events

In Nonhuman Witnessing: War, Data, and Ecology after the End of the World (Duke UP, 2024), Dr. Michael Richardson (University of New South Wales, Sydney) shows how ecological, machinic, and algorithmic forms of witnessing can help us better understand contemporary crises. In the workshop, Richardson will lead a collective examination nonhuman witnessing as both a theoretical concept and critical practice by working through a series of ‘witnessing instances’ that include machine learning models in the aesthetic investigations of Forensic Architecture, the aftermath of war in Aleppo, Syria, and the ecological impacts of global heating and nuclear testing. Together, we will examine the tensions between the witnessing work of nonhuman entities and the writing practices we have available to us as (mostly) human subjects. A small amount of reading will be provided in advance to participants, but the focus in the workshop will be on thinking together.

Michael Richardson is a writer, researcher, and teacher living and working on Gadigal and Bidjigal country in Sydney, Australia. He is an Associate Professor in Media and Culture at UNSW, where he co-directs the Media Futures Hub, and an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence on Automated Decision-Making + Society. His research examines technology, power, witnessing, trauma, and affect in contexts of war, security, and surveillance. His next book is Nonhuman Witnessing: War, Climate, and Data After the End of the World (Duke UP), forthcoming in 2024.

Space in the workshop is limited, and registration is required. Please register by October 25th.