The Large Glass Presents a Range of Approaches

Cover: Shezad Dawood, Leviathan Cycle, Episode 1: Ben, 2017 HD Video, 12’52’’ (detail) Courtesy of the artist and UBIK Productions (with footage The from the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA) Large

Glass No. 27 / 28, 2019

CONTENT:

4 Tihomir Topuzovski: Intoduction - Visibilities of becoming

POSTHUMAN CORPOREALITY 93 Heather Dewey-Hagborg & Joerg Blumtritt: Posthumanism, 7 biopolitics and contemporary art Josephine Berry: How to Explain Pictures to a Dying Human: On Art in Expanded Ontologies 97 Eduardo Kac: BIO ART 20 STELARC: Contingent and Contestable Futures: Zombie,Cy- A LENS ON THE RADICAL HORIZON borg and Phantom Bodies 110 30 Saul Newman: Postanarchism and the posthuman horizon Extending and creating new corporealities: Interview with STELARC by Tihomir Topuzovski 117 Chantal Mouffe: Critical Artistic Practices: An Agonistic 33 Approach Slavcho Dimitrov: Ron Athey and Acéphale in Skopje 120 37 Sarah W. Sutton: Thinking Differently, with Creativity, Curiosity Nicole C. Karafyllis: Posthumanism does not exist and Courage

39 123 Igor Grubic: Do Animals...? The MoCA’s Pavilion in Venice Biennial 2019 Nada Prlja Subversion to Red 44 Jeff Rasel 126 Vlad Morariu: Nada Prlja: the Left, Language and Writing A LANDSCAPE OF ANXIETY 129 48 Blanca de la Torre: Relocating Red Narratives Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the Terminal Beach of Critique 132 The MoCA’s exhibition: Skopje Resurgent: International- 57 ism, Art, and Solidarity, 1963 - 1980 Susanna Hertrich: Haunted Lands 134 62 Contributors Amanda Boetzkes: Posthuman Planetarity

72 Gligor Stefanov: A Conversation with Material and Space

78 Chris Salter: In the Haze of the Technosphere

83 Amanda du Prezz: Do Astronauts Dream of Post-Earth? Tihomir Topuzovski The traces of posthumanism form a discursive framework as a move beyond the bi- naries of humanist and modernist traditions and it offers a prospect of philosophical, Intoduction political, environmental, cultural and artistic turn. I attempt to orient posthumanism within new fields of transdisciplinary knowledge1 across a spectrum of modes of communica- Visibilities of tion, interactions and social significations, close to the Deleuzian notion of becoming, the becoming very dynamism of change and impermanence. Thus, in this edition posthumanism is considered in the wider multidisciplinary context of ideas, including a variety of themes, from questioning the boundaries and identity of the human subject upon which the idea of human has been constructed too inconsistently to serve as an axis for reflection,2 to non-anthropocentric frameworks in which the human being is dismantled into the phenomenon emerging through affect to initiate “a way towards deformations, towards becoming the other, becoming new”.3 Further, the issue involves wide-ranging questions ranging from the transposed hybridity of the human that embedded the boundary between nature and rapid technological expansion, to the everyday work practices in accord with the “interactions between socioeconomic and environmental conditions and biological and physiological or physical processes.”4 Another crucial point of this discussion are topics from “the global circulation of goods, data, capital, bits and bytes of information frames the interaction of contemporary subjects ”5 to the “unforeseen mutations, trajectories of illness or distress, patterns of global climate change, or the vagaries of the international economy, the open systems or ecological perspective”.6 Many authors have developed these intentions in their work, inquiring into the very possibility of an “environment materially and conceptually reconstituted in ways that pose profound and unprecedented normative questions”.7 Considering these lines on a new level, this volume of the Large Glass presents a range of approaches. My main aim here is to recognize posthumanistic themes mediated through a set of relations relevant to other forms that rest in “a non-dualistic understanding of nature– culture interaction”.8 The focus is on the work of authors accomplished within contemporary culture that expresses a posthumanist sensibility and an ethical and visual recon- figuration of our perceptions. At this point, artists might imagine different relations that express a concern for the status of the human “within a material environment of nature, other bodies, and the socioeconomic structures”.9 This determines a range of challenges and modalities for participating in political life. What I have composed is a kind of collection of works of authors that range across a spectrum moving from humanist approaches to posthumanism (or anti-anthropocen- trism), including a range of thematic discussions, artistic projects and essays discuss- ing, contextualizing and criticizing various issues that bring together scholars of cultural studies, art history, politics, geography, philosophy and related disciplines together with artists, allowing for a broad range of insights into the topic both historically and in the contemporary context. The volume comprises three key sections linked directly or tan- gentially. I first present the work of authors whose works relate to what I conceive asposthu - man corporeality, concerning a radical transformation of the perceptual capabilities and cognitive orientation of bodies, visualizing their various demarcations. Along with some theoretical reflections and conceptual claims, the work of artists summarized as being in “increasing agreement here that all bodies, including those of animals (and perhaps certain machines, too), evince certain capacities for agency”10 as significant participants in existing dynamics. The contributors come to various ways of understanding the ‘corporeal’ in which subjects are caught up in constitutive, different and unconventional relations. This involves in some cases a new experience of the body enhanced by technology, or considering how we can extend it, or resist the “production of a biopolitical body” that “is the original activity of sovereign power”.11 Seeking to contribute in this direction, some of the texts illustrate how posthuman relations function and are under scrutiny as anchored near to Heidegger’s conceptualization of technology and a mode of revealing where the idea is that technological things have their own novel kind of presence in engagement

4 with the human body and connections among parts and totals. Other crucial elements of this section explore issues underlying the current hierarchy, such as sexuality and gender ascription, and artistic expressions in a very specific sense regarding the disintegration of the body symbolically and materially – or a corporeality of decay. The second section consists of a compilation of approaches and a synthesis of visual materials regarding anxieties about the landscape and thematic ideas about environmental ecology, the conceptualization of the earth, heliotropism and surroundings that take many diverse forms. What we can focus on here are the modes and relations created in interactions within a material world attending to artistic imaginations as well as “transformations in the ways we currently produce, reproduce, and consume our material environment”.12 These thematics do not refer to some conventional domain of the landscape; instead, the authors create a combination of distinctive characteristics of new materialist ontologies – climatic, geological, planetary, cultural and so forth – displaying mutual relations towards a posthuman terrain. These works disrupt the neat boundaries between lifeworld and various environmental contexts that express a common concern, even cognitive panic, in the face of unbalanced conditions on earth. References: The third and final section highlights thematic discussion on the necessity of expanding 1 Rosi Braidotti, “A Theoretical Framework for non-binary perspectives engaged in the very act of politics, ethics and culture. With a spe- the Critical Posthumanities,” Theory, Culture cific focus on themes that are mutable in the political context, contingent and in a constant and Society 36, no. 6 (2009), pp. 31-61. process of becoming within networks of relations, this leads to the idea of postanarchism, 2 Michel Foucault, “What Is Enlightenment?” in which has appeared as an effective possibility in contemporary radical political thought. Paul Rabinow, ed., The Foucault Reader (New Equivalently, in this section there is a discussion that artists have initiated, opening paths York: Pantheon, 1984) p. 44. by which their practices can play an important role in societies in which every critical 3 Agnieszka Anna Wołodźko, “Materiality of gesture is quickly recuperated and neutralized by the dominant instances of powers within Affect: How Art Can Reveal the More Subtle Realities of an Encounter,” in Rosi Braidotti and globally structuring systems. Rick Dolphijn, eds., This Deleuzian Century: Art, These points are echoed in the work of many authors in their posthuman orientation. Activism, Life (Leiden and Boston: Brill and Ro- My aim is to provide a preliminary framework for this combination of contributions to the dopi, 2014), p. 176. posthumanities and primarily to explore their cultural and artistic implications. I attempt to 4 Diana H. Coole and Samantha Frost (eds.), show that posthumanist debates are interrelated and thus require much more assembling, New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Pol- and in that sense this issue of the Large Glass is an inherently interdisciplinary venture, itics (Durham NC and London: Duke University which is why the volume of essays and artistic works includes contributions from a range Press Books, 2010), p. 19. of disciplines. 5 Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013), p. 59. 6 Diana H. Coole and Samantha Frost (eds.), New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Pol- itics (Durham NC and London: Duke University Press Books, 2010), p. 16. 7 Ibid., p. 6. 8 Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013), p. 3. 9 Diana H. Coole and Samantha Frost (eds.), New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Pol- itics (Durham NC and London: Duke University Press Books, 2010), p. 19. 10 Ibid., p.20. 11 Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998). 12 Diana H. Coole and Samantha Frost (eds.), New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Pol- itics (Durham NC and London: Duke University Press Books, 2010), p 3.

