TWWWO: Matter in Flux
The World in Which We Occur (TWWWO) is a curatorial research-based entity organized by Jennifer Teets (Faculty Berlin ’16, ’17, ’19 and LA ’18) that explores themes concerned with artistic inquiry, philosophy of science, and ecology. TWWWO began as a live event series over the telephone in 2014, and has thus expanded to other formats such as Matter in Flux, an online monthly study group with participants from different fields across the world. TWWWO takes into account modern day issues rooted in the history of materiality and metabolism as well as pertinent politically enmeshed scientific affairs shaping our world today.
Now announcing, MATTER IN FLUX, third annual call for readers and members.
Apply via email to twwwoarchive@gmail.com with a one page pdf by March 23, 2020. Participants will be notified via email by if selected. This year we are inviting 3-4 new members to join the group.
MATTER IN FLUX is an online initiative spearheaded by The World in Which We Occur (twwwo.org) and currently led by Jennifer Teets, convener, in collaboration with group members. It is premised on the notion that in order to respond to emergent political and ecological challenges we need to broaden our channels of exchange. Research, reading, and analysis requires time, and in the current work panorama which most of us co-inhabit today there is seldom enough of it. Establishing modes of inquiry can lead to a better understanding of our world and how we can step back and reflect. Posing questions also helps us to observe, and meditate on, how our environments are mutating, under which circumstances, while triggering steps for future action.
Our intention is that the MATTER IN FLUX online study group will probe these conditions. Broadly, it will look at the history of materiality and examine the scientific criteria that sets matter into motion, so as to grant agency to social inquiry and conceptual labor. Inherent to the study group’s research line and interrogative approach are: politically enmeshed scientific affairs in ecological politics and policy, economies of transition, history of science, material studies, and gender studies in science. MATTER IN FLUX will pay particular attention to metabolic transactions, plasmatic fictions, and various degrees of para-scientific approaches. Fiction will also play a role in the consideration and portrayal of these subjects.
Please write to twwwoarchive@gmail.com by March 23, 2020 to express your interest in joining the group by responding to the question below. Also, send a description of yourself in one sentence (your research aims). You are not required to be a specialist of the drafted themes to participate in the group. However, you should express a capacity to tease apart the concepts at hand with intellectual rigor, aptitude, and passion. If you have a question about the group, please send an email, we are eager to hear from you.
The coronavirus COVID-19 is currently striking the world (at the time of outlining this call) having numerous ripple down effects. Research tells us that “zoonotic transfer” is responsible for this outbreak. Describe the role of metabolism in this process and what it sketches out for planetary health. In your description please consider political, ecological and infrastructural shifts. Feel free to embrace fiction, prose or hard science in your response.
Terms:
–Participants are encouraged from different sectors and parts of the world.
–1 session per month at 19:00 (CET time) on the last Tuesday of the month. Sessions are comprised of reading, analysis, and discussion.
–Sessions begin with an introduction by one group member, followed by a collective discussion.
–Specific sessions will be accompanied by occasional invited guests, including but not limited to authors of assigned texts.
–Sessions are held online on Skype. Please have a good connection.
–The group will consist of 8-10 participants. This year 3-4 members are being accepted to join.
–There is no participation fee.
Application to MATTER IN FLUX is designed for anyone interested in the concerns outlined in this call, encouraging diverse approaches to research methodologies that stretch beyond typical academic profiling. Participants are expected to commit to all sessions considering that only 3 to 4 participants will be accepted. Please only apply if you can commit!
Please see the call here for more information: http://www.twwwo.org/studygroup.html
Image: The World in Which We Occur drawings by Zin Taylor.