episode eight/ (G)astronomy

Welcome to Down Down Radio. We are produced by the researchers at the New Politics and Afrofuturism Programme at the charity University of the Underground. This tuition free programme- which ran from October 2020 to March 2021– was calling for Black Radical imagination and pop-culture as powerful vehicles for propelling progressive social justice narratives to mainstream audiences, with a focus on afrofuturism, black activism, climate justice along with political theory and practice. As a part of the programme led by former mayor of Sheffield and European MeP- Magid Magid- the selected students have worked together on producing meaningful experiences and interventions answering: What would a world where both people and the planet thrive look like? What would the values, systems and culture of that world be? Together they explored constellations of new worlds that can shape possible futures. Through interviews, stories and experimental sounds, they explored and played with formats to tell stories that imagined the possibilities for other worlds.

 

In this episode, we present an audio collage by Yris that takes you through the internal musings of a barista who is both fascinated and concerned about space. During this time, we will put a pause on reality, as you will enter another dimension, filled with sounds of space and space experts mixed with sounds of daily life.

 

Yris Apsit (*1989, Colombia) is a visual artist and researcher in political sciences, gender,and queer studies.

Her previous research works dive around political body aesthetics, looking at their intersection with different artistic media (and creativity), as resistance tools. Other topics of interest are subversion and activism, power dynamics, poetico-politics, vulnerability and care, sexuality and identities.

 

Her creative practices are film, photography, writing and illustration. This transdisciplinarity is also part of her experimentations with different media, while un-doing knowledge from academia.

Produced by Yris Apsit.

 

Thank you so much for listening. This is Down Down Radio, produced by researchers at the New Politics and Afro-futurism Programme at University of the Underground. See you next time.