Coco Klockner: Short Ladder (Ellipses)

The object of the ellipse within science fiction offers numerous ways to reimagine temporarily outside of the confines of linear progress. In part two of ‘Ellipses: Returning to Time Knots and Techno Utopias’ we travel back to the techno-utopian ideas of the dot com boom of the early 1990s to explore the now fraught potential of constructions of digital space and generative music, and the hope that technological advancement could bring society closer to utopia. Coco Klockner talks through the permeation of finance into life; how media has changed how we present in the world; and the use of science fiction to communicate technology politics. Klockner’s playful and speculative short story and accompanying sonic work ‘Short Ladder’, follows protagonist Cat’s rollercoaster experience in the latest development in securities trading: Personal Initial Public Offering, in which investors buy shares in her. Coco Klockner is an artist and writer living in New York City. They are the author of the book K-Y (Genderfail, 2019) and have published writing with Montez Press, Real Life Magazine, Spike Art Magazine, and Burnaway. https://disclaimer.org.au/contents/ellipses-br-returning-to-time-knots-br-and-techno-utopias/short-ladder Image by Michelle Uckotter. ‘Girl Playing in Attic 2’ (2021) Produced by Mara Schwerdtfeger. Financial support from patrons at any level has a resounding impact on our work. You can support Liquid Architecture’s weekly podcast and our online journal Disclaimer, for new thinking and writing on listening and sound through a Patreon subscription, for as little as $5 a month. https://www.patreon.com/liquidarchitecture For the past 20 years, Liquid Architecture has been Australia’s leading organisation for artists working with sound and listening. LA investigates the sounds themselves, but also the ideas communicated about, and the meaning of, sound and listening. https://liquidarchitecture.org.au/