The Unalphabet

The Unalphabet is the new research laboratory of Studio Julian Hetzel, whose focus is to analyze the contradictions of Western culture.

The Unalphabet is about the big behinds. Between 2021-2024 a series of nomadic laboratories are taking a close look into the invisible economies and hidden power structures that govern this part of the world. The dilemmas between ethical principles and economical interests are at the core of the research.

In an increasingly polarized political climate, where socio-political movements keep questioning the status quo, Studio Julian Hetzel proposes a framework for critical independent thinking and making – for learning and unlearning.

As Immanuel Wallerstein proposed, the worldwide intervention of Western culture has been justified by appeals to notions of expansion, civilization, development, growth and progress. European universalism has been based on the assumption that some ideas have universal applicability and are therefore encrusted in natural law.

The Unalphabet is the new research laboratory of Studio Julian Hetzel, whose focus is to analyze the contradictions of Western culture. The laboratory is about the big behinds, the dilemmas between ethical principles and economical interests; the incongruences between solidarity and greed, surplus and scarcity, appetite and hunger.

Between 9 – 13 November 2021, Studio Julian Hetzel kicks-off the research laboratory within Frascati #issues in Amsterdam. During this first lab Studio Julian Hetzel invites guest speakers, participants and the audience and proposes a five days focus program to establish the basic parameters of this platform. Five days of collective research, mutual learning, knowledge sharing and generation, creative research, performative installation, cooking and eating. The first event of a series of nomadic encounters that generate and facilitate a discursive exchange between experts and dilettantes, friends and strangers. A call for undisciplinary practise!