Virtual Futures presents Near-Future Fictions on the theme of 'Virtual Persons.'

The digital world is a personality playground that offers us an unprecedented ability to curate and create a public persona — but what does this ability mean for the future of personhood? As the digital world expands around us and the Internet of Things combines the physical and virtual do we have a moral obligation to represent ourselves with truth and integrity in the digital realm, or should we view it as an opportunity to explore new and radical ontologies?

Join us for an evening that incorporates original reading, performance and live art as Virtual Futures continues its mission to to reassert the significance of science fiction as a tool for navigating the increasing technologization of society and culture.

Special Presentation

Keynote Presentation by Stelarc, Performance Artist

Stelarc explores alternate anatomical architectures, interrogating issues of agency, identity and the posthuman. He has performed with a Third Hand, a Stomach Sculpture and Exoskeleton, a 6-legged walking robot. Fractal Flesh, Ping Body and Parasite are internet performances that explore remote and involuntary choreography. He is surgically constructing and stem-cell growing an ear on his arm that will be internet enabled. In 1996 he was made an Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh and in 2002 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Monash University, Melbourne. In 2010 was awarded the Ars Electronica Hybrid Arts Prize. In 2015 he received the Australia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award. In 2016 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Ionian University, Corfu. Stelarc is currently a Distinguished Research Fellow, School of Design and Art, Curtin University. His artwork is represented by Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne.

Authors & Contributors

A C Tyger: “Aldebaran”

Anne McKinnon: “Memory Inc.”

Britta Schulte: “iDentity”

C R Dudley: “The Test”

Jamie Watt: “Conjugal Frape”

Jane Norris: “Beautiful Mirror Being”

Marc Böhlen: “With a robot on the last day”

Sophie Sparham: “Concrete Genocide”

Stephen Oram: “From Dust to Digital and Back”

Curators

Britta Schulte is a PhD student by day and a science-fiction writer at night. She thinks about the technologies we have, those we are likely to get and those we might not want. She publishes on wattpad.com as well as in zines online and in print

Stephen Oram writes science fiction. He’s been a hippie-punk, religious-squatter and a bureaucrat-anarchist; he thrives on contradictions. He has two published novels, Quantum Confessions and Fluence and is in several anthologies. His recent collection, Eating Robots and Other Stories, was described by the Morning Star as one of the top radical works of fiction in 2017.

Schedule

18:30pm - 19:00pm: Registration & Drinks

19:00pm - 19:20pm: Special Presentation by Stelarc

19:20pm - 19:45pm: Science Fiction Readings

19:45pm - 20:00pm: Break

20:00pm - 20:30pm: Science Fiction Readings

20:30pm - Close: Drinks & Networking

About the Venue

The LIBRARY London is a members' club tailored to the design, literary and theatre worlds. Find out more: http://LIB-RARY.com

Follow the Discussion

Follow the discussion on Twitter here:

#VFFiction

@VirtualFutures

More Information

Virtual Futures (Est.1994) is a Community Interest Company (CIC). Ticket sales help to cover costs of the event including filming and documentation.