Panel

Join The New School’s stellar faculty for another edition of “A New School Moment” as they unravel some of the complexities of a particularly pressing political, cultural, or social issue. On March 5, the focus is energy.

Energy comes to us from the earths deepest crevices to the furthest reaches of the solar system—often through substantial technological advances, sometimes at equally substantial costs to humans. This increasingly complex system of human agency and infrastructures is the topic of this exchange, organized by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. In brief, succinct presentations, the speakers examine the potential consequences if energy were to be considered a “partner” in the endeavor of producing and consuming energy. Reflecting recent developments in philosophy, sometimes grouped under the heading of “speculative materialism,” the panelists propose that energy is not dead matter but an active agent that needs to be recognized as such in order to make human life sustainable on this planet.

Faculty members from across The New School analyze various notions of energy, drawing from their expertise in the political and sciences, media studies, environmentalism, and design, as well as art. Each will speak for seven minutes and analyze energy from his or her particular professional domain. Jamie Kruse, whose artwork Thingness of Energy is currently on view the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, opens the forum.

Moderator 
Edward Keller, Co-founder, AUM Studio, Associate Dean, Distributed Learning and Technology, and Associate Professor, School of Design Strategies, Parsons The New School for Design

Participants 
Jonathan Bach, Chair, Global Studies Undergraduate Program, and Associate Professor, International Affairs, The New School for Public Engagement
Liz Barry, Director, Urban Environment, The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, and part-time faculty, School of Design Strategies, and School of Constructed Environments, Parsons The New School for Design
Jacalyn Brookner, ecological artist, and part-time faculty, Fine Arts Program, Parsons The New School for Design
Georgina Drew, anthropologist, Post-Doctorate Fellow, India China Institute, The New School
Jamie Kruse, artist and independent scholar
Alan H. McGowan, Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Science, Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Eugene Lang College
Arthur Ou, artist, Director, BFA Photography, and Assistant Professor, School of Art, Media, and Technology, Parsons The New School for Design
Rafi Youatt, Assistant Professor, Politics, The New School for Social Research

resented by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics in conjunction with the 2011-2013 focus theme “Thingness,” and with the support of the Office for Sustainability and The Green Fund.