Who

Alexi Kukuljevic is a writer and theorist. This event being concerned with the malleability of identity, we mention in passing that Alexi pseudonymously exists as the artist Ludwig Fischer. ¹ He’s involved with Machete Group in Philadelphia.

Mark Fisher is the author of Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative? His writing has appeared in New Statesman, Frieze, The Wire, Sight and Sound and FACT. He was a founder member of the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit. ² He writes a very well kent blog. Mark was unable to attend in person, but sent a audio file in his place that we listened to as part of the public event.

Ray Brassier is a philosopher. The most basic task of philosophy is to impede stupidity. He has collaborated with Mattin, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Seijiro Murayama, and took part in our events INSTAL 10 and UNINSTAL.

What

Alexi, Mark and Ray will each briefly propose some ideas, then have a conversation, to which we hope you will join in; and which might broadly address itself to how neoliberal capitalism has locked down social experience.

Why

We’ve privatised stress, pseudo-markets are apparently the only way to care for the sick or educate the young, we’re all self-surveilling bureaucrats who need to inject ‘creativity’ into our work …is there no alternative to the language of business? Are our seemingly subjective desires, our identities, pre-packaged by dominating social structures? And if they are, what capacity do we really have to act in the world?