The Classroom
Third FloorMirrored Identities: Aesthetic Codes in a Cross-Border Context, with Camila Torres Castro and Inés Vachez Palomar
Camila Torres Castro and Inés Vachez Palomar engage in a cross-border dialogue exploring how cultural expressions—from architecture to music and film—reflect and reshape collective identity across Mexico and the United States. Drawing from her research in Latin American literature and culture, Camila examines representations of the modern nation and constructions of mestizaje in contemporary Mexico, particularly through sonic and cinematic lenses. These cultural codes resonate with the ongoing work of Analog Typologies, where Inés investigates how U.S. models of living and building—embodied in remittance architecture—transform the Mexican landscape. Together, their perspectives trace layered narratives of aspiration, belonging, and hybridity across national and aesthetic borders. Presented by Analog Typologies.
Library of Artistic Print on Demand: Post-Digital Publishing in Times of Platform Capitalism, with Annette Gilbert, Richard Kostelanetz, Michael Mandiberg, and Holly Melgard
Library of Artistic Print on Demand is a project and anthology that maps the experimental field of print-on-demand (POD) publishing at the intersection of conceptual art, digital culture, and independent print. As digital printing and online platforms like Blurb, Lulu, and Kindle Direct Publishing have transformed the publishing landscape—eliminating financial barriers and enabling immediate circulation—a global subculture of artists, writers, and publishers has emerged. These practitioners explore new economies, publics, and forms of authorship while critically negotiating the contradictions of our digital present. POD has opened up space beyond the classical book market. At the same time and on a fundamental level, this new scope of publishing is contingent on the specifications and interests of these corporate platforms. This new publication brings together international contributions that trace the history, aesthetics, and political relevance of this evolving terrain, offering a first comprehensive look at the global spread and impact of artistic POD publishing. Presented by Spector Books.
Legal Structures for Creative Entrepreneurs: A Legal Workshop, with A Thousand Forests
A Thousand Forests will host an interactive workshop that dives into Legal Structures for Creatives, a 27-page zine that guides artists and publishers through a range of resources available to support their businesses and practices. Moderated by Jennifer Arceneaux of Emerson Collective, the session will open with an overview of legal structures—from LLCs and corporations to charitable and hybrid models—led by Emerson Collective’s Christy Brook, General Counsel, and Scott Exner, Counsel. The workshop will conclude with a panel discussion featuring New York-based creative entrepreneurs: Dario Calmese, founder of The Institute of Black Imagination; creative director and stylist Marcus Correa; and media artist and computer programmer Roopa Vasudevan, sharing insights from their own journeys. Presented by Emerson Collective’s A Thousand Forests.
Alienation by Design: Language, Power, and the Politics of Space, with Germán Pallares Avitia, Naomi Nakazato, and Mahdi Sabbagh
This panel explores how language and design intersect to enact and legitimize violence across borders, cities, and subjectivities. As part of Amalgam—a journal that explores the intersection of language, typography, and power—the conversation brings together architect and scholar Germán Pallares Avitia; writer, architect, and urbanist Mahdi Sabbagh; and multidisciplinary artist Naomi Nakazato to examine how power operates through both spatial forms and discursive frameworks. Convened by Amalgam #5 editor Pouya Ahmadi, they consider how those subjected to alienation reclaim space and voice through resistance, redefinition, and refusal. Presented by Amalgam Journal.
Radical Archives: Queer Memory in Print, with Dulcina Abreu, Luis Juárez, Lucas Ondak, and Cole Rizki
The new issue of Balam, N°11: RADICAL, explores the significance of queer archives and marks the first photography magazine in Latin America dedicated entirely to LGBTIQ+ archives, with contributions from over 30 artists and archival projects from around the world. In a time of rising authoritarianism, censorship, and the rollback of rights, these archives emerge as vital tools of resistance, memory, and community-building. They challenge dominant historical narratives, reclaim agency over representation, and protect stories that have long been silenced or erased. This Classroom discussion presents images, video excerpts, and voices from the issue, offering an intimate look at how these archives are reshaping cultural history from a dissident perspective. The panel honors the radical act of documenting queer lives and seeks to inspire deeper engagement with archival practices in print. Presented by Balam.
Against Ageism: A Queer Manifesto, with Shuli Branson and Simon(e) van Saarloos
Against Ageism: A Queer Manifesto starts with what it is not: a socio-economic argument against ageism, celebrating the ‘elderly’ as economically viable. Instead, Simon(e) van Saarloos presents a radical critique of conventional arguments against ageism, rejecting constructs of age, youth, and assumptions of their inherent qualities. To mark the release of their piercing manifesto, van Saarloos speaks with Shuli Branson about the ways in which ageism overlaps with structures of white supremacy and patriarchy, often drawing on personal experience. Through the lens of crip and queer theory, as well as anti-carceral and anti-colonial perspectives on time, this talk provocatively calls for the abolition of age-related laws and reframes commonly held understandings about age from van Saarloos’s defiant perspective. Presented by SPBH Editions.
The Detroit Printing Co-op: Black & Red & the University, with Danielle Aubert and David Reinfurt
Throughout the 1970s, Fredy and Lorraine Perlman printed all of the books from their press, Black & Red, at the Detroit Printing Co-op. Just before starting the Co-op, Fredy published the pamphlet, I Accuse This Liberal University of Terror and Violence, about his experience on the faculty at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Today, as universities face mounting pressure to repress dissent among students, faculty, and staff, the 1960s critique of the university—as a site of repression serving the interests of “the corporate-military system”—gains renewed relevance. This session expands on Danielle Aubert’s chapter on the Detroit Printing Co-op from David Reinfurt’s A *Co-* Program for Graphic Design; a collectively driven text that weaves together a multiplicity of voices to present a polyphonic approach to design history and teaching. Aubert and Reinfurt explore work from activists at the Co-op and the stakes of circulating ideas and images in print and in the classroom. Presented by Inventory Press and Danielle Aubert, who, for the 2025 NY Art Book Fair, has organized an exhibition in The Duplex highlighting the Detroit Printing Co-op.