As a taster for our next event on 20th June here is a beautiful quote from Michel Foucault on the difference between spaces of utopia and heterotopia.
“In the mirror, I see myself there where I am not, in an unreal, virtual space that opens up behind the surface; I am over there, there where I am not, a sort of shadow that gives my own visibility to myself, that enables me to see myself there where I am absent: such is the utopia of the mirror. But it is also a heterotopia in so far as the mirror does exist in reality, where it exerts a sort of counteraction on the position that I occupy. From the standpoint of the mirror I discover my absence from the place where I am since I see myself over there.” (Michel Foucault, 1967)
How might this notion of two kinds of mirror help us to theorize the Kursaal? How, for example, might it help us to consider the production of spaces that are now seemingly in the past and the present? How can theorists and artists alike respond to the virtual/real presence of this iconic Southend landmark?
Read on… http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/foucault1.pdf
Kursaal as Heterotopic Space
Jane Millar: Artist and Curator
Angie Voela: Academic (UEL)
Tony D Sampson: Chair (UEL)
Guest DJ: “Twig the Wonder Kid” (11 till 1am)
20th June 20148.30pm for a 9pm start
Upstairs at the Railway Hotel, Southend-on-Sea, http://www.railwayhotelsos.co.uk
FREE ENTRY
Community Engagement Initiative 