I N F R A Closing Event

I N F R A

Closing Event, May 31st 2014, 17:00–20:00

To watch the trailer made by artist Reuben Henry – password on vimeo: KHIID

Westminster Reference Library

35 St Martin’s St, London,

London Chinatown WC2H 7HP

I N F R A

(Fatos Ustek, Anna Gritz, Karin Kihlberg & Reuben Henry, Aura Satz and Ian Whittlesea) invites you to the closing event of a two yearresearch project, with lectures by Yoga teacher Graham Hyman,cognitive neuroscientist Lennart Verhagen and video game theoristRob Gallagher followed by the launch of the

I N F R A publication.

I N F R A

is an artistic research project devised by Anna Gritz & Fatos Ustek,inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s observations on the infra-mince.Following Duchamp, the group composed of Karin Kihlberg & ReubenHenry, Aura Satz and Ian Whittlesea approach the I N F R A as something that cannot be captured through definition, but solely through examples.I N F R A sets out to allow apparently unrelated subjects to rub shoulders in order to evaluate how, if at all, subjects foreign to one’s habitual research interests can be informative and inspiring. The project questions howmuch knowledge one can glean about a foreign discipline from anoccasional sit-in, and what overarching patterns can be recognizedbetween the various fields and methodologies encountered throughoutthe course of the project.

I N F R A

is structured around a series of encounters that make use of the surplus produced by the current academic and educational landscape, by arranging an occasional and self-organised syllabus. These encounterscan take on a plethora of forms such as a lecture on statisticsand astrophysics, a meeting with mystics, learning how to dance5Rhythms or how to play GO. Through sitting in on existing coursesat Universities, Colleges and other formats of experience andknowledge-genesis, the group aims to study the I N F R A through aselective focus.

I N F R A

appropriated the format of the sit-in as a strategy that functions as a stumbling stone, a disruption in the flow of a given scenario, through claiming space and access to otherwise exclusive environments. Itproposes a form of access that generates an interdisciplinary exchangeand that slows down the accelerated mode of learning prevalenttoday, to allow for investigations on the margins of the beaten academictrack, as well as to promote an integral approach to research andbrowsing that opens wide the possibility of discovery, chance andencountering the unexpected.

I N F R A

has settled comfortably in the folds of the academy, nourished bythe crumbs and leftovers of its efficiency-driven overproduction.Through diverting some of its efforts to our benefit, the project hopesto generate an inspiring climate that expands the reference pointsavailable to artists and researchers.

 

Further information on Lecturers:

Graham Hyman wanted to become a yoga teacher because of his deep love and belief in the life enhancing qualities that a regular yoga practice, combined with dedicated study with his Guruji, helped him to create. He studied with The Radiant Hand Academy of Yogaand after qualifying and demonstrating suitable skill and competency,Graham took a leap of faith and started teaching yoga full time.

Working in the Netherlands as a biologist in cognitive neuroscience Lennart Verhagen has been captivated by how we transform our thoughts into actions: how do mind and body meet, but also,how do two minds meet? Through communication we can flexiblyconvey concepts and meaning solely by using concrete actionsand symbols, a feat unparalleled by any other animal. Recently,Lennart started at Oxford University as a Marie Curie fellow tofurther investigate these uniquely human cognitive abilities.

Dr. Rob Gallagher is a writer and researcher currently basedin Montreal, Quebec. His has written on videogames, digital cultureand gender for publications like Games and Culture, Nyx, TheObserver and The New Inquiry. He also makes gifs as part of OratorioTangram. Rob will be introduced by Liz Haines, an artist and currentPhD candidate in Royal Holloway’s Geography department.