Especulating in

SPECULATING IN THE
the present
PRESENT continious
CONTINOUS 2024

submission guidelines
Thank you for agreeing to
participate in the project
ing: creating in the present
continuous. ing is an open-
source web platform and ex-
hibition that provides tools for
leveraging speculative ideation.
As a collaborator, I invite you
to create a series of exercises
and respond to the five project
prompts. Please read the in-
structions for each component
of the project. You can find the
submission details at the end of
the document. Please contact
me if you have any questions.

Let’s speculate!

Fischli and Weiss, Equilibre/Quiet Afternoon, 1984–1985.

making

Create a series of instructions

for making something. The in-
structions can come in any form
and can also be based on your
previous works. Keep in mind
the accessibility of the activ-
ity and make sure it is broad
enough for anybody to engage
with it. Consider whether it
needs a list of materials, objects,
or requirements that are ideally
simple to find. Please include a
title for your exercise. You may
incorporate images to support
your instructions or to showcase
your results.

How can unpredictability and chaos be embraced

in creation? Can instructions condition our act of
making? How much agency does the artist have?

notes
Ben Vautier, Total Art Match-Box, 1965.
Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing 118, 1971.
Yoko Ono, Grapefruit: A Book of Instruction and Drawings, 1961.
reflecting

Generate a list of 10-30 open-

sourced texts or websites you
consulted during this research
or relating to your conception
of speculation. You can gath-
er the repertoire through any
method, technique, or platform,
and it may involve any element
of chance.

Can a collection of hyperlinks become an archive?

Can we break algorithms through a hyperlink
repository? What can hyperlinks teach us about
chance? Hyperlinks may be an alternative way to
navigate information, allowing us to pirate our way
toward an open-source future.

notes
Pablo Helguera, Librería Donceles, 2013-2023.
Superflex, Copyshop.
Stony Island Arts Bank, Theaster Gates.
seeing

Reflect on what speculation

means to you and respond by
gathering a series of 30-50
images that relate to your per-
spective. These images can be
collected through any method,
technique, or platform. Intend
for the images to speak for
themselves, so restrain yourself
from including any supporting
text description. The images can
be of any quality desired and
should be submitted as JPEG or
PNG files.

What is the contemporary hierarchy of images, and

can images replace text? Can we displace linearity
through image-based practices? What does image
quality represent, and how does it propagate?

notes
Atlas Group, Civilizationally, we do not dig holes to bury ourselves.
Wolfgang Tillmans, Truth Study Center.
Zoe Leonard, The Fae Richards Photo Archive, 1993–1996.
moving

Create a series of instructions

that involve an action for the
body to perform in relation to its
surroundings. The instructions
can also be based on any of your
previous works. Please include a
title for the exercise, and feel free
to add any images or videos to
support the instructions.

How can we change the way we perceive our body

and agitate the structures behind it? Can we perceive
our body as the true mediator in articulating alternative
forms of being, alternative forms of transaction, and
alternative forms of understanding? Speculation has
traditionally been perceived as a mindset, a concept,
or a cognitive state. Can it be embodied?

notes
Maria Jose Arjona, La belleza del animal de cuatro patas, 2008.
Tehching Hsieh, Art/Life One Year Performance 1983-1984.
Yves Klein, Leap Into the Void, 1960.
gambling

Create a game involving chance.

Send over the set of rules and
requirements—essentially the
only fixed or determined ele-
ment—since the result should be
unpredictable or plural. Please
include a title for the game, and
you may incorporate images or
videos to support your rules.

Can play be a medium to engage with speculation?

Play’s chaotic nature is reflected in its features of
destruction and creation, spontaneity and structure,
recreation and emergence. Play is emergent, demon-
strating how a set of initial conditions—rules, spaces,
time—can affect the execution of the game. Subse-
quentially, actors may propel further changes and
constantly create new possibilities.

notes
Adriana Martínez Baron, Arco iris, 2015.
Gabriel Orozco, Ping Pond Table, 1998.
Juan Obando, Pro Revolution Soccer, 2019.
manifesting

Fill in the blank for the prompt:

speculation is _______.

You can submit as many sentenc-

es as you find necessary. This will
be used to construct a collective
manifesto.
submission details

When completed, upload each

exercise and the necessary imag-
es/videos to the shared Google
Drive folder and email confirming
your submission. Please include
a short bio (maximum 150 words)
and state how you would like your
name to appear on the project.
Your contributions will be pub-
lished virtually on the ing website
and exhibited at the London Inter-
disciplinary School Gallery in July
2024. Additionally, your exercises
will be conducted and tested with
potential users/groups.

Thank you for your valuable par-

ticipation. Please do not hesitate
to contact me if you have any
questions.

Juliana Echavarría