that seeks out public discussions and intervenes to produce documents that sow productive suspicion and ambiguity into wider conversations and unsettle ingrained patterns of thought. The agency encourages protesters to download and distribute their flyer at grassroots and astroturfed events. This item is publicly available as part of the Library Stack Public Branch at NN Contemporary Art.

This issue brings together poetry, visual art, prose essays, and an interview organized around the theme “Charismatic Facts.” It also includes additions to our ongoing project, Climate Change & Art: A Lexicon. What is the relation between charisma and information? How fast can a well-turned phrase move? How does it age? In this issue of The Distance Plan we consider how, occasionally, facts or argumentative claims float free from their point of origin to become hyper-portable and cross-disciplinary. We call these memorable, animated phrases “charismatic facts” and suggest they can be found at the intersection of flair and research, savvy and ...

This issue features artist pages by Louise Menzies and Michala Paludan, an essay by Lina Moe on the closure of New York’s L Line, and, through our ongoing Climate Change & Art: A Lexicon, surveys the language currently surrounding anthropogenic climate change. Through proposing neologisms and promoting less well-known terms, we wish to propel interdisciplinary discussion, and by extension accelerate the pace of action. Through this lexicon we propose that the science around climate change is developing so rapidly that we need new language to articulate its processes and effects. The lexicon is also based on the recognition that evolving science ...

What are the possible escape routes from the normative conditions of neoliberalism? Via the figure of the freak that cannot be defined by a norm from that it deviates from and is in-compatible with? Or via a society of equal body-subjects? Via strategies of ambiguity or the right to opacity, beyond definitive identity ascriptions? Via politics of representation that deal not with the portrayal but rather with the construction of reality? Via a re-politicization of everyday life and alternative narratives of appropriation and resistance from the past? Via technologies of de-normalization and disruption of the existing order? We think all of ...

In this episode, Noah and Vivian discuss their thoughts and feelings about web3 lingo. GM. WAGMI. Diamond Hands. Rekt. So many words, so little time, so many feelings. Noah recalls work from photographer Aaron Ferguson, who had a collection of photographs of GM spray painted around his city. Aaron discusses his thoughts behind the photographs, his general feelings about web3 lingo, toxic positivity, NFT community, and favorite web3 term. A few more voicemails come into the hotline, with the callers discussing terms they do not like, including GM, GN, Ser, and LFG. This leads to a rapid fire discussion with ...

We live in an age of sticky problems, whether it’s climate change or the decline of the welfare state. With conventional solutions failing, a new culture of decision-making is called for. Strategic design is about applying the principles of traditional design to “big picture” systemic challenges such as healthcare, education and the environment. It redefines how problems are approached and aims to deliver more resilient solutions. In this short book, Dan Hill outlines a new vocabulary of design, one that needs to be smuggled into the upper echelons of power. He asserts that, increasingly, effective design means engaging with the ...

Over the course of a year, Shifter hosted a series of public discussions, each concentrated on unraveling a keyword – a term that carries with it both a sense of urgency and agency in our present climate. By inviting artists, writers, activists, philosophers and others to propose terms and lead discussions, we opened up our editorial process to the motivations of others. The yearlong series culminates in Shifter’s 22nd issue Dictionary of the Possible. This dictionary catalogs the keywords taken up for discussion over the course of a year, accompanied by a list of questions provoked during each discussion. Rather ...

The Focal Vocabulary Index consists exclusively of Lexical Items used by Studio for Propositional Cinema for the construction of works, performances, and exhibitions since 2013, and will accrue all future Items used in such a manner.