Memories of the Future

A printed publication to coincide with the themes and concepts from the Memories of the Future Conference 2014. Abstracts written by the conference delegates were released in advance of the conference and explored by a group of participants through, narrative interpretation, critical thinking, experimental graphic design/illustration, and publication making. The publication was distributed at the conference.

From our current ‘after the future’ position, where utopias have been crushed under the awareness that ‘the myth of the future is rooted in modern capitalism’ (Bifo), our imagination persistently draws on an extensive repository of symbols, forms and technologies rooted in history, imagination and memory.

Yet, utopian visions of the future loomed large in the modern age, often fuelled by spectacular advancements in technology, applied arts and industries.

Even though sequential temporalities and cyclical views of the past have become forcefully questioned by new technologies, the past is still a reservoir, repository and treasure-trove of cultural and symbolic signification which continues to be revisited and reconstructed imaginatively by individuals and communities.

The Memories of the Future conference addresses questions such as:

Is memory scrambled, reversed, reconstituted?
Is the future a thing of the past?
Is no future the new future?
How do ancient myths and narratives construct future scenarios?
How are myths and histories re-worked in contemporary artistic practices of the future present?

• https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/chelsea-...