Upcoming Book Sprint at V2 Rotterdam

Coming up is a sprint at V2 in Rotterdam, Netherlands (June 17-21, 2012). Its a very conceptual sprint named “Fiddling while Rome burns?”.

Participating writers: Michael Dieter, David M. Berry, José Luis de Vicente,Nat Muller, Rachel O’Reilly, Michelle Kasprzak and Michel van Dartel. Facilitation by Adam Hyde.

The brief from Michelle Kasprzak : “Across Europe, culture is in the crosshairs; the common currency is in peril; the Dutch government has fallen. But we aren’t going to speak of that. Instead, Vital Beauty – the most recent book by V2_ Publications – asserts that we must return to the “age-old idea of beauty” to recover a sense of our own humanity: a humanity refracted through the lens of our technologies and the possibilities that they bring. This plea for a return to beauty is backed by a group of designers and thinkers demanding a “New Aesthetic,” one that embeds the fingerprint of digital methods in our environment in increasingly visible ways. Are we on the cusp of an “Aesthetic Turn” in contemporary art and design? And if so, what shape do we want it to take? By speaking of aesthetics now, are we fiddling while Rome burns, or rescuing the essence of our culture from discussions of how to finance it?

Blowup: Fiddling While Rome Burns? is presented to the audience as an online event. Follow the process at V2_ through this page and via social media between June 17 and 21. We will provide you with daily updates. Expect interviews, statements and arguments by the participants and of course the final publication on June 21.”