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A Conversation with James McAnally
No full textJames McAnally is a strategic critic, dependent curator and institution-maker. Currently, McAnally is the Executive and Artistic Director of Counterpublic, a triennial exhibition reimagining the role of art in public life. Previously, McAnally was the co-founder and director of The Luminary, an expansive platform for art, thought, and action based in St. Louis. He additionally serves as the executive editor and co-founder of MARCH: a journal of art & strategy and was a founding member of Common Field, a national network of independent art spaces and organizers.
McAnally has presented exhibitions, talks and lectures at venues such as the Walker Art Center, Queens Museum, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation with Ballroom Marfa, Kadist Art Foundation, and the Artist’s Institute and has served as a Visual Arts panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, Joan Mitchell Foundation and numerous other fellowships. His publications are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Getty Research Institute and more and his writing has been published in Art in America, Hyperallergic, Artnet, BOMB, Art Journal and others. McAnally is a recipient of the Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for Short- Form Writing.
This land acknowledgement was adapted from one given during New Red Order’s The Gathering at Counterpublic 2023. I acknowledge that the land never needed to be owned. I acknowledge that I own land taken from the Osage, the Pawnee, the Missouriah, the Otoe, Kickapoo, the Sac, the Fox, and more. I acknowledge that the lands now called St. Louis have been taken again and again—from Native people, from Brown and Black people, from those stewarding the lands and waters they live alongside. This taking continues under many names: gentrification, redlining, displacement, removal.
From 1845 to 1909, Native people were not allowed to exist in Missouri. Living here requires resistance. I commit to resistance. I acknowledge the rematriation of Sugarloaf Mound to the Osage Nation, and the need for concrete acts of return, solidarity, and kinship. The origin of “acknowledge” is “to confess.” I confess to crimes against reality, the decolonization of land and life. I acknowledge their possibility. I confess to their inevitability
The Price of Progress: Advocating for Equity in Leamington’s Greenhouse Industry
No full textWhen examining the origins of produce in our local supermarkets, it becomes evident that contemporary consumption patterns demand fulfillment regardless of the season, whether through the importation of out-of-season produce or local greenhouse cultivation, often reliant on foreign workers. These sites of production, however, remain largely obscured from public consciousness. While urban food markets and farm-to-table initiatives have gained architectural and social visibility, the rural landscapes of mass agricultural production are rarely considered within architectural discourse. This research seeks to reposition these landscapes at the centre of spatial inquiry, exposing power structures and highlighting the people who sustain our food security.
Through architectural intervention, this project subverts traditional power projections by proposing a new typology; a diplomatic mission focused on labour advocacy. This speculative institution acts as a counter-hegemonic strategy, not only rendering visible the realities of migrant labour but also challenging the systemic structures that perpetuate economic disparity and social invisibility. The project focuses on the municipality of Leamington, Ontario, and the Mexican nationals conducting agricultural labour on a temporary basis
A Conversation with Jimenez Lai
No full textJimenez Lai works in the world of art, culture, and education. Lai’s Master of Architecture thesis was a science fiction about a post-teleportation world. Previously, Jimenez Lai lived in a desert shelter at Taliesin and resided in a shipping container at Atelier Van Lieshout on the piers of Rotterdam. Before founding Bureau Spectacular, Lai worked for various international offices, including MOS and OMA. Lai is widely exhibited and published around the world, including the MoMA-collected White Elephant. His first book, Citizens of No Place, was published by Princeton Architectural Press with a grant from the Graham Foundation. Draft II of this book has been archived at the New Museum. Lai has won various awards, including the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Debut Award at the Lisbon Triennale, and the 2017 Designer of the Future Award at Art Basel / Design Miami. In 2014, Lai represented Taiwan at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2015, Lai organized the Treatise exhibition and publication series at the Graham Foundation. Lai’s work is in the permanent collection of MoMA, SFMOMA, Art Institute of Chicago, and LACMA. Jimenez Lai was the 2024 Gwathmey Chair at Cooper Union
Delirious Façade
