The history of the Central African Republic (CAR) has been one of persistent violence, despite internal and external attempts to break the cycle of misfortune in the country. A number of factors... Show moreThe history of the Central African Republic (CAR) has been one of persistent violence, despite internal and external attempts to break the cycle of misfortune in the country. A number of factors are cited as determinants or amplifiers to explain this ever-renewed cycle of violence in the country, including a disastrous colonial legacy, poor governance, an abundance of natural resources in an uncontrolled territory, greed for power, the collapse of the state, or a combination of all or some of these non-exhaustive factors. However, over and above these not insignificant factors, we need to reconsider the weight of history and the role of young people as constants in the recurrent conflict in the Central African Republic. To explain the durability of this context of instability inscribed in a continuum, we propose the concept of the political arena, a situation of confrontation built up over the course of history, and within which a large number of young people are growing up with a limited agency. We conclude that young people in the CAR have ultimately become a usable resource, having been exploited in the same way as natural resources since pre-colonial and colonial times. Hence the reproduction and/or continuation of violent and recurrent conflicts in the Central African Republic. Show less
'What is the desire of the medium?' is both a rhetorical question and a fundamental one. The rhetorical question serves as a framework for investigating the interplay between the artist/designer... Show more'What is the desire of the medium?' is both a rhetorical question and a fundamental one. The rhetorical question serves as a framework for investigating the interplay between the artist/designer and the medium during the creative act. Arts and design operate on the level of problematising: they do not reproduce the visible, they make visible. By this, I am suggesting that there is no preconceived objective criterion: all perception needs to be produced. A critical supposition is that the complexity of the world cannot be reduced to either macro- or micro-systems or models (anti-representation). The only interesting route to pursue is to investigate what a medium does (asignification), not what it is (essentialism). My interest lies in affective capacities, not inherent properties and their respective place in any taxonomy or ontological setting. This requires the exploration of a non-hierarchical, flat ontology based on the equality of all parties (human and nonhuman). I propose four backgrounds against which to investigate the desire of the medium: ethoscape (which deals with affect), ideoscape (which deals with concepts), mediascape (forms of expression) and technoscape (forms of content). The desire of the medium is located somewhere in the middle between affect, concept, expression and content. Show less
