In response to our MA Curating students’ exhibition ‘For the Love of Avocados’, writer, lecturer and blogger Tom Whyman tells us about what it is like to be a ‘peak Millennial’ during the seismic moments in the UK’s recent history that have become the soundtrack to his life. This has led him to think about the ‘millennial historical experience’ – an attitude towards history shared by people of his generation. As he tells us of the implications of the Covid 19 pandemic on plummeting oil prices, “…all we can think is: ‘OK, so how will I be punished for this?’ How are they going to use this to fuck us over more, and appropriate more wealth for themselves? And then tell us it’s because we bought too many avocados…”
Tom Whyman regularly contributes to the ‘The Guardian’ including, “The world is in a bad way. Students need the skills to fix it”(2019). His writing is also featured in ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Outline’, ‘New Internationalist’ – and the list goes on. Having received his PhD from the University of Essex, he has lectured at the University of Warwick and currently teaches at the University of Hull. His academic interests include Adorno, contemporary ethical naturalism and the intersections thereof. Despite being a ‘peak Millennial’ – or perhaps because of it – Tom has just finished writing a book on hope.
Tom’s text ‘Millennial Historical Experience’ has been written in response to our MA Curators’ exhibition ‘For the Love of Avocados’ – head over to their website to find out more: https://avocados.artexchange.org.uk/
