Date: 6 April 2016 (Wed)

Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Venue: Lecture Theatre 4, Cheng Yu Tung Building, CUHK

Speaker: Prof. Christoph Lindner (University of Amsterdam)

Discussant: Prof. Jeroen de Kloet (University of Amsterdam)

Online registration: http://goo.gl/forms/fVGV8tT1Tf

Drawing on the work of Arjun Appadurai, Jacques Rancière, and David Harvey, this talk examines the transnational circulation of ruin aesthetics in sites of urban decay ranging from Detroit and London to Amsterdam and Mumbai. The focus is on how, under conditions of intensified globalization, ruin aesthetics produce various forms of spectral urbanism, become enmeshed in the imaginaries of art museums, and ultimately contribute to neoliberal gentrification and urban branding. Through analysis of architecture, photography, film, and curatorial practice, the talk argues that the estranging effects of unhomeliness and vacancy (which are integral to the art of ruin) have not only become an important part of accelerated urban development, but also now serve to alleviate the very condition of anxiety they produce. The art of ruin has thus evolved into a visual regime in which frictions between urban change, heritage, and memory are being expressed and contested yet also flattened and contained.

Christoph Lindner is Professor of Media and Culture at the University of Amsterdam, where he writes about cities, globalization, and visual culture. He is also the founding Director of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis and a member of the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies. His books include Imagining New York City: Literature, Urbanism and the Visual Arts (Oxford University Press, 2015), and the edited volumes Global Garbage (Routledge, 2016) and Cities Interrupted (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Conducted in English.

All are welcome. Registration is required by 4 April 2016.