Open Call: -1 Séances Reading GroupOpen Call: -1 Séances Reading Group

This year, –1 Digital Lab is exploring the provocative intersection of technology and desire, asking how technology shapes, sabotages, fuels or frustrates our individual and collective longings. What kinds of technological futures do we desire in an increasingly digitised world? How can we — as users, practitioners, and citizens — imagine and bring these into existence?   

-1 Digital Lab  wants to gather a community of engaged readers and interlocutors who are interested in thinking through such questions, together with the -1 team, co-organiser Giacomo Gilmozzi, and with the help of theoretical perspectives by well-known philosophers and theorists.     The team invites students, artists, educators, researchers, and all interested parties from different backgrounds to apply. No prior experience or familiarity with theory is required —most important is the presence of different voices, views, practices, and experiences. Selected readers are asked to pre-read a selection of preparatory texts and to join at least five out of six reading sessions. 

The six sessions take place on six Thursday evenings between 18:30-21:00. 

• 9 April: Opening session: Desiring at the End of the World
• 30 April: Techno-logics of Desire
•  21 May: Technodiversity
•  4 June: Queer Desire in Technology
•  25 June: Re-assembling: the Democratic Stack
•  2 July: Closing session 

Each session opens with an hour-long lecture or presentation by invited guest speaker(s). This part is also open to public attendance, both in-person or online. The public events require (free) RSVP and are announced on the Nieuwe Instituut’s website in the coming months. The events are all held in English.  

Directly after the public part of the sessions, the core reading group convenes in a closed session to sink their teeth into that week’s reading material. We regard theory as a form of practice that can help us orient ourselves within an increasingly technified world. Our aim is to mobilise key theoretical concepts as tools for noticing and acting in our everyday lives. 

If you’d like to join the reading group, please apply via the button below, not later than Sunday 22 March. All applicants will be notified of the outcome in the last week of March. 

Out of all applicants, the –1 team selects a maximum of 20 readers. Since places are limited, we ask you to ensure availability to attend all — or at least five — sessions on the scheduled dates, and to consider setting aside ample time to go through the reading materials in advance of each session. All texts will be shared by the organisers beforehand and will consist of around 20-40 pages per session. Please note that participation is without financial compensation, and that travel to/from is at the participants’ own expense. 

For questions or more information, reach out to the organising team at minusone@nieuweinstituut.nl.