Dr Christabel Stirling participates in an online panel discussion with Dr Darci Sprengel, Dr Christopher Haworth, and artist Khaled Kaddal, hosted by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) as part of The Humanities Cultural Programme.

This panel discussion and conversation with artist Khaled Kaddal examines ‘The Formula of Giving Heart’ as a piercing study of our contemporary socio-political environment. Drawing from a variety of theoretical and creative perspectives, the panellists variously explore such themes as the global increase in physical confinement(s), the rise of cybernetics and biodata, and the continued privileging of contemporary science/medicine as distinct from other historical practices of healing. Exploring these phenomena amid a backdrop of global precarity, ‘The Formula for Giving Heart’ forges fascinating linkages between seemingly disparate phenomena. It demonstrates how spatial imprisonment exists in and through hyperlinked and technologized (global) networks, ancient Pharaonic languages map onto and exist as contemporary (computer) code, and apparently distinct socio-political events—from the Coronavirus pandemic to the 2011 Egyptian revolution—can feel familiar through the very extraordinary nature of their temporal and affective regimes. Exploring these themes through the world premiere of Kaddal’s newest work, this panel broadly considers our present moment as well as the shifting nature of sonic and visual performance during a time of global crisis and ever increasing technologization.

Watch the YouTube livestream here.