Lectures
Organized by the Center for Complexity and RISD ISE, this panel discussed new directions in social practice through community-engaged art and design.
The panel featured Sio Man Lam: Civic Arts Program Coordinator for Public Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; Carlos Medellin: Assistant Professor, Architecture Department, RISD; Shey Rivera Ríos: Artist, MA ‘23 (Global Arts and Cultures); and Elder González Trejo: Climate Justice Specialist, Sustainability Policy Associate, City of Providence, Rhode Island.
Professor of Gender Studies and English at Columbia University, Halberstam is the author of seven books including: In A Queer Time and Place (NYU Press, 2005), The Queer Art of Failure (Duke UP, 2011), Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Beacon Press, 2012) and Wild Things: The Disorder of Desire (Duke UP, 2020). Places Journal awarded Halberstam its Arcus/Places Prize in 2018 for innovative public scholarship on the relationship between gender, sexuality and the built environment. Halberstam’s presentation explores the theme of collapse building on his research and lecture: An Aesthetics of Collapse. Halberstam writes: the term “collapse” derives from Latin and contains “col” meaning “together” and “labi” meaning slip. This etymology offers us a glimpse of the potential aesthetic folds hidden in the term.
Recorded at RISD September 23, 2022
Architecture is premised on waste. As buildings erode, decay, or become obsolete over time, waste from their demolition and repair is often poorly managed with little focus on ecological care. New construction produces its own excesses which are exacerbated by the boom/bust cycle of real estate development and short-term speculation. As designers and architects, our understanding of material and construction practices still largely ignore these ever-growing streams of waste. Faced with climate emergency, designers continue to optimize construction, to reuse buildings, and to recycle materials — all without accounting for the accrual and persistence of waste.
What if we understood that the collapse of our built environment is not the failure or “end” of architecture, but rather as preconditions for future practice? Engaging broken-world thinking, how might design anticipate and reimagine waste futures in construction, occupation, and demolition? What if waste sites were reframed as quarries?
Panelists: Ang Li, Billy Dufala, and Amy Seo
Moderators: Arianna Deane, Cara Liberatore, Amelyn Ng
Recorded at RISD September 22, 2022
This panel discussion was a collaboration between Center for Complexity and the Architecture Department at Rhode Island School of Design as the first in a year-long series of conversations curated for students undertaking their Thesis Degree Project.
Rasheed (she/they) spoke to a packed auditorium via Zoom to discuss her work as a writer, educator, and artist. Born in East Palo Alto, CA, and currently living in Brooklyn, NY, Rasheed is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Fine Arts known for her work in installations, book arts, immersive text-based installations, large-scale public text pieces, publications, collage, and audio recordings. She earned an MA in Secondary Social Studies Education from Stanford University (2008) and a BA in Public Policy from Pomona College (2006). She was an Amy Biehl U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa (2006–7).
A learner, Rasheed grapples with the poetics-pleasures-politics of Black knowledge production, information technologies, [un]learning, and belief formation. They are a recipient of a 2022 Schering Stiftung Award for Artistic Research, 2022 Creative Capital Award, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts. Rasheed is the author of three artist’s books: An Alphabetical Accumulation of Approximate Observations (Endless Editions, 2019), No New Theories (Printed Matter, 2019), and the digital publication Scoring the Stacks (Brooklyn Public Library, 2021). Their writing has appeared in Triple Canopy, The New Inquiry, Shift Space, Active Cultures, and The Believer.
Recorded at RISD September 22, 2022
The title of this panel is taken from an influential 2018 essay by panelist Ed Whitfield titled “What Must We Do to Be Free? On the Building of Liberated Zones.” Whitfield, chef and food activist Neftali Duran, and RISD faculty and staff from the departments of Landscape Architecture, Sculpture and Counseling and Psychological Services discuss the future and how we can start building it now through new ecological, labor, artistic, mental health, and community care practices.
Panelists: Taylor Baldwin, Netfali Duran, Ellen Garret, Damion Vania, Ed Whitfield
Moderators: Marisa Brown, Tim Maly
Recorded at RISD September 21, 2022
Longtime activist Bill Di Paola, founder of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space on New York’s Lower East Side, leads a participatory session on community change-making (past, present, future)—and squatting, community gardens, environmental activism, and the power of collective action.
Recorded at RISD September 21, 2022
Director of the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Lomonaco discusses his experiences and unique perspectives on collapse as a survivor of the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and as a New York City restaurateur navigating the catastrophic impact of the Covid pandemic. Lomonaco’s experience provides a unique perspective on adapting, adjusting, and responding to crises with creativity and compassion. These experiences have given him “an acute appreciation for humanity, courage and determination.”
Recorded at the Metcalf Auditorium at RISD Museum September 21, 2022
Welcoming comments from Center for Complexity Founding Director, Justin Cook at Collapse – CfCs 4th annual symposium at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) September 21-23, 2022
Toban Shadlyn shares about her design practice with the Service Design Students at the Royal College of Art in London. She explores the various role of designer in her most recent work at the Center for Complexity engaging in the ongoing overdose crisis in the USA.
Justin Cook, in conversation with Judah Armani and the Service Design Students at the Royal College of Art in London. They discuss and share reflections on the role of design and designers in creating social impact.