Abstract Sci-Fi

2 × 4 hours – Online

This workshop explores how science fiction can move beyond dominant astro- and techno-fascist imaginaries.
Instead of repeating hyper-capitalist singularity myths, linear progress narratives, or toxic Western savior-centered expansionism, it approaches sci-fi as open-ended cosmology design — constructing worlds through their own internal logic, infrastructures, ecologies, and a deliberate break from inherited colonial frameworks.

The focus on the abstract means moving beyond conventional plot structures and anthropocentric storytelling. Rather than building character-driven space operas, participants work with systems, atmospheres, energies, mythologies, and non-human perspectives. Abstract sci-fi treats world-building as spatial, sonic, visual, and conceptual architecture – where mood, structure, and ontology matter more than narrative climax.

We examine how mainstream futures normalise extraction, militarisation, and centralised control, and develop alternative speculative models rooted in distributed intelligence, interdependence, non-anthropocentric thinking, and material responsibility.

Emphasis is placed on upcycling, Earth-as-spaceship perspectives, solarpunk tendencies, energetic autonomy, and constructing futures with the resources already available rather than projecting conquest outward.

Each participant develops a coherent speculative universe drawn from their own imagination, expanding narrative possibilities beyond inherited templates. The final outcome can take any form the participant wants – a zine, film, costume, tool, story, radio format, novel, website, performance, architectural idea or hybrid medium, etc.

The workshop provides multidisciplinary conceptual tools for rigorous world-building and insight into artists and thinkers reshaping contemporary abstract speculative practice.

160 EUR / PARTICIPANT — ENTRY LEVEL — SIGN UP BELOW

2 × 4 hours — Online
160 EUR / Participant — Entry Level

This workshop will take place once a minimum of six participants is confirmed. Dates will be scheduled collectively.