Teleconference for Posthumanism

Please take a look at my teleconference on posthumanism, featuring non-human participants. The conference runs every day from 9am to 9pm JST on Google Meet, and you are free to join in, using the URL provided. If you do decide to take part, note that your position will shift from that of viewer of the work, to one of those being viewed.

*Archive footage from the 2020 live-streamed edition

“Can I have a medium iced coffee please?” “That’s a small, right?” “No, a medium.” “Certainly, one large coming up.” “No, a medium!” Exchanges like this, in which we end up virtually shouting, are now routine. With speech obstructed doubly by mask and protective counter screen, it’s hardly surprising. Communicating with others via transparent membranes of one sort or another has thus become our new normal. In scenarios that require face-to-face communication with others in a public setting, such as supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants, we are compelled to create physical distance using such membranes, even if they are less than a millimeter thick. And thinking about it, the teleconferencing cited as another feature of the new normal also involves communicating with other people via a transparent membrane: that of the monitor. What’s more, online exchanges—and not just meetings—were prone to misunderstandings before all this anyway, and the multiplying effect of the pandemic, as we are urged to stay at home and are thus spending even more time on the internet, seems to be rendering the divisions between people more visible, and deeper. It might be a good idea, before the next pandemic appears, to discuss this issue with a range of others, and find solutions.