What is fantasy, and why is it important today?

In this session, Mårten Spångberg, using his playful and anecdotal tone, elaborates a brief history of fantasy and outlines how contemporary capitalism, the internet and associated technologies are actively repressing the human ability to fantasise. Along the way, he raises questions about immersive art and the way our attention has become a commodity, offering an intervention between immediacy and reflection.

Can we therefore understand fantasising as a form of political resistance, not only as counter-strategies against capital but also, and more importantly, regarding the emergence of alternative and other forms of relating, caring and living?

Translation: Kim Shinu

Mårten Spångberg is a Swedish choreographer working and living in Berlin. With an interest in the structural specificities of choreography, his work is interdisciplinary spanning from dance and writing to visual media, in particular painting. Thematically, his work addresses ecology in an expanded sense, confronting Western aesthetics’ correlation with extractivist capitalism and simultaneously arguing against the ongoing culturalization of art. He is a diligent cultural critic and has published several books. Since 2024 he has been the artistic director for Ob/scene festival.