5 Posthuman Corporeality THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019

. 6 - 4 By this he means he this By 5 How Forests Think: Toward However, the self-critiquing – or the However, that signification and hence communica- hence and signification that be can thought even and selfhood, tion, said to exist within all living beings and systems, as summarised in his proposition that “life and thought are one and are alive.” thoughts thinks; the same: life Through an extended discussion of the semiotic assemblages that exist between of animal diversity the Runa and the rich Amazon, the in cluster that life plant and Kohn asserts that “all life is semiotic and alive”. is semiosis all Kohn extends this proposition to exam- ine how the non-human production of signification challenges the notion that the human world is in some sense on- tologically self-sufficient and therefore closed. “By contrast,” he writes, “The Open Whole aims to show that the recognition of representational processes as something unique to, and in a sense even synonymous with life, allows us to situate distinctively human ways of being an Anthropology Beyond the Human expanded anthropological conceptions conceptions anthropological expanded semiosis as non-exclusive of culture and of de- the context-sensitivity to humans, and and identity politics, constructionism long an- unfolding of a the now tangible Braidotti Rosi As crisis. climate ticipated a is a term that ensures puts it, human resources’, and it ‘privileged access to in question today. is this privilege that is one might say self-hating or antihuman- one might say self-hating is only ist – aspect of posthumanism tendency of the one, albeit powerful, it should be said, discourse; one which, consider the hu- problematically fails to globally extended man in this capitalist, sense as victim European supremacist of, a social much as perpetrator to, as mode of production and relation that has systematically annihilated almost all other forms of being human on Earth today. dimensions of There are more promising do that however, theory, posthumanist not necessarily blame the human for its so much as under species self-interest mine its basis for justifying its difference and superiority to other life. Such a line by proposed convincingly is argument of anthropologist Eduardo Kohn in his eth- - Up nography of the Runa of Ecuador’s per Amazon,

3 - comes at the intersection point of a of point intersection the at comes 2 Josephine Berry: How to Explain Pictures to a Dying Human: On Art in Expanded Ontologies 7 scientific discrediting of Cartesian objectivity and its techno-positivist worldview, tue of its superior capacity for symbolic signification, culture and technological form to be abandoned is today a artifice, as irrevocably implicated in capitalist co- non-Euro- of othering racist its lonialism, peans and its violent expropriation of the natural world that is threatening a near desire This biosphere. our of destruction for exodus from European ‘monohumanism’ liest human cultures and religions, today religions, and cultures human liest political sharp a developed has term the edge that previously it either did not possess (for instance within animist world views) or did not own (there is doubtless in these a politics of animism). However, earlier times the human was not negated or disparaged by such ‘webbed’ ontological conceptions, while today there is a strong streak of antihumanism running through nearly all notions of the posthu- in its especially most human, The man. Enlightenment conception as a species separated from the rest of nature by vir - Aesthetic

“The allergy to aura, from which

The concept of the posthuman is not no art today is able to escape, is inseparable from the eruption of inhu- Theodor Adorno, manity.”– Theory Ontologies Expanded Expanded On Art in On Art Dying Human: Human: Dying Pictures to a Pictures How to Explain Explain to How Josephine Berry Josephine really new; the more you think about it the older it gets. Fundamentally it has to do with a non-unilateral conception of the relationship to the world which human’s imagines the species as embedded in an expanded web of physical, biological, semiotic and material relations of exchange. Implied within this is a process of continuous individual and species transformation or becoming based on the com- passing back and forth of causality, munication and events. All it really means is that there is no human without a world emergently continuously, is it which of a part, although there and constitutively certainly was and can be a world with- our of conception this While humans. out to the reciprocal relationship species’ world can be found within even the ear THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 8 Josephine Berry:HowtoExplain Picturesto aDyingHuman:On ArtinExpandedOntologies portant partofwhatmakesthemalive.” ‘do things’intheworld,andthisisanim- materiality, all sign processes eventually is somethingmorethanenergeticsand profoundly material:“Althoughsemiosis Conversely, semiosisisrepresentedas semiotic productionandinterpretation. tioning thehumaninaworldthickwith radically extendedtoalloflife,posi- ‘thought’ andmeaning-makingcanbe fore, importantly, futures.Accordingly, beings, matter, phenomenaandthere- sign systemsallthetimewithmultiple communicating through non-symbolic denies its own semblance own its denies the artwork’s problematic illusoriness may add, contemporary – art to overstep ever, theattemptbymodern–and,we what isnottheresultofmaking”. artwork aimsto“bringintoappearance mous differencetoexternalreality, the expel thesemblanceofitsownautono- made. or exposeitsstatusashavingbeen “release theproductioninproduct” terial processesofitsownmakingwhich rejection artbeginstoliteralisethema- higher level:“The differenceofartworks chewing semblance, reimposes it at a it ina‘secondnaturalism’ which, byes- reality’ directlywithintheartwork snags by stagingwhatAdornocalls‘empirical as art’s ineluctable ducing whatTheodorAdornodescribes previously inexistentoramorphous,pro- whole, asemanticunity, outofwhatwas condition –theproductionofsomething the waythatitimpactsart’s minimum ested inthispropositionparticularfor of posthumantheoryforart,Iaminter In ordertothinkthroughtheimplications similitude inartwork,a the nineteenthcenturyquestforveri- facticity (whosezenithwasreachedin in theillusion or semblance of itsown arises through its rejection of aura based philosopher, modernart’s keyparadox nate otic realm.” in continuitywithabroaderlivingsemi- in theworldasbothemergentfromand external realityunderstoodas ity issuesfrom,yetalsodiffersan For Adorno,theartwork’s illusoryfactic- For this high modernist aesthetic initsrelationtotheartwork. 9 Yet simultaneously, bywishingto 7 Outsideoflanguageweare semblance semblance that that semblance ). Outofthis character. indetermi 10 How- 11 - - 8

changes forthe ontology ofartwhen,in world that is itself living thought? What self andthoughtascontinuous witha relation to posthumanist conceptions of fining dilemmaofcontemporary artin of art,andnotexternalatall? the humanartistwhoismakingwork semantically alive and co-constitutive of own premise.” pirical world,theywouldwipeouttheir destroy theirreferencebacktotheem- concept artworkswantedabsolutelyto position to it. If for the sake of their own ed outoftheempiricalworldandinop- “their semblancecharacter, isconstitut- from theempiricalworld,”writesAdorno, shake offitsantlers”. its illusoriness“likeananimaltryingto image of theartworktrying to shakeoff this dilemmarathercharminglywiththe that makesitartatall.Adornoillustrates reality whileholdingontothedifference to beingsimplycontinuouswithexternal matter” arederived;nortoocanitaspire its “formandmaterials,spiritsubject dent oftheexternalrealityfromwhichall producing somethingwhollyindepen- semblance characterofrealismnorto neither aspire to the ‘phantasmagoric’ Latham ( sculptures’ bytheconceptualartistJohn red shaleheapsinScotlandas‘process (1911), tothenominationofhugederelict use ofthecolourredinhis Henri Matisse’s literalornon-descriptive ples ofthisatavarietyscales,from ter protests.” itself tothatreificationagainstwhichit it comes to resemble realia it assimilates der tofulfilit;yetinthisprocesswhere that it must transcend its concept in or else: “Art is indeed infinitely difficult in constitutive differencefromeverything nal determinationwherebyitlosesits tic artrisksbecomingsubjecttoexter Adorno alsowarnedthatanti-illusionis- aesthetic andsemanticrelationships, introducing ‘external’elementsintonew poses semblanceatahigherscaleby on theonehandsuchartmerelyreim- such awaythatrealityismadeto reality’ directlywithintheartworkin century increasinglyincluded‘external intoappearance.We canfindexam- How thencanwerethinkthis de- Niddrie Woman Niddrie 14 Butwhatifthose‘realia’are 12 Contemporaryartcan 13 Artistsofthelast , 1975-6). While Red Studio Red re-en - - -