No full textFrom its formalization at the École Polytechnique and the École des Beaux Arts in the 19th Century, architectural composition was understood as a procedural act which entailed a series of sequential design decisions. The process of design was taught as moving through three forms of representation—the plan, section, and elevation, in that order. Yet with the advent of reinforced concrete and the cantilevered floor slab, the causal connection between façade and interior was largely severed. Le Corbusier’s free façade instigated a crisis in what had otherwise been a logical conclusion to the procedure of architectural composition. Indeed, contrary to its easy soundin name, the free façade actually requires more compositional work. Le Corbusier’s invention of the concept of “regulating lines” and his use of the façade diagram in Towards a New Architecture to backdate them in antiquity is evidence of the extra compositional effort that the free façade demands, not to mention its vexing subjectivity
Egoista almeno una volta: Performatività materna e sacrificio in Una donna di Sibilla Aleramo
No full textThis write-up explores the concept of gender performativity, as theorized by Judith Butler. Butler argues that gender is culturally constructed, compelling individuals to perform roles aligned with their assigned gender. This notion is central to understanding how acts associated with femininity, such as motherhood/mothering, can also be viewed as performative. This paper examines research on how the performativity of mothering perpetuates cycles of sacrifice. These ideas are applied to Sibilla Aleramo’s A Woman at Bay, a progressive Italian novel written in 1908, revealing how the protagonist struggles with the societal expectations of maternal sacrifice. By analyzing the interplay between gender performativity and mothering, this paper serves as the foundation for my painting Selfish for Once, which challenges these norms by highlighting the nuances and contradictions of mothering in A Woman at Bay. Selfish for Once sheds an empathetic light on the underexamined aspects of mothering through the symbolism of food and table etiquette.Questo articolo esplora il concetto di performatività di genere, teorizzato da Judith Butler. Butler sostiene che il genere sia culturalmente costruito, costringendo gli individui a seguire ruoli in linea con il loro genere assegnato. Questa nozione è fondamentale per comprendere come anche gli atti associati alla femminilità, come la maternità o il ruolo attivo di madre, possano essere considerati performativi. Questo articolo esamina le ricerche su come la performatività del ruolo di madre perpetui i cicli di sacrificio. Queste idee sono applicate al romanzo Una donna di Sibilla Aleramo, un romanzo italiano progressista del 1908, che rivela come la protagonista lotti con le aspettative sociali del sacrificio materno. Analizzando l\u27interazione tra performatività di genere e maternità, questo articolo tiene alla base il mio dipinto Selfish for Once, che contesta le norme evidenziando le sfumature e le contraddizioni della maternità nel testo di Una donna. Selfish for Once getta una luce empatica sugli aspetti poco esaminati della maternità attraverso il simbolismo del cibo e del protocollo di tavola
Un approccio ecocritico alla Sardegna
No full textThis study examines Sardinia\u27s environmental and cultural marginalization through an ecocritical and postcolonial lens, investigating the intersections of industrial development, ecological degradation, and cultural erosion in the Mediterranean context. Focusing on Porto Torres—a critical site of industrial intervention—the research employs the environmental humanities methodologies to analyze the systematic transformation from an agrarian economy to a petrochemical landscape. By critically examining the Sardinia Rebirth Plan (Piano di rinascita), the study highlights how the failure of state-driven industrial policies to fulfill promised socio-economic improvements has undermined both ecological integrity and the local indigenous identity of Sardinian identity, or sardità. Through comparative analysis of policy archives, scientific reports, and literary representations, the research demonstrates the complex mechanisms of cultural and environmental displacement. The findings illuminate the broader theoretical implications of industrial marginalization, challenging conventional narratives of regional development and proposing a holistic approach to environmental and cultural policy that centers on indigenous resilience, linguistic preservation, and ecological sustainability.Questo studio esamina l\u27emarginazione ambientale e culturale della Sardegna attraverso una lente ecocritica e postcoloniale, indagando le intersezioni tra sviluppo industriale, degrado ecologico ed erosione culturale nel contesto mediterraneo. Concentrandosi su Porto Torres, un sito critico di intervento industriale, la ricerca utilizza le metodologie delle scienze umane ambientali per analizzare la trasformazione sistematica da un\u27economia agricola a un paesaggio petrolchimico. Esaminando criticamente il Piano di rinascita della Sardegna, lo studio evidenzia come il fallimento delle politiche industriali promosse dallo Stato nel realizzare dei miglioramenti promessi del campo socio-economico abbia minato sia l\u27integrità ecologica che l\u27identità locale indigena della Sardegna, cioè sardità. Subendo un\u27analisi comparativa di archivi politici, relazioni scientifiche e rappresentazioni letterarie, la ricerca dimostra i complessi meccanismi dello spostamento culturale e ambientale. I risultati mettono in luce le più ampie implicazioni teoriche dell\u27emarginazione industriale e contestano le narrazioni convenzionali dello sviluppo regionale proponendo un approccio olistico alla politica ambientale e culturale incentrato sulla resilienza indigena, la conservazione linguistica e la sostenibilità ecologica
Tracciando il patrimonio culturale italiano attraverso le generazioni per i racconti familiari del Bronx
