# Event Details - **Event Name**: Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century - **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 15 May, 2026 at 09:30 am – Sun, 17 May, 2026 at 04:30 pm (+01:00) - **Event Description**: An interdisciplinary conference commemorating 20 years since Ballards final novel and just over50 years since the publication of High RiseAbout this Event2026 is an apt time to celebrate the work of the writer and essayist JG Ballard as it sees 50 years since the publication of one of his seminal novels High Rise (1975) as well as 20 years since his final novel Kingdom Come (2006) (a novel whose dystopian setting, a shopping centre, was based on Kingston-Upon-Thames own Bentall Centre).Ballard, of course is indelibly associated with Kingston and its surrounding areas having lived for 50 years in nearby Shepperton - with Kingston's Bentall Centre used as the model for The "Metro-Centre" in Kingdom Come. This interdisciplinary conference, organised through (and with thanks to) the Visual Cultures Research Centre, Kingston School of Art, will take place over the weekend of 15th of May 2026 and invites researchers and creative practitioners who are engaged with Ballard’s work and legacy; its seeks to excavate Ballard’s association with Kingston and its surrounding (Psycho)geographies (Heathrow, the M25, the Westway Shepperton and its studios, Brooklands racetrack etc) and architectures; to discuss Ballard’s work in all its forms (novels, short stories, essays, journalism and more) and his legacy across a diverse range of the arts and media cultures.The conference will aim to consider Ballard’s legacy in the 21 century especially in the creative arts and in architecture, through contemporary 21st century research. To that end it will take place in Kingston University’s very own Ballardian “High Rise” – our RIBA and Mies Van der Rohe award winning Town House building. It not only invites papers of 15-20 minutes but also the work of creative practitioners (artists, writers, filmmakers) whose own work engages with and exhibits Ballard’s legacyConference organisers: Dr Matt Melia (m.melia@kingston.ac.uk) and Dr Chris Horrocks (C.horrocks@kingston.ac.uk)Conference ProgrammeThis is a provisional programme and times/speakers /running order might changeWe are currently confirming keynotesJ.G Ballard Conference ProgrammeFriday, May 15Registration9:00–10:00Welcome10:00–10:15 – Welcoming remarks and noticesKeynote + Q&A10:15–11:00Tea / Coffee11:00–11:15Panel 1: Ballard, Film and Image11:15–12:15Ed Platt – From Shanghai to Shepperton: Wartime Childhoods in the Work of J.G. Ballard and John BoormanAnnalisa Sonzogni – Echoes of Absence: Ballard and the Photographic Afterlife of Abandoned ArchitectureLaurence Kent – Zapruder Frame 235: J.G. Ballard’s Media Theory of Political ViolenceLunch12:15–13:30Panel 2: Cars, Concrete and Crash13:30–14:30Paul March-RussellRussell – After the Crash: Subalternity and Agency in Concrete IslandLouise BouvetZ Zieleskiewicz – A Phenomenology of the Event: Aesthetic Shock and Embodied Perception in Crash by Ballard and CronenbergMik Tampold – “Is the Rectum an Automobile Accident?” Bersani and ObjectOriented Ontology in J.G. Ballard’s CrashTea / Coffee14:30–14:45Panel 3: The Built Environment14.45-15.45Marcin Tereszewski – Theme Parks of Control: J.G. Ballard, Disneyland, and the Utopian Logic of Late CapitalismTeyé Lee – From vertical space to vertical attention (Rereading High Rise through platform capitalism)Simon Barker – Always Crashing (15-minute film, dir. Simon Barker and Jason Wood)Tea / Coffee15:45–16:00Panel 4: Surrealism and (Post)Modernity16:00–17:00Carolyn Lau – Becoming Landscape: A Posthuman Reading of J.G. Ballard’s “Free, Fantastic Literature”James Reath – Weather Modification Inc.End of Day 1Saturday, May 16Keynote + Q&A10:15–11:00Tea / Coffee11:00–11:15Panel 1: Ballard and Home – Shepperton and the Suburbs11.15-12-15Stephen Barber – A Journey into J.G. Ballard’s House, 2019Chris Horrocks – Ballard’s Garden SculptureMatt Melia – Bowie, Ballard and the Suburban ExperimentLunch12:15–13:30Panel 2: Environment and Catastrophe – Ballard’s Ecotopias13:30–14:30Zlatan Filipovic – The Unsettling Kinship: J.G. Ballard and the New Climate ImaginaryPiotr Bockowski – Biogenetic Recapitulation in Ballardian Visions of Environmental DisastersMaz Jardon – Turbid Epistemology