outcome willbeafutureself”? points fornewsigninterpretationwhose comes ofsemiosisaswellthestarting nonhuman, simpleorcomplex, are out- Kohn’s formulation,“Selves,humanor life asitsobject,” resistance topowerwhen takes Deleuze’s formulation that “Life becomes tically, then,is:WhatbecomesofGilles that pertainspoliticallyasmuchartis- commodify alllivingsystems.Aquestion power tomap,capture,informatiseand brink ofcapitalism’s ownworld-changing relationships, thisopeningstandsatthe sea ofentangledlivingexchangesand man-form fadesoutintoamultitudinous is toimaginean‘openwhole’inwhichthe the intention of posthumanist discourse into processes of value creation. While and semantic production is subsumed only humanbutalsononhumancreative capitalism’s ideal image whereby not risk converting all of reality into creative broader one:posthumanismmightalso dilemmas exist arguably within an even resignify thethinkingworld?Allthese reality, andbywhichitcaninterpret is itsvestigialdifferencefromempirical it possibletoattainthesemblancethat the powerofitsownautonomy, howis ready meaningful?If,however, itrejects semblance ormeaninguponwhatisal- ism itintendstodismantlebyreimposing only perpetuatethehumanexceptional- ing semiosisandcallsitart,doesthisnot its lassoofautonomyaroundworldlyliv- world? If posthumanist art simply throws co-extensivity withaliving,thinking as subjectmatter, i.e.bydeclaringart’s ality in a way that exceeds its mere use engage aposthumanconceptionofre- posthumanist projectifartistswantto fundamentally incontradictionwiththe istic processart,its‘secondnaturalism’, character even of radically anti-illusion- addition, istheineluctablesemblance tion ofcontemporarycapitalism? of liferiskscomplicitywiththe affirma- 20 less objectlike,stabileordocile,thanthe ity thatismoresentientandintelligent, can protest a reified or‘empirical’ real- way toputthisquestionisaskhowart of ‘realia’follow suitbyaffirmingthat art’s assimilation of the semiotic powers th century imaginary could fathom? In 16 whentheaffirmation 15 Another 17 Does THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - - - - My art is grounded in the belief century art instead of disappearing th of one universal energy which runs through everything: from insect to man, from man to spectre, from spec- My tre to plant from plant to galaxy. I would like to consider this perfor mance by Beuys together with the work both because only not Mendieta, Ana of after Beuys, I am calling belong to what, of neo-avant- stage’ ‘anthropological the their important but also due to garde art, differences. In her ‘earth-body works’ of an find certainly we ’80s, and 1970s the expanded idea of human/world relations connected to an anthropological and even primordial conception of art. Yet despite, or in spite of their human-centric ontological expansions, the works per sistently interrogate the contingent na- culture and power. body, ture of identity, This should not necessarily be seen as since, like the philosopher contradictory, of technological becoming, Gilbert Si- relation the in interested is she mondon, between the ‘preindividual’ that remains contingent always the and beings, all in process of individuation: into a cacophonous cosmos. ical’ order that can be submitted to such submitted order that can be ical’ by Mediation and semblance, treatment. prov- are not the exclusive implication, exist art does not humans, and ince of reality to a in exceptional opposition and indetermi- characterised by facticity all this, Beuys is still a for nateness. Yet is still dead, the superstar artist, the hare as the artwork’s gallery continues to act behaves as framing device, the audience the entire perfor if it is at the circus, and broadcast. television for filmed is mance the human and The connection between is scaffolded its ‘much greater being’ of mediation across layers and levels semblance char that make the artwork’s acter undeniable and limit the perception of all other semantic unities. The risk and - loss of distinc potential of the artwork’s tion is offset by these conventions of and the work separation and autonomy, staunchly occupies its place in the canon of 20 autonomy or heteronomy, because the because or heteronomy, autonomy tran- in which the artwork living world ‘empir of a different, merely spires is not - - - ) as the most This greater be- 21 Wesen Yet here it is important to emphasise here it is important to emphasise Yet Josephine Berry: How to Explain Pictures to a Dying Human: On Art in Expanded Ontologies 9 important task of art.” ing, he explains, relates to magical ap- to magical relates explains, he ing, pearances and to realms that belong to a ‘higher principle’ than mankind, involving everything above and below us. that for Beuys the human is not under mined or negated but given a concen- being-in-re- of expanded identity trically lation which does not appear to present any sort of existential crisis for ‘mankind’. proposal, the status of the Within Beuys’s - semblance is thinkable as a se artwork’s mantic unity that participates in numer ous others generated within a monistic The semblance of this artwork is reality. to point out different semantic territories beneath or above the consciousness of prosaic human reality (which includes art as conventionally understood). The hu- mul- a to relation in of thought is self man tiplicity of other selves, yet this does not threaten to dissolve the human as such. The precarious status of the artwork’s elements that are drawn together in its unity seem to almost overstep the dilem- ma of choosing between illusionism or anti-illusionism, mediation or immediacy, stand’ because it is dead and because because and dead is it because stand’ it was also human, and probably it isn’t inclusion of the the Yet killed by humans. a poten- a mere material but hare, not as (even if cancelled), tial consciousness ‘broader something of Kohn’s introduces to which the art- living semiotic realm’ subordinat- work is, in certain respects, the hare think, ed. What does or would how does the hare and more to the point, the hare think- think? How does thinking and there- ing art change our sensibility animation of fore change art? Beuys’s out to touch the the hare, making it reach creates a beautiful pictures with its paw, of gestures and extraordinary sequence momentarily animal and man which in fuse. In his later television discussion, the entered have we how explains Beuys we that and art, anthropological of field are no longer within an art of ‘innovation’ the stands in ‘mankind’ but one in which middle of ‘the creative path’ as such. “I seen the have,” says Beuys, “always their and humans between connection much greater being ( hare is also lamented – it cannot ‘under – it cannot also lamented hare is

- - - 20 The original per 19 enable us to think enable us 18 (‘How to Explain Pictures Art and the Expanded Human Art and the Expanded Wie man dem toten Hasen die Before the term posthumanism be- Before the term posthumanism formance at Galerie Schmela in Dussel- dorf involved the artist walking around a gallery cradling and gently animating the paws and ears of a hare as he murmurs an to creature dead the introducing it, to assortment of pictures which are hard to the audience is locked discern. Initially and only admit- outside of the gallery, ted after some time, staging a series of proximities, intensities and assemblies. head is covered in a mixture of Beuys’s giving him the discon- gold and honey, certing appearance of a hybrid man-machine-god, part cyborg, part totem. The conduc- of that is gold the of symbolism while the honey symbolises com- tivity, munal productivity and the hare is a symbol of reincarnation. The animated dead it object; nor being living neither is hare has become instead an aesthetic being perhaps, a ‘being of sensations’. or, which capitalism now also affirms? Or al- Or affirms? also now capitalism which post- to what extent can the ternatively, of the biosphere’s humanist affirmation and thought of orders and layers different ‘trans/individuation’ The artwork compellingly introduces the introduces compellingly artwork The would-be consciousness into the hare’s space of art, while the deadness of the - requests for a cogent conceptu viewer’s al explanation of the piece. He counters job to be understood that it is not art’s through pure intellection, but rather in the sense of a ‘full understanding’. He ex- gets “The work idea by adding: pands this into the human being, and the human being gets into the work.” to a Dead Hare’) on the West German West the on Hare’) Dead a to made Beuys 2am’, ‘Club programme TV a crucial statement to deflect his inter Bilder Erklärt formance came current, Joseph Beuys was using came current, Joseph art’ to refer to the term ‘anthropological creativity that in- an expanded human other beings, volved communion with In a and intelligences. spirits, materials of his 1965 per 1983 television discussion - capital a of course present our beyond of out of the legacy ecocide unfolding ist enlightenment humanism? Ana Mendieta: Imagen de Yagul © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Ana Mendieta: Alma Silueta en Fuego © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 12 Josephine Berry:Howto ExplainPicturesto aDyingHuman:On ArtinExpanded Ontologies tion. In tural signification and material occupa- relativise all states of embodiment, cul- shifting temporalitiesinsuchawayasto body ofcolourwithearthlyelementsand short films,stagesthemixingofafemale series, captured as photographs and her adoptivehomeofIowa,USA. – withinnaturalsettingsinMexicoand ence, incisedoutlineorheapedmound stages herownbody–asadirectpres- soil, asawayoflocating herself,oraself, pression orimmersioninwater, sandand blood, paintorgunpowder, physicalim- jected image) by way of fire, scoring, Mendieta inscribes her body (or its pro- formations documentedinthis series, In a sequence of occupations and trans - sensuous relationtothenaturalworld. one’s orientationwithintime,cultureand raced andothereddoesnotmeanlosing phatically, forMendieta,tobegendered, and power into a complex dialogue. Em- poststructuralist interrogationofidentity emental andancestraltogetherwitha humanness whichcompositestheel- Mendieta’s work explores an expanded from everysociety. IncontrasttoBeuys, sexual exploitationwhichdislocatesus longing, andtowomen’s transhistorical ancestors thatcreatesidentityandbe- mediations, tothe‘cosmicsap’of the discontinuitiesofmodernityandits a materialcontinuitywiththeearthand dead, toseductionandthemacabre, of contemporaryart,tothelivingand bian culturesasmuchtheexclusivity body as it claims its links to pre-Colom- produces apolysemiceruptionofthe graph ofthisperformanceinparticular a bride’s firstconjugalact.Thephoto- limbs evokebothburialandrebirth,even obscure herface,andhalf-exposed of whiteflowers.Thefresh-cutflowers in Yagul, Mexico, covered with a spray tographed lying naked in a ruined tomb series which beganin1973, she is pho- In her mate theworld. the unconsciousthoughtsthatani- liefs, theprimordialaccumulations, the ancestralsap,originalbe- universal fluid.Throughthemascend works aretheirrigationveinsofthis Imagen de Yagul de Imagen Silueta seriesinparticular, she 22

