What happens when the neurosciences shape culture and promise to assist in overcoming traumas and conflicts? Can technologies like VR foster new ways of understanding? Is it possible to expand the plasticity of the brain? In this panel, Hyphen-Labs present excerpts from their work NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism. They underline the importance of understanding how synaptic lineages are made, harvested, and experienced and discuss how speculative practices can assist in collectively materializing and (re)imagining memories, experiences, and future scenarios. Tony D Sampson introduces his thesis on neuroculture, which argues that capitalism is increasingly colonizing our brains. However, the coincidence of capitalism and the neurosciences (neurocapitalism) points as much to what the brain can do, as it reveals what can happen to the brain.

The panel is organized in collaboration with Winchester School of Art.