In a world undergoing profound and rapid transformation, there is an urgent need to empirically grasp the complex dynamics of change. It is of paramount importance to understand the sociomaterial drivers for transformations, such as climate catastrophe, digitalisation, urbanisation, decolonisation, and the intersection of late capitalism with (neo)imperialism. The theoretical programme of the refiguration of spaces calls for thinking about ongoing global changes through the analysis of space. As an alternative to merely juxtaposing globalisation and de-globalisation, the theoretical approach—grounded in an understanding of dynamic relational space—investigates multiscalar and non-linear disjunctures and conflicts around global phenomena. To fully grasp the ongoing refiguration of spaces, we argue that it is essential to theoretically and empirically consider multiple temporalities, and the ways in which they are entangled with multiple spatialities. But how to empirically capture and analyse the multiplicity of spacetimes?
In the exhibition “Investigating Refiguration” we assembled a collection of methodological experiments to generate multiple spacetimes. Grounded in the CRC publication Spacetimes Matter. A Collection of Mapping Methodologies recently published at Jovis Verlag, we added several works by close colleagues experimenting with sound and transects. Together, these methodologies offer inspirational insights for deconstructing the hegemony of linear, progressive clock-time, which—all too often—shapes spatial research, transformation, and even the lived experiences and subjective knowledge of everyday life. This exhibition was part of the 7th international conference of the CRC 1265 “Designing Refiguration – Refiguring Design”.
