Reflections on LOL History
Keynote by Shumon Basar
Date: Fr. 11.01, 18:15
Location: Auditorium, Erweiterungsbau, Akademie der Bildenden Künste
Shumon Basar is a writer, thinker and cultural critic. He is co-author of The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist (Penguin/Blue Rider, 2015). His edited books include Translated By, Cities from Zero and Hans Ulrich Obrist Interviews Volume 2. He is Commissioner of the Global Art Forum in Dubai, Editor-at-large of Tank magazine and Contributing Editor at Bidoun magazine, Director of the Format program at the AA School, a member of Fondazione Prada’s “Thought Council” and Art Jameel’s Curatorial Council.
He will give a talk on his text LOL History (e-flux 2017) which has been sparked by a photo of Doan Thi Huong that was taken shortly after she assassinated Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. From the image taken by a CCTV-camera, he develops a kaleidoscopic study of digital images, talking about pixels, the zoom, Chris Maker, Lacan and deep-sea cables.
The keynote is part of a workshop (Fr. 11.01, 13:00 – 18:00 at the Auditorum, Erweiterungsbau; Sa. 12.01, 9.30 – 15:00, Alter Sitzungssaal, Altbau) that picks up the kaleidoscopic nature of LOL History with inputs that concentrate and expand on a part, a phrase or a notion of the text. Inputs will be given by Sebastian Althoff (München), Julia Eckel (Bochum), Felix Hasebrink (Bochum), Niklas Kammermeier (Bochum,) David Ashley Kerr (Helsinki), Elisa Linseisen (Bochum), Maja-Lisa Müller (Bielefeld), Nicolas Oxen (Weimar), Rebecca Puchta (Frankfurt) and Franziska Winter (Weimar).