, thefirstin 23 The this functionby splitting thetechnolog- performances standsinforand enacts voke. Thepresenceofthecamera inboth the ancientoranimisticcultures theyin- and this is what marks their difference to these workscannotordonotoverstep, thor-function of autonomous art is a limit with the living semiotic realm. The au- ist’s selfhoodasitdoestoanydialogue semblance relatesasmuchtotheart- tonomous artforwhichthecreationof inescapably withintheparadigmofau- its artfrom the livingworld, both remain modernity’s severanceofthehumanand works byBeuysandMendietacritique and theconventionsofautonomousart. cal specificityofcontemporarysociety living materialworldoutsidethehistori- a selfsensuouslyandimmanentlyinthe struction nearlyalwaysentailsrooting history hasengendered.Yet thisdecon- together withtheregimeofartthatthis all subjectsdeemedless-than-human autonomous selfwhichitlevelsagainst Eurocentric monohumanismandthe ically expansiveatonce.Itinterrogates ically deconstructiveandanthropolog- culture andpower. Thusherworkiscrit- decomposition, butsuccessiveordersof only ofbirthanddeath,individuation orientating withintheunstablecyclesnot which Mendietaseizesonasameansof plored asatranshistoricalhumanactivity autonomous semblanceoftheself,isex- nature andlivingsemiosis,tocreatean project theselfontoexternalworldof termed ‘site/non-site’.Thecapacityto a virtualartdiscourse–relationhe erations uponsingularlandscapesand this timewhichperformedparallelop- niscent ofRobertSmithson’s workfrom contemporary discursivefieldsisremi- natural sitesandcriticalexcavationof simultaneous physicaloccupationof as afterimagestohersilhouettes.Her conceptions ofidentitywhichflashup to ourcurrentcapitalistandbiopolitical manness, givinghistoricalspecificity explore themultipleincarnationsofhu- of thefemaleLatinasubject.Herworks within andagainstthesocialpositionings But whiletheseneo-avantgarde The BiopoliticalScission matic regimesof and whichiscarriedoverintotheschis- of life’specifictoindividualsorgroups), excluded fromthe add, humanoranimal.Thelife thatis heterosexual parent–and,we should master orslave,transgenderperson or opportunities, bethatcitizenor refugee, cription ofcertainformslife and life of biologicallifeasapretextforthe- which entailthenormativedeployment underwrites allpoliticisationsoflife and reproductive labour. This scission ject andobject,aswellproductive and body, universalandparticular, sub- politics, asmere biologicallifeisthus representedness of thelatter.” whatever is,issoughtandfoundinthe represents and sets forth. The Being of the extentthatitissetupbyman,who it firstisinbeingandonlyto tirety, isnowtakeninsuchawaythat of the‘worldpicture’:“Whatis,initsen- the definingpracticesof‘man’inage Heidegger, this activity is indivisible from (e.g. thegalleryorcatalogue).ForMartin cause institutionallyordered)elsewhere in amorediscursivelyempowered(be- the purposes of discursive valorisation concept andlivingworld,removingitfor semiotic receptivitybetweenaesthetic tracts theimagefromsensuousand artist totheirworld.Thisseparationex- ical image from the presentness of the that, sinceatleastAristotle,hasdivided biopolitical state.Thisisthescission animals) from zoë the classicalGreek throughout westernepistemologyfrom Giorgio Agambenidentifiesasrunning age tothe‘scission’ of humanlifewhich suous immediacyandthe(technical)im- sis ofsomething’s ‘representedness’. ing whichaccordsbeing only onthe ba- semantic manoeuvreoftechnicalimag- illusory) facticitywiththeuniversalising creasingly tooverwhelmeventhis(albeit semblance, inAdorno’s sense,butin- not only to induce aesthetic unities as tionship toallotherlifewhilecontinuing critique the human’s expropriative rela- the posthumanartworkthatwishesto insight presentsaknottyparadoxfor (thecreaturely life we share withall We can relate this splitting of sen- bios oikos polis (theindividual‘form polis and , orthespaceof tothemodern polis 24 , mind This THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - Intsallation view, Ophiux, Joey Holder, 2016 Ophiux, Joey Holder, Intsallation view, Courtesy of the artist may be reflective of the ‘meaningless- ness’ and noise engendered by a ubiquitous technological mimesis of the living world. Bound up with this is a sense of decreasing or imploding field the human’s of agency resulting from ‘its own’ technological extensions which are at odds with the positive valences of posthumanist discourse and the ‘open whole’. If we inter the called be could what compare special work of Beuys and Mendieta in Beuys’s use to ‘grows’, human the which word, into an expanded field of meaning, to certain contemporary formulations of - - Instead, 29 Locked-in Syndrome? If progressive art of the post-war Josephine Berry: How to Explain Pictures to a Dying Human: On Art in Expanded Ontologies 13 these artworks register something like a waning of vitality connected to a gener self/other map cognitively to inability al relations within naturo-technological milieux. This in turn seems to produce the weakened semblance, which artwork’s sees as human life’s open-ended poten - open-ended life’s as human sees to being’, ‘species world-making its tial; then, term. The Internet, adopt Marx’s massive only the ‘simple, threatens not knowledge human of inscription’ social devoid in a digital stratum that circulates still more but, receptivity, of sensuous the circulation of also entails worryingly, of planetary life- informatic inscriptions universal, i.e. not forms split from their for self-affection. only human, potential are left Like zombies, these data-objects rhizome waiting to to wander the digital (capitalist) be deployed for any potential which is con- use. This digital proto-life, reserve’ for capi- verted into a ‘standing thus compris- talist production and utility, writ large. es the biopolitical scission was ’70s and ’60s pre-networked and interested in elaborating a (not unpara- doxical) anthropological art that aimed at reconnecting the human to an expanded of moder way out field as a ontological ‘posthu- the in find we drive, death nity’s manist’ art of today abundant signs of a dystopian fragmentation of the human and agency whose sense of connection is not so much liberated from oppressive the by confronted as monohumanism of knowledge inscription social massive in the form of ubiquitous informationali- sation and technical images. This is different from what cultural theorist Claire disconnect as the condemns Colebrook between the affirmative tone of (posthu- of state our with jars that theory manist) late capitalist ecocide. In her account, “Precisely when life, bodies, and vitality have reached their endpoint and face ex- been have they because this and tinction, vanquished by technology and non-living systems (including the systemic and psychotic desires of man) – precisely at this point in history – theory has retreat- ed into an ‘affirmation of life’.” Here 27 28 For Agamben, this For Agamben, 25 of corporeal thought of corporeal receptivity Thinking does not mean simply life unsegregatable from its form, life unsegregatable from 26 being affected by this or that thing that or this affected by being but this or that content of thought in af- act, but being at the same time gain- own receptivity, fected by one’s ing experience, in every thought, of a pure potential of thought. Thought is, in this sense, always use of oneself, always entails the affection that one receives insofar as one is in contact with a determinate body […] For Agamben, abstract universal Agamben is close to Kohn’s statement Kohn’s Agamben is close to that “all life is semiotic, and all semiosis Agamben that fact the for but alive” is shies away from explicitly connecting his model of corporeal thought to the wider web of organisms that sustains and ex- in- more is He life. human with changes terested in developing a reciprocal model of affection which circulates between thought and the specificity of forms of the between relation a produces and life intelligence and of human ‘universality’ the sensuous, habitual and suffering experience of each and every human life: - its separa through politicised inversely included, negatively is it which by tion, life’. becoming ‘bare concepts do not simply bear down upon the individual life like a knife, as it were, of thoughts but undergo the self-affection as they are lived, and life as it thinks; the living of thought transforms thought and life, uniting them as one. This is also the relation between use of the self and thought, which orientate and experience he recursivity of motor The other. each describes is also the crux of what he schismatic ordering of life reaches its ordering of life reaches schismatic of capitalism with the advent nadir in late to and its technical capacity the Internet split the from the ‘simple, massive social inscrip- from the ‘simple, massive this knowledge. To tion’ of our collective authentic human he counterposes the “Thought is form- capacity for thought: of-life, and wherever there appears the intimacy and wherever there appears in the materiali- of this inseparable life, and habitual ty of corporeal processes there in theory, modes of life not less than thought.” and there alone is there Intsallation view, Ophiux, Joey Holder, 2016 Courtesy of the artist

