Special Subject: Art, Culture, and Technology — Publication as Worldmaking: Performative Approaches to Fiction and Publishing (Fall 2024)

Instructor

Raafat Majzoub

Lab Fee

Per-term $75 fee after Add Date; SMACT students are exempt

Credit

3-3-6 G

Schedule

TR 2-5

Location

E15-207

This course investigates the interdisciplinary and generative possibilities of publication, emphasizing its role as a practice of expanding public engagement and imagination. Throughout the semester, students will explore worldmaking strategies, speculative fiction and an array of publication methods ranging from traditional techniques—leveraging ACT and MIT’s extensive resources such as riso printing, book binding and maker labs—to experimental approaches in digital media, performance, political systems, architecture, contemporary art, design, and AI.

Rooted in the definition of publication as the act of ‘making public,’ this course offers an opportunity to experiment with the collective meaning-making strategies of editorial work through and beyond printed matter. Participants are encouraged to bring in their personal research and projects to develop them with the lens of artistic publication. The semester culminates in a collective exhibition or public representation of the work produced.

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.