9 June - 15 August

During Futurecamp we will be exploring what the future might hold, from five specific positions. Artists who will be in-residence are Bonnie Camplin, David Raymond Conroy, Patrick Goddard, Daniel Keller, Rachel Maclean, Shana Moulton, Ahmet Öğüt, Rachel Reupke, James Richards and Tracey Rose.

Futurecamp is curated by Wysing Curators, Kathy Noble and Gareth Bell-Jones.

Download a pdf of writer Jessica Lack's live blog commentary of the events here.

A series of fortnightly events will address elements of the way we live now and how these might evolve and affect the future and will comprise talks, discussion, screenings, performances and workshops.

Saturday 14 June, 12 – 5.40pm
The Way We Act Now: Psychology and Behaviour in the Digital Age

Behaviour and human interactions have been radically affected and changed by the impact of the digital and Internet revolutions – causing dramatic changes that we are still living through. The pleasure of our networked lives is played out publicly via social networks of image and text, and the immediate access to information and entertainment this enables is now considered essential. However, the anxiety caused by living in this network of constant communication mean many of us work all hours of the day via smart phones and tablets. Alongside this, our emotions are now instrumentalised via technology and the virtual world and we experience relationships and emotions through a screen.

With contributions from Dr Stefana Broadbent, Digital Anthropology MsC at University College; Dr Kathleen Richardson, Research Associate at Department of Anthropology, University College London; and artists Cécile B Evans, Jesse Darling, Shana Moulton, Rachel Reupke, Erica Scourti and Frances Stark.

Saturday 28 June, 12 – 5pm
Private vs Public: Activism, Economics and Politics Today

The relationship between the economy, politics and the way we are governed, is irrevocably intertwined and the future of one cannot be considered without the others. Added to which there is both a culture of apathy and an ongoing appetite for extreme activism and protest being necessary for society. The ability to forecast what may happen to the economy accurately will affect political thought and models, whilst widespread public dissatisfaction, and corrupt or unfair economies of labour and work, urge people towards more extreme viewpoints. Alongside this, the prevalence of surveillance via digital and drone technology creates a culture of secrecy and fear and needs to be considered openly. How we address and question these systems of power, imagine or envision alternatives, and how these are enacted are essential to how the future might be formed.

With contributions from Rammy El, producer, Al Jazeera; Ray Filar, journalist; Dr Claire Loussouarn, Department of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London, Aaron Bastani of Novaramedia; and artists Patrick Goddard, Josh Harris, Yuri Pattison, Nicoline Van Harskamp and Soheila Sokhanvari.

Saturday 12 July, 12 – 5pm
The Way We Live Now: Environmental and Social Consequences

The environments we live in, be they man-made or natural, are essential to our future development and possibly survival. The design and construction methods of the places and space’s we inhabit affect our physical and psychological experience by framing the way we live, alongside their long-term sustainability and impact on the environment; therefore, are inextricable from the social, political and environmental eco-systems we inhabit. The increasing lack of affordable socially and economically viable alternatives has led to many people being unable to sustain a reasonable standard of living. As such, what are the alternative ways of living and who will propose and instrumentalise these?

With contributions from Dr Richard Barbrook, Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages, University of Westminster; Louise Carver, doctoral researcher with the Leverhulme Centre for the Study of Value, Prof Ian Hodge, Professor of Rural Economics at the Department of Land Economy at University of Cambridge, Dr Isaac Marrero-Guillamón, Anthropology, Goldsmiths College; Ben Vickers, unMonastry and Curator of Digital, Serpentine Gallery; and artists Bonnie Camplin, David Raymond Conroy and Daniel Keller.

Saturday 26 July, 11am – 5pm
Alternative Methods: Art and Education
Plus Open Studios

Art education has become an urgent issue, at both secondary and university level, due to cuts in funding and the politics and public discussion surrounding its relevance to society. As such, the formal routes for education and engagement with art are failing, and access is becoming socially and economically more divided than ever. Artists have long created alternatives to the established institutions and methods. However, recently there has been a resurgence in this form of activity and discussion, in part in response to the general need, but also in relation to more specific questions of social and economic access for different parts of society and culture.

With contributions from Dr Matthew Cheeseman, School of English, University of Sheffield; Anna Colin, freelance curator, co-founder Open School East; Leah Gordon, Ghetto Biennale, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Ahmet Ögüt, The Silent University; School of The Damned and Ella Ritchie, Director of Programming at Intoart with artist Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye; Sally Tallant, Director, Liverpool Biennial; artist Florian Roithmayr and the Expanded Studio group at Wysing.

Some of the artists based at Wysing will be opening their studios for this event. 

Saturday 9 August, 12 – 5pm
A Post-Gender World

Is there a future in which humans can, and will want to, move beyond the biological and social constructions of gender? The ever increasing mediatisation of life has created a form of self-objectification unlike ever before, for both men and women. However, the discussion surrounding the presentation of girls and women has led to a heated public debate and a dramatic resurgence of feminist discourse within the media and public sphere. Within this, the consideration of the discourse surrounding gender identity, in its broadest sense, seems lacking, as the complexities of social and philosophical interpretations of how gender is formed and enacted, are marginalised within the main-stream.

With contributions from artists Zachary Drucker and Rhys Ernst, Richard John Jones, Rachel Maclean, Tracey Rose, Jessica Wiesner and D3signbur3au, alongside a film programme curated by James Richards.