Speculative Futures Seminar Series

Whether they are asking us to imagine a world without prisons, police brutality, or borders, our communities – of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, working class, immigrants, people with disabilities – have always been at the forefront of world building. But we are rarely seen as futurists, even though we continue to rebuild worlds, sometimes without any other choice, to initiate our own cycles of freedom.

The Speculative Futures Seminar Series is a 3-part skills building workshop for artists, storytellers, and creatives interested in building visions of the future. Led by artist and educator, Bianca Nozaki-Nasser, the series examines elements of science fiction, social justice, and speculative object-making as tools that can be used by any creative. By the end of the series, participants will walk away with a diverse set of creative outputs (digital, print, conceptual work, etc) that help us dream beyond moments of crisis and bring us closer to worlds we want.

The series takes place from 5-8pm on August 27, September 3, and September 10. Registration is for the entire 3-part series and covers materials, a copy of Level Ground's publication, a Practicing Futures zine, and a dinner after the first session. No prior experience or work outside the session times is required. Further details will be provided after you register.

If you have any questions, or cost is a prohibiting factor for you to participate, please email dGVhbSB8IGxldmVsZ3JvdW5kICEgY28=.

Our first session will take place in the Butler archives housed at the Huntington Library. You'll get free access to the Huntington for the day and starting at 5pm we'll gather for brief introductions and an overview of the series before diving into the archives. Students will receive Level Ground's anthology/workbook and a Practicing Futures zine made by Bianca that provides some useful context and sources used for the workshop series. At 7pm we'll head to a group dinner at a restaurant nearby (covered by Level Ground).

Together we will look at social movements through the lens of speculative world building, identify storytelling tools to develop our own narratives, and begin the process of “messy making” of speculative objects.

In the final session participants will continue their “messy making” of their speculative objects from the future. We’ll share our final outcomes and discuss the process and lessons presented.

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Level Ground's Social Practice Labs are artist-led readings, seminars, and workshops inspired by revolutionary texts that lead us towards cultural and political change. The program is best suited to support artists, organizers, and cultural workers who are invested in interrogating our socio-political landscape and building pathways towards a movement-inspired creative practice. Learn more at levelground.co.

Bianca Nozaki-Nasser is a Japanese-Lebanese-Syrian interdisciplinary artist. She is the founder of Practicing Futures, a creative lab that fosters community, education, and collaborative practice to reclaim, reimagine, and shape the futures we want to see.

Bianca works with visual and interactive media to understand, critique, and reimagine the future. Her work is rooted in social practice and has spanned across immersive audio video installations, speculative objects, and community engagement programs. She invites collective wrecking and reckoning, exploring the tension between building new worlds and redecorating old ones.

Bianca holds a Masters degree in Media Design Practice from the Art Center College of Design and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Southern California . They have exhibited their work across the United States and participated in several artist residencies including the Level Ground Residency Program in Los Angeles and Activation in New York. Additionally, they have co-founded and organized with artist and worker-led collectives committed to radical pedagogy and collective liberation.

Over the last ten years, Bianca has worked across industries developing strategic storytelling, creative interventions, and community power for clients and collaborators like Sundance, UNICEF Innovation, Asian American Documentary Network, and The California Endowment. During her five year tenure as 18 Million Rising’s inaugural Creative Director, Bianca built the visual identity that established the organization as a digital leader in progressive Asian American organizing. Previously, she co-founded a med-tech platform for patient generated health data management.

Bianca currently resides in Los Angeles and is the Director of Storytelling at Emergent Fund, a rapid response resource fund that supports emergent organizing led by frontline Black, Indigenous, and people of color. In addition to her creative practice, Bianca is also an assistant professor and teaches interdisciplinary studios and intensives on design, futurism, and political education.

Practicing Futures, founded by artist Bianca Nozaki-Nasser, is a creative lab that fosters community, education, and collaborative practice to reclaim, reimagine, and shape the futures we want to see.

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