One century ago Filippo Marinetti
published his controversial “Futurist
Manifesto”, in which he described the
enthusiasm brought about by the ar-
rival of industrial modern times, driven
by a total belief in speed and progress.
In his recent “upgrade” of the Manifest,
media philosopher Franco Berardi
rejects unilateral interpretations of
modern speed culture, making a plea
for more reflection and autonomy.
“The omnipresent and eternal speed”,
he writes “is already behind us, in the
Internet, so we can forget its syncopat-
ed rhymes and find our own singular
rhythm”.

Our society is still driven by an insa-
tiable hunger for speed, but during the
past decades, the spread of globalisa-
tion and the revolution of information
and communication technologies have
unmistakably led to a new temporal
dynamics, emphasizing the increasing
importance of connectivity and flex-
ibility. The tyranny of clock time has
given way to a complex web of diverg-
ing rhythms, cycles and tempos, which
stimulate the temporal imagination as
never before.

Under the title “Accelerated Living”,
the Impakt Festival 2009 focuses on
changing notions of time and speed
today. During a period of five days, a
number of artists, filmmakers, musi-
cians and thinkers will share their views
on the construction and intensification
of time, and its influence on our percep-
tion of reality, and by extension thereof,
of ourselves. The resulting search for
a new engagement with time will be
explored in a range of screenings, talks,
performances and an exhibition.