Wendy's Subway: Counterfactuals, Workshop with Tyler Coburn, 7/19-8/16

Kliment Voroshilov, Vyacheslav Molotov, and Joseph Stalin walking along the banks of the Moscow-Volga Canal in April, 1937. Nikolai Yezhov has been removed from the image. Credit: F. Kislov. [Image Description: In this archival black and white photograph of Stalin, he stands center and in front of the two other men. He has his right hand tucked into his full-length coat at his chest, and he wears an army cap.]

Counterfactuals: Workshop with Tyler Coburn

July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 16, from 2 to 5pm

This is an online workshop and will take place on Zoom. 

Dates: Sundays, July 19-August 16, 2020 (5 weeks)
Time: 2-5pm EST (3 hours)
Capacity: 12 participants
Cost: $100-300 (Sliding scale $20-60/session, discounted from $30-60/session)

As Tyler describes it:

A counterfactual is a means of speculating about the possible paths events could have taken. We commonly encounter them in sweeping historical re-imaginings (What if the Third Reich had won the Second World War?), but they can also help us ask critical questions about the forms of reparation and restitution owed to communities for past wrongs. A counterfactual is not an "alternative fact," Kellyanne Conway's means of distinguishing "fake news" from the Trump administration's view of reality. Nonetheless, counterfactual thinking may provide some perspective on the disinformation campaigns destabilizing governments and populations worldwide.

Counterfactuals surveys this subject over five sessions. Some will address pertinent texts, artworks, and films, but the focus will be placed on gaming. All participants will have the opportunity to propose counterfactuals this summer, and we will collaborate in small groups to play them out. These games, dynamic ways of working through (and reworking) history, may provide valuable critical tools for engaging our momentous present.

Tyler Coburn is an artist, writer and teacher based in New York.

You can register for this workshop  here.

You can find out more about Wendy’s Subway here.