The Echo, the Ear, and the Opening

The Radical Use of Speculative Thinking

​

An online performance lecture, an experiment, a thinking-out-loud. Inspired by the writings of Saidiya Hartman, Rajni Shah and Donna Haraway, among others. I begin  by rethinking the ancient Greek myth of the nymph Echo and propose to use this exercise to discuss the value of creative-critical writing, imaginative license, and speculative thinking, which I posit as necessary and radical tools in a world that finds itself in social, political and ecological crisis. Indeed, in the face of extreme cuts to the arts and arts education in this country, it becomes increasingly urgent for artists, researchers and educators to articulate their practices in new ways.

​

As an experiment, of course, it might not work. What if it doesn’t? And what if it does?

​

Originally presented as part of Guildhall Researchworks event series (June 2023)