A non-representational autoethnography of protoacademic desire in the 3rd-century Industrial Society
An installation by Alessandro Graciotti and Alessia Derudas
Nomader Happier? is an installation exhibited at the 14th International Critical Management Studies (ICMS) conference - hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University, 18-20 June 2025.
The authors Alessandro Graciotti and Alessia Derudas invite you to enter the норка, a nomadic refuge both conceptual and real - in actuality, it's real because it's conceptual (potentia).
The installation is built with a lightweight, portable structure. Inside, visitors can take shelter in a semi-transparent, enveloping environment - one that offers a sense of seclusion without completely cutting off the outside world.
They will find a CD player and headphones, which they can use to listen to an original piece composed by the musician Aspect Ratio. Inside the норка, they will also find a simulacrum of this autoethnographic 'music-story' installation-assemblage: a print of an original photograph by the artist eladris.
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These elements within the structure speak the personal events as narrated and conceptualised by the authors.
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Visitors are invited to contribute by sharing a piece of music that represents their own (protoacademic) shelter, using the QR code provided on the exhibition leaflet. The multiplicities of song-'shelters' shared by visitors will come together to form a collective норка, which will take shape as a public playlist available on the project’s YouTube channel (@n0maderhappi3r) after the event.





