This seminar expands on the reflections introduced by the exhibition ¡Aquí hay petróleo!, which focused on the relationships between fossil fuels, contemporary forms of power, and the imaginaries of desire. This time, the emphasis shifts toward the theoretical and critical dimension of these connections, exploring how fossil culture has shaped masculine subjectivities associated with the combustion engine and how these persist today in new forms of petromasculinity.
In dialogue with the historical genealogy proposed by the exhibition, the seminar will bring together diverse voices in contemporary thought to discuss the relevance and transformations of fossil fascism at a time marked by the global rise of the far right and the urgency of a just and sustainable energy transition. The presentations will address the aesthetic, political, and affective dimensions of fossil cultures, as well as their current manifestations in digital, media, and social spheres.
The seminar will feature the participation of Gemma Barricarte and Jaime Vindel, curators of the exhibition, along with editor and writer Layla Martínez and researcher Miriam Valero Cordero, who will offer complementary perspectives from curatorial practice, cultural criticism, and academic analysis of contemporary imaginaries.
The discussion will start from a key question: How are the exaltation of motorized speed—as proclaimed in Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto—and contemporary practices like rolling coal, in which certain white, conservative male groups embrace energy excess as a form of identity-based resistance, intertwined? This critical reading seeks to illuminate the continuities between the imaginaries of progress and domination forged in the 20th century and the rhetorics of power and masculinity that resurface in the face of today’s climate crisis.
With this seminar, There’s Oil Here! extends beyond the exhibition space to generate a forum for thought and public debate, articulating a transdisciplinary perspective on the relations between energy, gender, politics, and visual culture.
More information: https://www.circulobellasartes.com/humanidades/una-ciclonopedia-contemporanea/