Glocal Metamodernisms Conference April 27-27 2023
I just attended the Glocal Metamodernisms Conference in Jyväskylä, Finland and gave a talk on the idea of ‘space’ and ‘alternative spaces’ as represented in films (see Space 1 and Space 2 for more, Space 3 will be up soon).
Though I have no qualms or nervousness about the ‘performance’ element of giving a talk and I’m pretty confident about my ability to write an engaging talk, I definitely had an undercurrent of insecurity about the intellectual content of my talk. Was what I was thinking just plain dumb? I mean, I think it’s interesting and cool and that I’m onto something worth exploring, but will anyone else think that? The answer: yes. At least a few people there found my talk connected with their own, very different work, in various ways. Yay!
I used to attend conferences and ‘festivals’ a lot more in the past – mainly tech/web or science – and enjoy getting together with others from my wider sphere to discuss ideas or simply just ‘connect’. This conference was no different.
I flew into Helsinki and had to get a train to Jyväskylä (pronounced-ish: H-vas’-cula) which took three and a half hours. While on the train I posted a message to my Facebook about how I’d arrived in Finland and someone else attending the conference said he was on a train. It turned out he was on the same train as I was… then it turned out others from the conference were on the same train! I’d met them at the conference I attended in Seattle last autumn so it was great to reconnect.
We went out that night and met up with a few others. I had a relatively early night though as I wanted to be on top form for my talk the next morning.
It made me re-think the idea of doing a PhD though. I am writing a proposal for a non-fiction book on these ideas and if that gets picked up, then I will do that.. but afterwards maybe I can pick up the idea of the PhD again.