in The Wind from NowhereTea / Coffee14:30–14:45Panel 3: Kingdom Come, Fascism and Consumerism14.45-15.45Mark Blacklock – “Fascism? Hard word to get out, isn’t it?” Ballard on Fascism, from “Alphabets of Unreason” to Kingdom ComeAmy May Fischli – The Soft Fascism of ConsumerismLezley George – Suburban Consumption and Dystopian Fashion GeographiesTea / Coffee15.45-16.00Panel 4: Creatively Interpreting Ballard16:00–17:00Mike Bonsall – Digital Interpretations of High RRiseJames Blake – Richard Prince’s Borrowings from J.G. Ballard: The Anatomy of AppropriationEnd of Day 2Sunday, May 17thPanel: Ballardian Psychogeography10:15–11:15George Reid – Terminal Ambience: Brutalist YouTube Audiovisuals and Ballardian PsychogeographiesNick Fergusson – A Walk Around Heathrow AirportMatt Smith – Everyday Architecture / Psychogeography (15-minute Film)Optional Closing RemarksFollowing the final panel, attendees are invited to travel together to Shepperton (accessible by bus or train) to visit Ballard’s house and the surrounding area, followed by Sunday lunch at The Bell Inn, Old Charlton Rd, Shepperton. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/kingston-upon-thames/terminal-futures-jg-ballard-in-the-21st-century/100001983439962320 - **Event Categories**: art, business, conferences, literary-art, entertainment, workshops, nonprofit, shopping, funfairs - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: GBP ## Event venue details - **city**: Kingston upon Thames - **state**: EN - **country**: United Kingdom - **location**: Kingston University Penrhyn Road Campus - **lat**: 51.4032364 - **long**: -0.3034851 - **full address**: Kingston University Penrhyn Road Campus, 55-59 Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/0ecf20bacf613266bc3299d56f17072708428c19eb4a4ab3f725526ee305cd6c-rimg-w900-h600-dc8f918e-gmir.jpg?v=1771525874 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century being held? - **A:** Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century takes place on Fri, 15 May, 2026 at 09:30 am to Sun, 17 May, 2026 at 04:30 pm at Kingston University Penrhyn Road Campus, 55-59 Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom. - **Q**: Who is organizing Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century? - **A:** Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century is organized by Dr Matt Melia and Professor Stephen Barber, Kingston University. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Terminal Futures: JG Ballard in the 21st Century", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/0ecf20bacf613266bc3299d56f17072708428c19eb4a4ab3f725526ee305cd6c-rimg-w900-h600-dc8f918e-gmir.jpg?v=1771525874", "startDate": "2026-05-15T09:30:00+01:00", "endDate": "2026-05-17T16:30:00+01:00", "url": "https://allevents.in/kingston-upon-thames/terminal-futures-jg-ballard-in-the-21st-century/100001983439962320", "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventScheduled", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Kingston University Penrhyn Road Campus", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "55-59 Penrhyn Road", "postalCode": "KT1 2EE", "addressLocality": "Kingston upon Thames", "addressRegion": "EN", "addressCountry": "GB" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "51.4032364", "longitude": "-0.3034851" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "An interdisciplinary conference commemorating 20 years since Ballards final novel and just over50 years since the publication of High Rise", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-02-18", "availabilityEnds": "2026-05-17T16:30:00+01:00", "validFrom": "2026-02-18", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "0.00", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/kingston-upon-thames/terminal-futures-jg-ballard-in-the-21st-century/100001983439962320" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-02-18", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-02-18", "url": "https://allevents.in/kingston-upon-thames/terminal-futures-jg-ballard-in-the-21st-century/100001983439962320", "price": 0, "name": "General Admission" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Dr Matt Melia and Professor Stephen Barber Kingston University", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/dr-matt-melia-and-professor-stephen-barber-kingston-university/24006126" } ] } ] ```