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 16 Josephine Berry:Howto ExplainPicturesto aDyingHuman:On ArtinExpanded Ontologies tion mist, imaginaryandpotential. principally linkedtoacapitalist,notani- exploration oftransindividuationwhichis their centralsubject,andwiththisan presence oftechnologynowforming posthumanism, weseetheconspicuous provides themusical analoguetothe working onspeculativelifeforms. This sound oftechnologicala-subjectivities a minimalistandeeriesoundtrack –the whose electronicsoundsarewoven into images of scanning machines in the lab, pass by. Thefilmcutsback andforthto we watchthetrippyunderwaterworld through whoseimpassivewindscreens mote-controlled marinesciencerobots spliced togetherwithfootageofreal,re- life andCGIanimatedbiomorphsare ecosystem’. Footageofassortedmarine boasts ofhavingmapped‘theentire Ophiux’s promotionalmaterial,which accompanying filmdissemblesitselfas this facelesscorporateentity. Holder’s ly mapped, has become the property of in whichalllife,havingbeengenetical- is tocreateanalltoopossiblescenario puter programmed.” and wherehumanbiologyhasbeencom- evolution andincreaselifeexpectancy, ized andappliedtobothadvancehuman “synthetic biologyhasbeenfullyreal- temporary biogeneticscience,inwhich fictional nearfuture,drawing uponcon- world. InthispieceHolderdevelopsa techno-capitalist mimesisofthenatural tation anddepotentiationbroughtonby is paradigmaticofthissensedisorien- sinister overlaid withscanningtechnology–the alongside animageofareptilianeye charged, gothic font of the Ophiux logo trines areemblazonedwiththesuper and oceanwater. Theseadvertorialvi- that swirltogetherswatchesofseabed crustaceans posedagainstCGIimages illuminated boxescontainingpreserved mercial throughtheinclusionofstacked, lab spaceisstagedasghoulishlycom- and agenesequencingmachine.The life-size biologicalimagingmachines Ophiux, andinstalledwithlargerthan a speculativebiotechcompanycalled in ascientific‘cleanroom’belongingto Joey Holder’s recentfilminstalla- Ophiux telos (Wysing ArtsCentre,2016) ofthecyborg.Theintention 30 Theprojectisset - with Minds with made withtheirminds.” that camefromthoughtswhichtheyalso things withthosehandsorwords that workwithfingers.Theyhavemade disc: “Theyhavearmsthathands face hasbeeneclipsedbyablankblue ing imageofawhite female headwhose humanness playsovertheslowlymov- and target.AnAI’s ‘voice’meditatingon human being,whichbecomesitsobject stract from life is folded back onto the unleash itsforce. bustion ofmillionsdeadorganismsto age’s relianceuponoil,requiresthecom- economic orderwhich,liketheindustrial flattened intothestoreddataofanew this, thereflexivityoflivingthoughtis vorced fromsufferingandcare.Through power oftechno-humanabstractiondi- their vital processes, and the relentless preyed-upon semiosisoforganismswith es notcommunicatingbutcolliding:the consequence oftwosemioticunivers- clustering there,wefeeltheinexorable floor. Asit hoversover thesmall colony ing attinyalbinocrabsontheocean footage ofarobotarmclumsilygrasp- film playsoutwiththeinexpressiblysad exchanges. Yet forallitscartoonerythe series ofnon-specificandcreepyvirtual cro-organisms, broughttogetherintoa equipment andmassivelymagnifiedmi- film’s CGI’d assemblages of scientific mapping ofemotionandidentity, anda acts as a cipher for the technological Courtesy oftheartist Film still,Ophiux,JoeyHolder,2016,21’32’’ In CécileB.Evan’s 2013film thishumancapacitytoab- 31 The bluedisc Made Made fetishises behavioursweourselvesmay templates. TheAI’s ‘desire’tobehuman personation ofthehostileagencyitcon- in Holder’s film, throughthe comical im- artistic) transcriptioncomes,asitdoes man’s computational(andbyextension this poker-faced presentationofthehu- tured background.Theimportantchinkin with ablue-circlefaceongreytex- by adoubledimageofthefemalehead tion ofablankmagentafield,followed abruptly terminatedthroughtheinser parasol totheskyuntilsequenceis a poolside.Theshotcontinuesfromthe tion of water bouncing off it as though at underside ofaparasolwiththereflec- on aclothsurfacerevealsitselfasthe age ofapartiallydrapedbodydeveloped what appearstobeaphotographicim- computational aesthesis).Inonepan, intentional presentationofasignifying, nevertheless reimposesitselfthroughits the artwork’s claimtosemblance,(which the sequenceofshotsandchallenges technological replicationalsostructures ject’. Theindifferencegoverningmass mimesis ofanyandeveryavailable‘ob- taking seemstobetheubiquitousdigital of humanorperhapsalllife.Thisunder is quietlybeingbuiltagainsttheinterests ect’ that,throughingenuityandpatience, the disconcertingsenseofahostile‘proj- here itreinforcesratherthanundercuts crucial to the work’s overall legibility, but As with once thismappinghasbeenachieved. placeholder forwhatbecomesofthese Ophiux , thesoundtrackisalso - - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - s or , trans. , conatu Aesthetic Theory

