WORKSHOP: Cute Accelerationism

Temptation is everywhere: in advertising and social media, in anime and hyperpop, in toys, fashion and digital identities. But can it accelerate as a phenomenon enough to give rise to new forms of desire, relationship, and being? In Cute Accelerationism, Amy Ireland and Maya B. Kronic do not reduce justifications to a commercial trend imposed by capitalism; rather, they see it as a force that shapes bodies, desires, and identities. Kjut is not commodified girlhood, but an idea with a strange potential: softness becomes disturbing here, submissiveness allows transformation, and overworked femininity opens up to new forms of gender and being.This reading group will be held in English and will be led by the researcher of technology and semiotics Patrick Leftwich. It will be devoted to the analysis of the themes present in the book — embryology, animal behavior, cybernetics, queer theory and internet culture. Participants will return to the original text a few years after its release to reflect together on what changes its provocation has undergone and what the accelerationism of queer and trans thought can offer today. This event accompanies the premiere of the Polish translation of the book, published by the Working Group in partnership with Unsound. It is free, but you need to register. The form is available here.