NAFF
No Art For Free
Not Appropriate For Funders
No Apparent Function Fulfilled
Nearly Always Fucking Fails
Never Actually Feeling Fine
Northern AFFect

Naff theory is a nonexistent intellectual and aesthetic movement. If it existed, it would probably be similar to queer theory or crip theory.

Normative urban futurism demands creative and conceptual effort be spent - often unpaid - imagining positive futures for miserable places.

Naff theory adopts a killjoy approach to urbanism and regeneration, and rejects the demand to fabricate happy objects out of unhappy conditions.

Naff theory names the crisis of imagination that got us here.

Naff theory destigmatises cheap tat.

Everything is a bit naff.

Naff readings

Olufemi et al (2023) Structurally Fucked (PDF download, 1.6 MB)