. Instead, as studies of contempo- of studies as Instead, . □ Roman rary neocolonialism as well as of its predeces- reveal, postcolonialism and colonialism sors Robert Hullot-Kentor Press, (London: Athlone 1997), p.103. 2 This is the term of black radical feminist Sylvia who explains it thus: “There is one pro- Wynter, empire Rome’s found difference here, however. was By way of a necessarily provisional a necessarily provisional By way of References: Theodor Adorno, 1 the purposive purposelessness of per purposelessness purposive the severing in existence. Only within such an open horizon, which should never be conditions, to indifference with confused is it possible for life and art to attain their true purpose, which is to be governed by no ostensible purpose nor adapted to any residual use. tain of their species characteristics nor confined to a closed ontology may augur something more promising than these imply. might works posthumanist recent This is imaginable as the repositioning of art within a wider creativity understood neither as innovative (as Beuys interest- creative ingly insists, given capitalism’s proclivities) nor anthropological but as connected to a living realm in which the attainment of semblance, ‘purposive is not a talent monop- purposelessness’, oloised by human art but discovered as the productive activity of all life, which, as the reverse face of capitalist half-life, reveals itself in purposeless - objectifica ironic or deflection sequent and produce a muted, tion of expression self-im- sorrow at the latently expressive, would on any art that posed prohibition purpose’. express a ‘living pros- we are left with several conclusion, technogenesis that pects. One is that the of vitalities could feeds off the replication beings of sensa- itself start to produce the semblance tion capable of achieving is, that beings, – artworks by attained a unity and com- which could attain undetermined pleteness that is at once that the tech- and ‘purposeful’. Given nearly is unfolding currently nogenesis value capitalism’s entirely governed by this is most form and profit principle, a cyborgian genesis However, unlikely. of art made by humans no longer cer - When ‘life itself’ no 34 He elaborates on this idea by idea on this elaborates He 35 This predicament is reminiscent of Josephine Berry: How to Explain Pictures to a Dying Human: On Art in Expanded Ontologies 17 explaining that social existence com- pels us to act as ‘means of production’ turn, in which, purposes’ not ‘living and thwarts our instinctual life drive. Similar sensations’, of ‘being a is which art, ly, semblance) (a organism aesthetic an that moves freely between subjective wave a by confronted is internalisations, of technocratic inscriptions of its own and other vitalities that render all such internalisations and externalisations potentially productive of economic, not only aesthetic value. The result of this is two-sided: on the one hand, an increasing depersonalisation of affect that arises from its ubiquitous codification and normative requirement (from emojis to algorithmic taste mapping to service artworks whose con- work); on the other, from their receptive corporeality, and corporeality, their receptive from implies extractions this all subsequent project This epochal within capitalism. and over-coding technological life’s of deadening as informational subsequent simulta- is expressed in a commodity of what Noys, following neous waning avant-garde vi- Foucault, describes as as life of pursuit aesthetic its and talism to social and aes- a counter-discourse thetic conventions. longer provides a resource of creative longer provides a resource which art can fall self-overcoming onto administrated life’ back to elude a ‘fully autonomous art’s and the problems of from aura also separation, the exodus its ‘allergy to meets its limit. Art, with deepened within aura’ which has only posthuman epistemics, can neither celebrate its autonomy from ‘prosaic reality’ - it seems, exodus from its paradox nor, ical condition of wanting to ‘bring into of result the not is what appearance making’ through recourse to an anthropological extension in a semantically charged cosmos. This latter is because the possibilities of such an extension seem tainted by the rising techno-capitalist powers to extract and depotentiate living creativity in the same moment. the with that, prognostication Adorno’s ‘organic advancement of capitalism’s composition’, “the will to live finds itself dependent on the denial of the will live”. to - co or bare life is in- is life bare or has relied upon the zoë life as having value. having as life 33 all The Conatus of Art and Life The Conatus of Art and What is left for the artwork to 32 : “The demand by means of which of means by demand “The : How then do these two films relate How then do these two vested with value and rights and, by the by and, rights and value with vested of barrage a to subjected token, same political decisions, natus to Beuys’s image of the reciprocal ex- image to Beuys’s viewer and artwork between change the human being (“The work gets into into the work”) and the human being gets model coherent that offers an aesthetic relational with his notion of the human’s re- both these In ontology? cosmic and cent projects, the artwork threatens a future that would undermine the receptivity of beings and thought attached to The nascent artificial their corporeality. life would consequently be devoid of what Agamben, citing Spinoza, terms not even consider or acknowledge: “Do “Do or acknowledge: consider not even security act like they did; put you want to so that or on vibrate codes on everything, ring? Wish we even don’t their phones could up the roles and we could switch you ask them […] Would be like that. ‘Cos ‘Where are you at?’. questions like, morning, on the we’d be out, four in the own thing.” corner rolling, doing our each thing demands to persevere in its being.” It is also the necessary precondition for the technological abstraction of lifeforms get into, and what has the artwork be- get into, and dose of irony with a heavy come? Albeit these that only adds to their uncertainty, human’s of the the horror register works lim- and art’s inauthenticity simulacral ited capacity to form any semblance adequate to the replicative powers of capitalist technologies. This could represent a terminus of art coincident with - biopoliti the culmination of modernity’s mass cal sequence (at the point of life’s datafication), which has apprehended life as an abstract value to be invested or disinvested according to its political double-edged qualifications. Biopower’s which by tendency, enlightenment discovery of ‘life itself’. ‘life of discovery enlightenment Disconcertingly perhaps, this abstraction of ‘life’ as autonomous value also provides the blueprint for the posthuman of re-evaluation THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 18 Josephine Berry:Howto ExplainPicturesto aDyingHuman:On ArtinExpanded Ontologies Way: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of of Entanglement the and Physics Quantum Way: 5 EduardoKohn, tube.com/watch?v=JZ7GnwelrM0&t=3262s University, 25 January 2017, https://www.you- man’, DurhamCastleLectureSeries, 4 SeeRosiBraidotti,‘Posthuman,AlltooHu- sity Press,2007). Matter and Meaning and Matter that being model see KarenBarad, discovery of the ‘intra-active’ nature of matter, litical implicationsofquantumphysicsandthe 3 Foranaccountofthephilosophicalandpo- Press, 2015),pp.21-22. sations” inKatherineMcKittrick,ed., To GiveHumannessaDifferentFuture:Conver “Unparalleled CatastropheforOurSpecies?Or, der.” SylviaWynter andKatherineMcKittrick, el-of-a-natural-organism world-systemic or global structuresthatarebasedonthe-mod- cultures, aredrawnintothehomogenizing peoples oftheworld, whatever theirreligions/ cultures beingmerelysuperstructural.Allthe scientific organicbasis,withtheirreligions/ human societieshavetheirostensiblynatural cieties andtheirreligions/cultures.Thatis,all Human as Praxis as Human transumptively liberal post-civic monohumanist,therefore,itselfalso an Anthropology Beyond the Human the Beyond Anthropology an ists monic brought the the West, overthelastfivehundredyears,has nineteenth century, onthe the humanhasnowbeenredefined,since fined withinspecies, environmentorthepaths power oflife,avitalthatcannotbe de- becomes bio-power, resistancebecomesthe 16 Thequotecontinues:“[…]Whenpower 15 Kohn,op.cit.,p.34. 14 Ibid.,p.103. 13 Ibid.,p.102. 12 Adorno,op.cit.,p.103. cial production. as itisbytheradicalunfreedomofallotherso- exceptionalism ofautonomousartunderpinned tiful artwiththestatusquo,toprivilegeor harmonious art,totheacquiescenceofbeau- from the‘mendaciousness’ofillusionisticor 11 Thisproblemisconceivedinnumerousways, 10 Ibid,p.107 9 Adorno,op.cit.,p.102. 8 Ibid.,p.34. 7 Ibid.,pp.15-16. 6 Ibid. University ofCaliforniaPress,2013),p.16. with—allthemodelsofotherhumanso- supposedly human ofa , nowpurelysecular(post-monotheistic, natural whole . Thisistheversioninwhoseterms preexists—ratherthan (Durham,NC:DukeUniversity humanspeciesintoits How Forests Think: Toward Toward Think: Forests How organism.Thisisthemodel Meeting the Universe Half Half Universe the Meeting (Durham,NC:DukeUniver monohumanist natural scientific scientific natural (Berkeley: ) modelof On Being Being On hege coex - - - - - preindividual is only termthatSimondonhastodescribethis vital individuality, foritisprevitalreality. The indetermined isthusnotsynonymouswith still nonstructured,ischargedwithpotentials; ture’, in 24 Martin Heidegger, ‘The Age of the World Pic- Iowa. tering attempts,theyfoundalong-termhome in came topower. Afterseveralunsuccessfulfos- ica fromCubaaschildrenafterFidelCastro 23 MendietaandhersisterweresenttoAmer access toitby living beings,butbeingscanonlygain thing biologicalindividuationhasdepositedin put toworkincollectiveindividuationissome- unchanged; theshareofpreindividualnature ations ofbeingdonotleavethepreindividual nation: “ transindivduation. InMurielCombes’s expla- interrelated concepts of Individuation and 18 HereIamreferringtoGilbertSimondon’s ory, Literature,andtheFailuresofAffirmation”, min Noys,“TheRecirculationofNegativity: The- 17 ThisisBenjaminNoys’question:seeBenja- 2006), p.77. differentiated Stasis cault and Notes’, 22 AnaMendieta,‘ASelectionofStatements 21 Beuys,op.cit.Author’s translation. 