Encoded Matter, Ezio Blasetti
March 17, 6.30 PM
Klein Conference room [510], 66 W 12th St, New York, NY

This lecture will reflect upon computational craft that creates consistency and precision within formal explorations.  Material constraints can be consciously redefined through pattern and code, which incubate a search for progressive manufacturing methods. Pure algorithmic design encapsulates the potential for new patterns, which manifest around generative procedures and scripted logic. This abstract material logic embodiment enables an engagement with the complexities of organizational space. ‘Encoded matter’ attempts to draw a parallel between material behavior, emergence in simple software and spatial narratives.

Ezio Blasetti, registered architect TEE-TCG, is the co-founder of maeta design (2011), ahylo studio (2009), apomechanes (2009) and algorithmicdesign.net (2008). Ezio’s recent collaborations include new-territories, biothing, acconci studio, a|Um studio and serge studio. He has taught generative design studios and seminars by means of computational geometry at Pratt Institute, the Architectural Association, Sciarc, RPI, UTS, PennDesign and Columbia University. In 2004 he co-founded otn studio, a young design-build practice and completed several projects in Greece. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and is part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou.

Free and Open to the Public- seating is limited, please register at Eventbrite
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/ezio-blasetti-encoded-matter-future-of-guitar-design-lectures-tickets-10754002511?aff=efbevent

Function: Decomposition, Localization, Abstraction
Speakers: Ray Brassier, Reza Negarestani
March 25, 2014, 6:30pm

Although principally associated with a thesis in the philosophy of mind, functionalism has wide-ranging ramifications. The concept of “functional role” or “functional organization” ties together a metaphysical problem about the basis of the distinction between matter and form, an epistemic problem about how to distinguish semantic content from physical information, and an engineering problem about the relation between structural and functional properties.

This workshop will try to unravel the metaphysical, epistemic, and engineering aspects of functionalism by developing themes from the work of philosophers including William Bechtel, Robert Brandom, Wilfrid Sellars, and William Wimsatt.

Date and Time: March 25, 2014, 6:30pm
Location: Wollman Hall, The New School
66 West 12th Street  New York, NY 10011

This is a free event and open to the public.
Seating is limited: please order tickets via Eventbrite.

MANUAL OVERRIDE: THE SABOTAGE OF CAPITAL
4 Lectures by Evan Calder Williams

Lecture 2: THE SABOTAGE OF TIME
March 10, 7 PM – 10PM
E206 Glass corner conf. room  25 East 13th street, 2nd floor
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited: please register on Eventbrite.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/evan-calder-williams-manual-override-lecture-2-the-sabotage-of-time-tickets-10660867943

This lecture examines one of sabotage’s central qualities and a primary cause of its frequent demonization throughout the last century: its peculiar timescale. This is a mode of time fundamentally opposed to the identity of subject and act that underpins any representational politics, be it voting or street protests. In place of that, sabotage suggests making use of the very paths and delays of circulation. By the time the damage is discovered, no one source can be found, because the commodity, technique, or idea has already routed through the world in the name of capitalizing on uneven zones of wealth and resource. It is a failure without an author. Running counter to the very idea that one should stand up and be counted, sabotage hijacks the time of circulation and arms it against itself. Topics considered include: friction, feedback, and hoards; Veblen on competition and dog-owning; Castoriadis, Simondon, and Stiegler on technical time; steamship ruins in the Bermejo River; supply chains; Ballard; cunning and speed; pipes that go nowhere.

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An overview of all four of Calder Williams’ talks: 
http://ctm.parsons.edu/events/lecture-series/2013-14-fellows-lectures/