Morphisms is an online talks programme exploring transformations and new arrangements of knowledge production. To morph is to gradually change one thing into another by describing the state in between. 

As we construct new digital and physical spaces at NN, we are thinking through these transitions. In October, we will launch the inaugural Library Stack NN Contemporary Art branch; the pilot programme for a digital lending library that explores both alternative publishing models and contexts for translocation. We have also commissioned artist David Blandy to produce Lost Eons: Land of Iron, a role-playing experience of gaming and speculative fiction for institution building and through a new project collaborating with the Northamptonshire Black Archives Association, we examine the potential of digital archiving as a postcolonial methodology for preserving and documenting regional black* histories.

By way of these projects’ expansion, we will invite artists, curators and thinkers to address new movements and complex interactions. Speakers will discuss their methods of exploring inaccessible, opaque systems, such as internet platforms, online libraries, search engines, and how these play an increasingly significant role in the organisation of modern life. Morphisms will delve into the organising principles that inform these algorithmic projects and new forms of cultural intelligence.

The artist Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley will start the series on the 20th of October. Other confirmed speakers include Caroline Sinders (3rd November), Joana Moll (24th November), Do Not Research (Abbey Pusz and Margo Bergamini) (15th December) and Ruth Catlow (12th January 2022). Further speakers will be announced in due course.

Each season, NN hosts a programme of lectures by leading artists, curators, art historians and critics, situating the organisational concerns within the larger context of contemporary art. Talks are free and open to all, and will also be documented through audio recordings that reside in the NN Archives Talks. In order to receive a Zoom link, registration is required in advance via our website or Eventbrite.

*The Northamptonshire Black History Association defines black as people and groups from visible minority communities, especially those with African and/or Asian origins.