Project rough timeline
As of January 2025
What’s now ready, in some form: a presentation of the concept (now second draft), an examples page and a bibliography are up. A mailing list and Signal groups, are configured. and a Signal bot configured. Email addresses for contributions and interest of various kinds as well as a Signal bot for contributing to the bulletin (which forwards to the editorial teams’ Signal groups) are operating.
The bibliography will grow and be reorganized; write to library ɐ obiits ◊ org.) The reading group plan will be left aside for a beat. Time to actually become a team. Please share this project with anybody you think might be interested in joining it - - bring your own idea of what that means.
Winter-Spring 2026
It was recently proposed that we try to extend the bulletin backwards into the past two or three years. Please write to [bulletin ɐ obiits ◊ org] or Bobiits the bot [@bobiits.71] with everything you consider could be on it. What matters is not whether something is strictly or isn’t strictly an institution according to some definition, but whether it and its closures are set in relevant and interesting light by this perspective. But there is little doubt that an enormous amount of institutions major AND minor have closed or been closed.
Brainstorming a list of institutions past and present for feature essays that attempt to communicate the experience gained in that institution. Interested: profile ɐ obiits ◊ org. Writing could start immediately for anybody interested; doer decides, and no taboo on repetition. It will be important to look for funding for these profile pieces. Over the summer, some first seminars and reading groups, and certainly some brainstorming / work group sessions at PAF.
The constant task for the bulletin will be to gather its news from beyond the European academy and art world. The bulletin will try to be maximally inclusive of the cancellation and undoing of institutions of collectivity (see the project explanation). Our own networks will be a good starting point; and why not start new correspondences?
We will also be applying for funding to compensate the seasonal institutional profile (our left column, the institutions “experience” almanac), researching, listening, growing a list of scenes and people to write them.
By Late 2026
Presenting a profile of an institution once a month. Reading group and bulletin continue too; the three parts keep going; voilà Obiits.