Seeing like an activist; The art of thinking together; AI and the Digital; Punishment
Erin R. Pineda and Robin Celikates interview; an event with Thomas Bartscherer and Gabriella Lindsay; a new series organised by Audrey Borowski; our new print issue
Dear all,
It’s going to be a busy next few months! While the main poster for our spring series of digital events is not quite finalised, it will feature a total of 25 events starting tomorrow and ending on 24th June. We have uploaded details of the first handful of them here.
One poster that has been completed is for a really exciting mini-series we are hosting on “AI and the Digital”. The series was put together by Audrey Borowski and the poster was put together by Nick Halliday:
We are also hoping to get our new print issue to the designer/typesetter this week with a view to having it ready to send out by the beginning of April. The topic is “Punishment”. Here is the cover:
More on this in the next few newsletters…
Your Sunday Read
“Disobedience and Seeing Like an Activist”: Erin R. Pineda in conversation with Robin Celikates
As many of you will know, we published an edited collection last year called What Matters Most: Conversations on the Art of Living. This was one of my favourite chapters of that collection.
There are few movements more firmly associated with civil disobedience than the civil rights movement. In the mainstream imagination, civil rights activists eschewed coercion, appealed to the majority’s principles, and submitted willingly to legal punishment in order to demand necessary legislative reforms and facilitate the realization of core constitutional and democratic principles. However, as political theorist Erin R. Pineda argues, this familiar account of civil rights disobedience not only misremembers history; it also distorts our political judgements about how civil disobedience might fit into democratic politics. The conversation looks at civil disobedience from the perspective of an activist rather than the dominant liberal political theorists, raising numerous important questions about how civil disobedience ought to unfold in the present. You can read it here.
Monday Event: 12pm PT/3pm ET/7pm UK
The Art of Thinking Together
Thomas Bartscherer in conversation with Gabriella Lindsay
N.B. This event begins at 12pm PT/3pm ET due to daylight saving time
How do artists think together in the creation of a new work?
In 2023, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented the world premiere of Stranger Love, a three-act, six-hour opera scored for 28 musicians, 8 singers, and 6 dancers, and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. The work was named by The New York Times one of the “best classical music performances of 2023.” Stranger Love emerged from a years-long conversation between its creators, composer Dylan Mattingly and writer Thomas Bartscherer, about music and language, and about life and love.
In this conversation, Thomas Bartscherer and Gabriella Lindsay will reflect on thinking together in creative work: through time, through words and music, and through friendship. You can find out more and register here.
Ending
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You can offer a donation, join us via Patreon, or become a print or digital subscriber. All support is greatly appreciated!
Wishing you all a lovely Sunday, wherever you are.
Anthony Morgan
Editor