164. (New York: ColumbiaUniversityPress,1994),p. , trans.HughTomlinson andGrahamBurchell, and the Philosophy of the Transindividual the of Philosophy the and produced”.” MurielCombes, ground fromwhichnewindividuation may be all individualsthushaveasortofnonstructured collective being,whichmeansthat“together a shareofuneffectuatednature,isalready by anysubject,totheextentthatitharborssuch as itisamatterofreferringtosomethingwhere- But itispossibletoresolvethisdifficultyinsofar of existence as reality structured as collective. subsequent individuation,aswellitsmode vital individuation insisting in them, available for the preindividualdepositedinsubjectsthrough some confusiontotheextentthatitdesignates and Other Essays Other and Affect, andConcept,”in Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, “Percept, also autonomisedbyandintheartwork.See, scribe thesensationsobjectifiedandtherefore 20 ThisisDeleuzeandGuattari’s termtode- watch?v=Mo47lqk_QH0 uary 1983,https://www.youtube.com/ 19 JosephBeuys,Club2am,3sat,27Jan- England: MITPress,2013),p.49. Thomas LaMarre,(Cambridge,Mass;London, of aparticulardiagram.”GillesDeleuze, , trans.SéanHand(London:Continuum, 1,no.1(2013)pp.140-155. Apeiron The Question Concerning Technology Technology Concerning Question The Sulfur . Moreover, successiveindividu- resubmersion transindividual , natureindeterminedbecause 22(1988),p.70. , trans.WilliamLovitt (New What Is Philosophy? Philosophy? Is What deeperthantheir Gilbert Simondon Simondon Gilbert , whichcreates , trans. Fou un - - - inclusive exclusion,wherebythe In modernitythesituationisreversedintoan life politicisedthroughits‘exclusiveinclusion’. 25 ‘Barelife’isAgamben’s termforbiological York: HarperRow, 1977),p.129. the beginningasavindicationandliberationof is thatmoderndemocracypresentsitselffrom cy asopposedtoclassicaldemocracy, then,it 33 “Ifanythingcharacterizesmoderndemocra- 32 SeeAgamben,op.cit.,p.171. ans-made-with-minds https://www.nowness.com/story/cecile-b-ev- habits andusesofthebody, and Life inContemporaryFiction’, tal Texts andBareLife:TheUsesAbusesof 29 ClaireColebrook,citedinBenjaminNoys,‘Vi - 28 Ibid.,p.210. 27 Ibid.,p.213. form inwhichneitherisfixed. are unitedasonelivingthinkingself-affecting 31 SeeCécileB.Evans, www.joeyholder.com/ophiux, 2016. 30 FromtheOphiuxprojectwebpage,https:// (2015), pp.165-185,p.181. (London:Verso, 1999),p.229. a reconciledstateoflifeinwhich ticulate ‘lifeindivisiblefromitsform’(p.206), this thirdhyphenatedterm,‘form-of-life’,toar so tospeak,thebiosof its ownbarelifeintoawayofandtofind, Life Bare and Power Sovereign er: Minima Moralia Minima zoē Sovereign Power and Bare Life Bare and Power Sovereign 26 In ty Press,1998),p.4. Heller-Roazen (Stanford,CA:StanfordUniversi- modernity.” SeeGiorgioAgamben, life assuch-constitutesthedecisiveeventof duction tobarelife:“Theentryof as theyare‘included’onthebasisoftheirre- becomes thecentralobjectofpoliticaldecision 35 TheodorAdorno,‘NovissiumOrganum’in 34 Noys,op.cit.,p.171. ty Press,1998),pp.9-10. Heller-Roazen (Stanford,CA:StanfordUniversi- subjection.” GiorgioAgamben, the veryplace—‘barelife’thatmarkedtheir the freedomandhappinessofmenintoplayin ern democracy’s specificaporia:itwantstoput sphere of the , and that it is constantly trying to transform The Use of Bodies of Use The polis , trans.EdmundJephcott - the politicization of bare Made with Minds with Made , Agambenintroduces zoē . Hence,too,mod- CounterText CounterText , trans.Daniel zoë zoë Homo Sacer: Sacer: Homo , trans.Daniel zoë bios Homo Sac Homo ofcitizens , theflesh, intothe , orthe , 2013: 1 no.2 - - Stelarc, Ear on Arm London, Los Angeles, Melbourne 2006 Photographer- Nina Sellars THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 20 Stelarc: ContingentAndContestable Futures: Zombie,Cyborg AndPhantomBodies robotics and quotes from several rele several from quotes and robotics authenti are ideas these turn, In ideas. addresses issues of aliveness, embodi aliveness, of issues addresses state-of-the-art some to references your are for consequences physical the performanc take and projects collec artist’s This the to clips. video and images with voluntary andare anxiousaboutbecom- increasingly automated.We fearthein- man-machine systemthatisbecoming involuntarily. A cyborg is a hybrid hu- a mindofitsown,bodythatperforms tific sense.Azombieisabody without ditional metaphysicalorcognitivescien- of myown,noranymindatallinthetra- do, the less and less I feel I have a mind ment, agency and identity. identity. and text The agency ment, philosophers. and theorists vant Included actions. artist’s the by to cated have you artist, performance reference a in As es. presented was ideas augmented of Oc was tion of 26th lecture the The on 2019. Skopje tober, in Art porary Bodies and Phantom Zombie, Cyborg Futures: Contestable Contingent and STELARC lecture given at the Museum of Contem of Museum the at given lecture This adjusted text is structured on a a on structured is text adjusted This ThemoreandperformancesI ------sub-dermal implants ofchipsandLEDs metal bodypiercings,skullscrews and horn implants,bagelheadinflations, Split tongues,splitpenises,silicon and in thenearfuture,withbodyfunction. experimentation withbodyform and, the Grinder community best exemplify The BodyModificationmovementand is becominganincreasingconcern. THAT REQUIRESREDESIGNING. OBJECT OFDESIREBUTASAN BE SCULPTED. THE BODY NOT AS AN SOCIAL INSCRIPTIONBUTASITETO AS ASITEFORTHEPSYCHENOR BODY ASSERTS ITS MATERIALITY NOT TUAL ANDVICARIOUSWORLDTHE rather thephysiologicalzombiebody. about thephilosophicalzombiebodybut ly augmented,cyborgbodies.Thisisnot we havealreadybecome-prosthetical always been,zombiebodies,andwhat ing automated,butwefearwhathave The possibilityofhackingthebody IN ANINCREASINGLY VIDEO,VIR- and remotelocations.Inthe varying situationsandinprivatespaces was suspendedindifferentpositions, hook insertionsintotheskin.Thebody en performanceswererealizedwith scripted. formance iscertainlystructuredbutnot own time with its own rhythm. The per – toallowtheperformanceunfoldinits mean asopposedtohavingexpectations posture ofindifference.ByindifferenceI needs tobegin.Thebodyperformswitha time whenthinkinghastostopandaction is toperformwithindifference.There’s a survival parameters.Theonlystrategy limited longevity, vulnerabilityandslim tized andontologicallytroubledwithits tween internalandexternal.Itistrauma- extended, erasingthedistinctionsbe- struct, itsformandfunctionsprobed circulatory andnervoussystems. structures, emptycavities,spacesand internal architectureoftissueandbody as anexternalsurface,butrather rienced not merely as bounded by skin, space wasprobed.Thebodyisexpe- ture. A total ofthreemeters of internal reason butpurelyasanaestheticges- scopic equipment–notforanymedical the lungs,andintocolonusingendo- the stomach,left and rightbronchi of were madeoftheinsidemybody, into function ofyourbodyintheworld. result inadjustingtheawarenessand Adjusting yourbodyarchitecturemight of form,freedomtomodifyyourbody. not freedom of ideas but rather freedom ical reasons. The problem now becomes plants, initiallyforpathologicalandmed- experimentation andelectronicbrainim- feasible too, with increasing chemical of Neurohackingarebecomingmore CRISPR geneeditingtechnology. Notions to genetic intervention facilitated by source Biopunkmovementthatalludes are proliferating,nottomentiontheopen was suspended for25minutes,during a cablecollapsesthestructure.The body held by the tension of thecables. Cutting pended withinatensegrityicosahedron, Sajiki, Tokyo in 1979,thebodywas sus- Amplified Tension Amplified Between 1976and1989,twenty-sev- The bodyisasoftandunstablecon- Between 1973 and 1975 three films performanceatTenjo Event for for Event - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - at Handswriting performance in the Maki Amplified Body, Laser Eyes IN AN AGE OF MIXED REALITIES, A PROSTHESIS NOT AS A SIGN OF A PROSTHESIS NOT With the Gallery, Tokyo in 1985, laser beams were Tokyo Gallery, cables. fiber optic via eyes the to directed By manipulating the muscles around the eyes, the body is able to scribble images in the space. Instead of the eyes being images, and light of receptors passive here the body becomes an active trans- own its generates that light of mitter - brainwaves, heart images. The body’s beat, blood-flow and muscle signals are acoustically amplified. The bodily human form becomes acoustically transformed into the gallery cuboid space. The perfor mance begins when the body is switched the when ends performance the and on body is switched off. THE BEYOND PERFORMS BODY THE BOUNDARIES OF ITS SKIN AND BEYOND IT INHABITS, THE LOCAL SPACE EXTRUDED INTO NON-PLACES AND ENVELOPES OF VIRTUALITY. TASK THE EXTRUDING ITS SENSE OF SELF, the Maki Gallery, Tokyo in 1982, the body the 1982, in Tokyo Gallery, Maki the a word, each hand writing is writing one had You at the same time. separate letter three two eyes on what your to keep your spac- doing. Because of the hands were to write three hands you had ing of the moving the three every third letter before So you had to hands to the next position. of letters you remember the sequence is per this because And writing. were formed on a sheet of glass between the formed on a sheet of it had to be writ- artist and the audience, two words were ten back to front. Only ‘Evolution’ and ‘Dec- written in this way, words. adence’, as both are nine-letter A SYMPTOM OF LACK BUT RATHER EXCESS. MCLUHAN OBSERVES THAT TECHNOLOGY CONSTITUTES THE EX- AS BUT THE BODY. OF ORGANS TERNAL INCREASINGLY BECOMES TECHNOLOGY IN BOTH SCALE AND BIOCOMPATIBLE AND IT CAN BE ATTACHED SUBSTANCE, TECHNOL- INSERTED INSIDE THE BODY. BUT OGY IS NO LONGER A CONTAINER A COMPONENT OF THE BODY. and Third Hand extra-utilitarian act. In extra-utilitarian

