Project Leader

Maria Korolkova

uncertain relations is a series of exploratory research workshops exploring emergent and foundational concepts in media studies and cultural theory. Each workshop sets two concepts in an uncertain relation, asking for critical reflection on the ambiguities that are generated between the specificity of two ideas.  

The series does not look for harmony but rather seeks the frictions that reconfigure the world and our understandings. uncertain relations is an exploration of the gaps, frictions and connections that are the basis of creative thought and critical practice. 

Participants share short position statements that articulate their perspective on the uncertain relations between the proposed terms. These position statements can take the form of traditional papers, pre-recorded presentations, performative lectures, video essays, or any other format the presenter chooses. They are used as a point of departure for an open and horizontal discussion between participants, which articulates heterogeneous relations between the terms, and how they can be deployed in critical research. 

The outcomes will be recorded through the development of an experimental book that exists in both digital and physical formats. The book grows as the series develops, mapping the growing network of conceptual relations as they are articulated using the form of a Möbius strip as surface of inscription. 

Working Group

Hannah Lammin, Maria Korolkova, Miriam Sorrentino, & Jane Frances Dunlop