The Month of Communism
The second month at The Portal begins February 4th
A close friend told me that he doesn't want to be associated with the word "communism".
I told him that I want to create The Portal to be a place where we can think through concepts that have these weird powers of association.
Are you looking for such a space?
The first month of The Portal is over. We focused on the concept of Libido. You can find a livestream celebrating this month below:
But it was so much more. Each space at The Portal is being carefully crafted to offer a unique and distinct experience, while at the same time holding together into a coherent whole of a month-long thought journey.
This month we will focus on the following path, and invite the following guests to think with:
- Concept Cave: Communism — in every concept cave I, Dr. Cadell Last, will teach on a different fundamental concept. This time we focus on the concept of communism from a philosophical perspective. The concept of communism is obviously polarising and controversial. Most people have an instinctive/intuitive reaction against it, and for good reason. Some people have an actual experiential reaction against it. Either way, with the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism in place, there is still a need to think through the concept of communism, both so that we do not concede the field to this new hegemony, but also so that we can avoid making mistakes that could be easily avoided with the right conceptual insight.
- The Edge: Hyperhumanism with Dr. Carl Hayden Smith — in every The Edge session we open up more of an exploratory and experimental space. In this session, Dr. Smith will be introducing us to the concept of Hyperhumanism, a still vague and ill-defined concept being explored in academic spaces that are often also wrestling with concepts like the post and trans-human. In general, the Hyperhuman points towards a new form of organic connectivity that is technophilic, but not dominated by technology to the point of an effacement of the human. The fact that Hyperhumanism is still a vague and ill-defined concept is perfect for The Edge, since we use this space to source the collective intelligence of The Portal, play around with unexpected connections, and see if we can conceptualise something new.
- Thought Lab: Timenergy with David McKerracher — Thought Lab represents a more professorial space, a traditional structure with a lecture and a Q and A, but also with a more open discussion towards the end. This month we invite David McKerracher of Theory Underground, and author of the book Timenergy: Why You Have No Time or Energy (2023), to teach us about the origin of this concept, its technical use, as well as how we can think with this concept in our own/shared becoming. McKerracher defines Timenergy as "large energy-infused blocks of repeatable time throughout the week". For McKerracher this concept is fundamentally a political concept, and essential to think through for any real concept of social emancipation.
- Real Talk: Status Anxiety with Alex Ebert — at the end of the month we host a Real Talk, a space of free association and full speech. Towards the end of this month we host Alex Ebert, artist and philosopher, who has been thinking through and also living out the concept of Status Anxiety. This is probably going to be an intimate gathering, in the sense of approaching self-reflection and personal relation to a concept that is deeply related to problems of community and social life in general. Status refers to hierarchal position in a social group, and anxiety represents one of the most difficult emotions to process the cause of our desires. When you combine these terms in a setting like Real Talk, we are sure to get something explosive, and hopefully also something that helps us think our own relation to social life.
To find our more about the events, or to sign up, visit The Portal.
I hope to think with you this month.