The fifth lecture in the Virtual Realisms public series, curated by CSNI PhD researcher Teodora Sinziana Alata in collaboration with Tadej Vindis, will take place on the 8th of May 2025, 18:00-20:00 in the Fabrication Lab, University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road London NW1 5LS.
In an age of ecological collapse and proliferating virtual sovereignties, the authority of law is unraveling—not in absence, but through transformation. From GitHub protocols to blockchain-based frontiers, legal concepts are no longer solely authored by states but co-produced by code, climate, and capital. This lecture asks what it means to dwell in such indeterminacy—not to resolve it, but to co-create legal concepts that matter-forth. Introducing the concept of “matterphorics”, Gandorfer proposes a new legal imaginary that reclaims speculative governance from the privatising logics of techno-libertarianism—one breath, one frontier, one decentralised concept at a time.
Dr. Daniela Gandorfer is a legal theorist and co-founder of the award-winning non-profit LoPh+, working at the intersection of technology, governance, and regenerative finance. She is the author of Matterphorics (Duke University Press, 2026). Her work explores legal indeterminacy, emerging technologies, and decentralized governance. She teaches at the University of Westminster, holds a PhD from Princeton, and is completing an Executive MSc in Finance at LSE (2025). LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielagandorfer/
The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. Please register to attend here.
The Virtual Realisms public lecture series critically investigates the evolving forms of reality created through algorithmic worldbuilding, where advanced digital technologies give rise to new and diverse interpretations of what is considered ‘real.’ Spanning both technical and speculative practices, the lectures will explore how real-time virtual environments, and the technologies that underpin them, are redefining the logics of cultural production, creativity, and power in our increasingly rendered world.
The series is curated by Tadej Vindis, Lecturer in Creative Technologies, and Teodora Sinziana Alata, Lecturer in Creative Computing and Algorithmic Cultures, at the University of Westminster.
For further information about the lecture series and upcoming events, please visit www.virtualrealisms.com