"Speed and death, the road to McPhysics", a lecture by Ruben Beentjes / screening afterwards: "Magic Trip", 20:00 - 00:00

Being on the road, roadworks, speed and highways have since they were first constructed been a source of inspiration for movies, books, stories and philosophy.

In that light we have invited Ruben Beentjes to give a lecture. "Speed and death, the road to McPhysics" He will connect literature from, for example, Kerouac and Burroughs, film, philosophy and the McDrive.

Ruben Beentjes: "Although there still is a nostalgic and romantic longing to see the highway as a kind of ragged buffer zone between adventure and new encounters battling boredom and futility, the metaphor of the highway as being the aorta that would connect life might be a bit outdated. In many contemporary movies, the road and its network reoccurs as a theme - often being portrayed in a way that is more standoffish. No engines that are racing their way through a hot summer night, but the sound of monotonous humming. What we see is a network far from above, in a kind of sublime inertia; a motionless form of moving. It appears to always have been this way, leading nowhere and having no clear history. These highways don't serve any purpose outside of their realm, but have become a purpose themselves. If this network still has to symbolize a blood circulation, it would be that of a zombie, or the apparatus that exists solely to survive."

The lecture will be in Dutch and starts at 20:00h. Afterwards we are screening the documentary Magic Trip (2011).