Konstfack Research Seminar: Annotating the Apocalypse

Photo: ÅBÄKE

Narratives of apocalypse, civilisational, and systemic collapse are all around us, made ever more compelling by the consequences of living through the Anthropocene and a sense that, as a species, we are about to reach multiple tipping points. At the same time, we maintain faith in progress, live as normal, and make plans for the future that likely contribute to the problem. We are highly informed, yet we oscillate between zombie fantasies and a passivity or paralysis in the face of the end of the world. To be a prepper is to confront the "collective fantasy of impending disaster as if it were a given reality," reflecting "what a society fears and dreams about" (Eva Horn).

These fantasies began during the Cold War along with state-produced pamphlets advising citizens how to respond to nuclear attack. The brochure "In Case of Crisis or War," produced by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and sent to every household in November 2024, is a 32-page A5 booklet and part of Sweden's total defence—a combined network of all military and civil activities required to prepare a nation. 

This research seminar will introduce an event held this spring in a skyddsrum (shelter) where Åbäke and participants attempted to live for 28 hours as a method to both prepare for and test conditions, in order to annotate and share responses to the ubiquitous yellow and black booklet. Further annotations are welcome during the session.

Organised by Visual Communication at the Department of Design, Interior architecture and Visual communications (DIV).