Ok, I’m biased, but xurban_collective’s research was a bit ahead of its time. 😉 We tackled issues most people ignored, dissecting the dynamics shaping our contemporary political world.
In 2009, we launched the Evacuation Series to explore ad-hoc architectural spaces—masjids and martial arts centers—analyzing two powerful vectors in defining the modern subject: religiosity and the projection of power.
We argued that these spaces provide clues about the state of our democracies. Unlike labor & student unions and political parties built on participatory frameworks, these new “community centers” operate within membership-based systems; they provide an essential refuge—primarily for young men—but simultaneously reintroduce archaic power dynamics, effectively re-feudalizing the public sphere where status depends on rigid social conduct and unquestioned authority.
For Evacuation #2: Under One Minute, 2012 (9th Gwangju Biennale, Curated by Wassan Al-Khudhairi), we documented martial arts spaces in NY, Berlin, Vienna, Istanbul, Seoul, and Gwangju, and we asked: How does deception shape power? These questions loom larger than ever as authoritarian archetypes (CEO, fighter, politician) converge in politics and boardrooms, rewriting democracy’s rules of engagement.
The project foresaw what is happening today. Toxic masculinity, embodied by figures like Zuckerberg, Trump, Ackman, Tate, and Musk—“tough” men who flaunt dominance while concealing strategic bluffs and deceptions. Their power dynamics mirror the spaces we studied: exclusive, highly performative, and rooted in feudal hierarchies.
Sorry, yoga people, but we must move away from hierarchical, performative spaces toward systems of shared agenc. Perhaps a re-subjectivization through collective/cooperative action offers a way out.
Despite their flaws, modern public institutions—schools, factories, and others—once served this purpose. They must be reimagined, communized, and revitalized to foster spaces where collaboration and care take precedence over competition and coercion.