Initial Ideas & World of Story reflection
My first idea is to write an essay – based on my undergraduate dissertation – about speculative narratives, looking at particular works/ a particular work (art, literature, etc) and analysing how it explores hopeful visions of the future. Possibly focusing on embodiment, technology, Afro-futurism, and the blurring of boundaries (e.g. cyborgs) which I explored before. These are topics which I am really interested in and so would like to explore further, with more depth, and perhaps in a new way. Donna Haraway’s ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ (and other similar texts) were key to this and align with my beliefs and passions.
Another idea I think it would be interesting to explore is the phenomenon of stories depicting multiverses (multiple worlds/branching universes/diverging alternate realities) which I think may be a current zeitgeisty trend/ moment or a response to the current zeitgeist (current politics, climate grief, etc). There is a boom/growth/increased popularity of these stories which I think must be reflection of our time in some way- link to technology and metaverse. What does this obsession say about us and about art? Perhaps that we are fed up of existing structures and our current society and operations – that we want to explore alternate universes/ break it apart- break these structures. Or is it some kind of escapist obsession- escapist fantasy? Esp due to increasing climate grief. I think it would be really interesting to research and unpack why we are currently drawn to these sorts of stories and worlds. For example the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Spiderverse, Stranger Things, the film Everything Everywhere All at Once, and a personal favorite of mine: Dimension 20’s Neverafter. People seem to have really latched on to these narratives (specifically where the multiverse is the subject/ key to the themes of the piece and not just the setting). I think it explores the ideas of power, freedom, control, and autonomy and allows us to explore/live in/imagine/escape to worlds different to our own where potentially we are better off – e.g. in relation to climate change. Or potentially it allows us to feel that our decisions and our world are not that important on the grand scale of things, exploring the ideas of free will vs predestination, and potentially relieving our guilt. Perhaps, identifying ourselves with the main characters of these narratives – who often unlock/discover the truth of the universe (that it is one of many) and often gain the power to travel between, influence, and even save different universes. These narratives give us this specific kind of power, perhaps responding to the nihilistic, powerless feeling we all experience in face of the world’s current challenges which feel so unsolvable and so much bigger than any of us. (The idea of a metaverse as an escape/back up world I think also links to this).
Following the World of Story course, I feel that there are more ideas to explore than ever, and have been introduced to new inspirations and influences such as Indigenous Futurism and the artist Solomon Enos, which I would love to explore more. I feel that there are more creative options open to me which I hadn’t fully considered before, such as featuring my own writing in my Futures Project. It was really great to get a crash course in play writing and to reconnect to my practical creative skills, getting to draw again. It really got my creative juices flowing. I think, in response to this, it would be great to incorporate indigenous futurism and my own creative work in my Futures project somehow.