No full textThis study examines the oral history and cultural evolution of Italian American identity through semi-structured interviews with individuals raised in the Bronx, New York by Italian immigrant grandparents. Key themes include family values, travel, community, language, and resilience in the face of adversity. The historical context of Italian migration to the United States highlights the challenges of economic hardship, discrimination, and assimilation while emphasizing the enduring influence of strong work ethics and traditions. The Bronx served as a space for cultural exchange, challenging rigid notions of ethnic segregation and fostering interethnic relationships. Over time, traditions that once preserved Italian heritage increasingly focused on strengthening family bonds, reflecting an evolving identity shaped by both heritage and urban life. By analyzing these narratives, this study contributes to broader discussions on migration, identity, and the role of immigrant communities in shaping cultural landscapes, while also emphasizing the lasting impact of adaptation and resilience.Questo studio esamina la storia orale e l\u27evoluzione culturale dell\u27identità italo-americana attraverso interviste semi-strutturate con nipoti di immigrati italiani cresciuti nel Bronx, New York. I temi principali dello studio includono i valori familiari, il viaggiare, la comunità, la lingua e la resilienza contro avversità. Il contesto storico dell\u27immigrazione italiana negli Stati Uniti evidenzia le sfide rappresentate dalle difficoltà economiche, dalla discriminazione e dall\u27assimilazione, sottolineando al contempo l\u27influenza duratura di una forte etica del lavoro e delle tradizioni. Il Bronx è stato uno spazio di scambio culturale, che ha sfidato le rigide nozioni di segregazione etnica e favorito le relazioni interetniche. Nel corso del tempo, le tradizioni che un tempo preservavano il patrimonio italiano si sono concentrate sempre più sul rafforzamento dei legami familiari, riflettendo un\u27identità in evoluzione plasmata sia dal patrimonio culturale che dalla vita urbana. Analizzando queste narrazioni, questo studio contribuisce a un dibattito più ampio sulla migrazione, l\u27identità e il ruolo delle comunità di immigrati nel plasmare il panorama culturale, sottolineando al contempo l\u27impatto insistente dell\u27adattamento e della resilienza
McLuhan’s Brain: A Probe into the Toronto School Legacy of Neuroscience Fiction
No full textIn his hagiography of Marshall McLuhan, Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall
McLuhan, Douglas Coupland devotes a large portion of his discussion to the
media scholar’s brain, which takes on a peculiar agency. It would be easy to
accuse Coupland of being a cognitive determinist, but to do so would ignore the
important detail that he is merely carrying on a legacy of speculative
neuroscience established by McLuhan and other members of the Toronto
School. The legacy persists today in the work of such scholars as Nicholas Carr,
Maryanne Wolfe, Bernard Stiegler, and N. Katherine Hayles. This paper offers a
brief overview of the legacy’s past and present, ultimately promoting a future of
neuroscientific speculation for brains that can engage in both slow, careful
reading and hyperactive, generative invention
A Review of written matter, a book of poetry and photos by Andrew McLuhan
No full textwritten matter
by Andrew McLuhan
202
Tetrads and Chiasmus: A Reclamation of the Tetrad Wheel
No full textThis paper re-introduces Paul Levinson’s 1978 work on the Laws of Media: Tetrad wheels. Tetrad wheels serve to extend McLuhan’s original tetrads by exploring the ways in which the figure/ground structures that McLuhan discusses ultimately move the tetrads from synchronic analysis to diachronic analysis and from a metaphor-structure of technology to a chiasmus-structure of technology. Tetrad wheels are built by extending McLuhan’s claim that the laws of media derive from two figure/ground dualisms. Instead of stopping here, tetrad wheels understand the laws of media to be comprised of a figure (enhancement), a pre-ground (obsolescence), a pre-figure (retrieval), and a post-ground (reversal). This structure derives from the observation that—temporally speaking—-retrieval and obsolescence deal with phenomena which necessarily preexist a particular technology, enhancement deals with a technology’s immediate and proximate effect, and reversal deals with an effect which must come after the introduction of a technology.This paper re-introduces Paul Levinson’s 1978 work on the Laws of Media: Tetrad wheels. Tetrad wheels serve to extend McLuhan’s original tetrads by exploring the ways in which the figure/ground structures that McLuhan discusses ultimately move the tetrads from synchronic analysis to diachronic analysis and from a metaphor-structure of technology to a chiasmus-structure of technology. Tetrad wheels are built by extending McLuhan’s claim that the laws of media derive from two figure/ground dualisms. Instead of stopping here, tetrad wheels understand the laws of media to be comprised of a figure (enhancement), a pre-ground (obsolescence), a pre-figure (retrieval), and a post-ground (reversal). This structure derives from the observation that—temporally speaking—-retrieval and obsolescence deal with phenomena which necessarily preexist a particular technology, enhancement deals with a technology’s immediate and proximate effect, and reversal deals with an effect which must come after the introduction of a technology