Conversations among ruins
How to avoid temporalities of progress?
Open conversation with Pol Guasch and Laura Benítez
Courses and workshops + Debate
It is not worth it to remain trapped in the idea of an apocalyptic future, nor to stick to a nostalgic past to which it is no longer possible to return: the key is how to be truly present, take responsibility for our time and contribute to the regeneration of the world wherever it is still possible.
Despite living in times of extinctions and exterminations, we continue to hold on to a human time scale, with progress as the yardstick for our lives. This fervour to chase after success or salvation with no concern for what is left behind results in a forward flight that contaminates the future while trying to erase the past. “Staying with the trouble”, says Donna Haraway, “requires learning to be truly present…as mortal critters entwined”.
In this session, we will talk with independent curator and philosopher Laura Benítez and researcher and writer Pol Guasch about how to conceive different temporalities – human and non-human –, what worlds each temporality generates and how narrative arts allow us to generate stories of continuity: how can we be truly present? How can we assume the responsibilities of our stories of the past and our understanding of the present and future? How do the past, present and future intertwine? What narratives of temporality encourage us to think of ourselves as mortal critters entwined? How can we generate earthly stories from non-human scales?
Participants: Pol Guasch, Laura Benítez Valero
Directors: Helen Torres
This activity is part of Science Friction, Conversations among ruins
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How to avoid temporalities of progress?
Pol Guasch and Laura Benítez
We talk with independent curator and philosopher Laura Benítez and researcher and writer Pol Guasch about how to conceive different temporalities – human and non-human –, what worlds each temporality generates and how narrative arts allow us to generate stories ...