- - perfor was my Third Hand Third Hand City Suspension Stelarc: Contingent And Contestable Futures: Zombie, Cyborg And Phantom Bodies 21 THE SUSPENSION PERFORMANCES Having explored the psychological first body augmentation. The capabilities include a pinch-release, grasp-release, and 300-degree wrist rotation (CW and CCW). It has a tactile feedback system for a rudimentary sense of touch. The mechanism is actuated by EMG (electrical signals) from the abdom- the Third inal and leg muscles. Initially, attachment of visual a merely was Hand the body for performance. There was an interplay and counterpoint of hand mech- move- limb bodily and motions anism situations. and spaces various in ments But there was also a desire to perform an action that was not merely aesthetic and formal but also indicative of some mance was above the Royal Theatre in mance was above the body was hoist- Copenhagen in 1985. The by a large crane ed up from street level above the Royal to almost 60 meters high It was then ro- Theatre in Copenhagen. tated 3 times before being lowered down again. After 30 meters in height the body could not hear any street sounds from All the body could hear was the below. of whirring the wind, the of whooshing the crane motors and the creaking of the skin. EXPOSED THE BODY’S VULNERABILI- COMPLEX IN THIS INCREASINGLY TY. TECHNOLOGICAL TERRAIN OF PRECISE AND POWERFUL MACHINES, THE BODY BIOLOGI- INADEQUATE IS NOT ONLY IS BUT PHYSIOLOGICALLY AND CALLY OBSOLETE. PROFOUNDLY and physiological parameters of the body, there was a desire to augment the body The with technology. the body rolled out of the window and window and out of the rolled the body street. the middle of the ended up over police a good view of the The body had It from all directions. cars that arrived perfor to be a 30-minute was meant only 12 it was stopped after mance but back pulled was body the when minutes police. The arrest into the building by the nor public nudity, was not for a display of sado-masochistic for performing some a danger to the act, but rather for being spec- a onto fallen had I case in – public The tator below. - - - in Sitting Street Sus Up / Down: Event for Street, East Village in Street, East Village at Hardware Street at Hardware th Remote-Controlled Suspen over E. 11 was realized in Jogashima, Miu- ”, MOCA Brisbane in 1988, the body THE SUSPENSIONS ARE EXPE- In Shaft Suspension Studios, Melbourne in 1980, the body the 1980, in Melbourne Studios, an up and lowered down was hoisted lift-well. The performance abandoned as well at each floor level, could be seen and basement the from up looking by as top of the shaft. In looking down from the performance, Gallery the Tamura pension sion Seaside Suspension: Event for Wind and which its heartbeat and bloodflow was and bloodflow its heartbeat which With the amplified. was suspended vertically from a gan- try crane. This was not only an up and down suspension. With control panel in hand, the body was able to propel itself and left sideways backwards, forwards, right. Stopping and starting suddenly which was an un- generated swinging, choreography. the to addition expected The performance began when the body lifted itself up and ended when the body was touched down. With the ra in 1981 on an outcrop of rocks 300m suspended was body The shore. the from weather The to sea. out looking side-on, was overcast and the wind was blustery. Some fishermen on another outcrop of rocks were fishing before we arrived - they kept fishing during the performance and were still fishing when we left. SENSATION, RIENCES IN BODILY IN ACTION, BODILY IN EXPRESSED DIVERSE SIT AND IN REMOTE SPACES THEY ARE NOT ACTIONS FOR UATIONS. NOR REQUIRE ANY INTERPRETATION, THEY ARE NOT MEANT EXPLANATION. - ANY MEANING; RATH TO GENERATE AND INERTIA OF SITES ARE THEY ER OF ERASUR. STATES Tokyo in 1980 the body was suspended, in 1980 the body was Tokyo a ring of rocks. The by counter-balanced generating body was gently swaying, The rocks. the in oscillations random the telephone performance ended when The performance rang in the gallery. 1984, the body was rigged up in a fourth floor room. When everything was ready Waves / Swaying: Event for Rock Suspension THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 22 Stelarc: ContingentAndContestable Futures: Zombie,Cyborg AndPhantomBodies Body tem. Theperformancefor pre-programmed musclestimulationsys- arm performsinvoluntarily, actuatedbya whilst therightarmisextended,left can thenbecomeagripperinitself.But each fingersplittingopen.Each and individualfingermovementswith include wrist rotation, thumb rotation extra joint to thearmandits capabilities arm toprimateproportions.Itaddsan ated mechanismthatextendstheright gree-of-freedom pneumaticallyactu- and Hamburg2000,isanelevende- reverberating signals aremeasuredin 40 globallocationsarepinged and the ternet activity. Usingthe PingProtocol, people inotherplacesbutrather byin- ney in1996,thebodyisactuated notby body wasalsoremotelyanimated.For form involuntarily in a local space, the with thegeneratedvideofeedback. performed with its shadow and its image of thehandmanipulatoronline.Thebody the mechanismmimickedmovements ously with videostreaming. A 3Dmodel of Avignon in2000wasfor4hourscontinu- activating a and voltage-outontheLHSofbody the RHS generating involuntary motion but asplitphysicality),withvoltage-inon body experience(notasplitmind-body, body movesinvoluntarily. Thiswasasplit in Luxembourg,wherethebodywas, grammed movementsandasecondlater interface, the3Dmodelsimulatespro- stimulation system. Using a touch-screen physical bodywitha6-channelmuscle were abletoaccessandanimatethe of PerceptionConferenceinAmsterdam the MediaLab in Helsinki and theDoors people in the Pompidou Centre in Paris, acal Flesh acal METAL ANDCODE. CONTEMPORARY CHIMERAOFMEAT, EXCESS. THEBODYHASBECOMEA BUT RATHER AN EMPTINESS THROUGH NOT ANEMPTINESSFROMANYLACK BODY EXPERIENCESITSELFASEMPTY, and all-the-time,everywhere.With ly-here” and“partly-there”,sometimes not “all-here”now, northen,but“part- As wellasthebodyactuatedtoper The , firstperformedatArtspacein Syd- , Telepolis, Luxembourgin1995, Extended Arm, Extended Third Hand Third . Thebodywas Melbourne Mutalogues Ping Ping Fr - - , mersive acoustical environment.Inthe net and plays them resulting in an im - also extracts snippets of sound from the that moveyourbody. The searchengine ical images that you see are the images and mappedtothemuscles.The anatom- The complexityoftheimageisanalyzed see them in the HUD (heads-up display). the net,selectsanatomicalimages,andI live. Acustomizedsearchenginescans another internetperformance,streamed rometer ofinternetactivity. muscles. Thebodybecomesacrudeba- milliseconds and mapped to the body’s Diagram- Stelarc Yokohama, Melbourne1990 Stelarc, InvoluntaryBody/ThirdHand Parasite was WHERE. THESE PROJECTS ARE ABOUT PLACES ANDFORMACHINES ELSE- FECTOR OFOTHERBODIESIN OTHER by EMGmusclesignals. formance whilstactuatingits third hand advertently composesitsownvisualper being animatedinvoluntarily, thebodyin- surveillance systemofstreamedvideo.In switcher andvideomixeroftheaesthetic allow thebodytoalsobecomeavideo tilt sensorsonthehead,armsandlegs performance at NTT /ICC,Tokyo in 1997, THE BODYBECOMESANEND-EF - - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 , from the University of Penn- RHex Biomimicry has proven instructive augmenting its bacterial and viral population. Not only can nano-scale sensors detect, monitor and target pathological conditions inside the body but, more in- imagine that a body might be terestingly, redesigned, atoms up, inside-out. The so mi- changes would happen invisibly, so incrementally that you would nutely, not discern the transformation at all until the changes surface to skin level. in engineering new robot architectures. Studying insect and animal locomotion and manipulation has resulted in designing useful robots. But translating the form and function of living creatures into robots often transforms them and results In functions. utilitarian unexpected in studying live snakes, Shigeo Hirose at engineered Technology of Institute Tokyo a robotic snake. A snake is interesting in that it is a simple chord structure yet it sinusoi- horizontal with along slither can dal motion and also can become a grip- The wrapping itself around its prey. per, robotic snake though had possible functions such as a modular lunar vehicle, an more a even and hose fireman’s animated flexible, miniature endoscope. Combining wheels and legs in the “whegs” robots, like sylvania, can move very fast over flat over fast very can move sylvania, surfaces but can also clamper up stairs and over obstacles. And because its “whegs” are also springy it can perform - project Microbot robot, Melbourne, Stelarc: Contingent And Contestable Futures: Zombie, Cyborg And Phantom Bodies 23 Walking Head has never been realized. The idea, only visualized as an animation, is to engineer an insect-like robot robust enough to climb up my tongue into my mouth. I would have to be careful not to swallow. The project is an aesthetic gesture to the increasing intimacy with our machines. As our technology is increasingly mi- can it and nano-scaled, cro-miniaturized inhabit the human body itself. In fact, all invisi- be might future the in technology ble because it is inside the human body, at Nottingham Trent University, was a University, at Nottingham Trent human translates that machine walking bipedal gait into a 6-legged, insect-like en- joints leg my at Encoders locomotion. abled control of the machine locomotion. Lifting one leg up lifted and swung for ward 3 machine legs, so stepping up and down generated the machine propulsion. The Stelarc, Third Hand 1983 Roppongi Studios, Tokyo Ike Toshifumi Photographer- engineered in Hamburg in 2006, is an autonomous and interactive two-meter diameter 6-legged walking robot. A ro- tating ultra-sound sensor mounted on its chassis detects if anyone is standing in front of the robot. If so, it selects from its library of possible movements and It then performs a simple choreography. sits down, goes to sleep and waits for the next person to come along. The intent was to engineer an actual-virtual system where the mechanical movements of the of expressions facial the modulate legs the displayed head. The - - , engineered , was initiated was 6-legged walking machine Muscle Machine Ambidextrous Arm The As well as manipulators there has THE BODY IS MODIFIED BIOLOGY, BIOLOGY, IS MODIFIED THE BODY Exoskeleton - ARCHITEC ANATOMICAL ALTERNATE BIOMIMICRY. GO BEYOND TURES THAT was engineered. It is robust enough to enough robust is It engineered. was support the artist. The leg movements are selected by the arm gestures of the It can move for artist and the controller. wards and backwards with a ripple gait, side-ways with a tripod gait. It can sit and stand and can turn on the spot. As well as a walking machine it is also a sound machine. The mechanical walking sounds, the pneumatic sounds and solenoid clicks, are augmented with synthesized sounds trigged by the control signals. 2003 The AL, WITH A SPEED THAT FAR EXCEEDS EXCEEDS FAR AL, WITH A SPEED THAT - AND MUSCULAR CAPA ITS METABOLIC IS EXPERIENCE SENSORY ITS BILITIES. DISTRIBUTED AND SHARED. IT IS A CHI- MERA ADJUSTED IN FORM AND FUNC- TION, ITS COGNITION EXTENDED WITH CODE. COMPUTATIONAL always been an interest in insect and animal-like locomotion. In 1997, during my artist-in-residence position in Ham- the f18 of assistance the with city, burg at Brunel University as a collaboration University as a collaboration at Brunel De- School of Art and with between the an on- in 2013. It is sign and Engineering The human-like going research project. double-joint- manipulator is a dexterous, by a bundle of ed mechanism actuated fingers The muscles. rubber pneumatic the thumb can rotate can bend one way, right hand, but the around, emulating a bend the other fingers can completely rotate backwards can thumb the and way of a left hand. It emulating the functions hand all in one. is a right hand and a left why not replace If you were an amputee, your lost right hand with an ambidextrous hand? Sometimes two left hands might left hand a task than a better complete and a right hand. The intent was also that the ambidextrous hand would have a webcam in its palm, creating an “eye-in- hand” manipulator. AND AMPLIFIED BY MET ACCELERATED Stelarc, Propel DeMonstrable- Autronics, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, Perth 2016 Photographer- Steven Aaron Hughes

Stelarc, StickMan HyperPrometheus, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth 2018 Photographer- Steven Aaron Hughes

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 26 Stelarc: ContingentAndContestable Futures: Zombie,Cyborg AndPhantomBodies but islocatedon thepaperonwhich thinking isnotlocatedinsidethe head deed—the deediseverything.” doer” ismerelyafictionadded tothe behind doing,effecting,becoming; “the misplaced. telligent. Thenostalgiaforthehumanis have agencyandwhatitmeanstobein- need tore-evaluatewhatitmeansbe interacting withit. nise, thentherewillbeanuneasyfeeling its expressionsandgazedonotsynchro- we expectitto,ifspeaksstrangely, if it doesnotrespondandactintheway if arobotlookshumaninappearance, seem acreepypersontoothers.Soeven a stammer, ifIamschizophrenicthen world. IfIamsociallyawkward,ifhave robots. Therearecreepypeopleinthe that theproblemisnotonlyaboutcreepy suspect it is the latter. Anyway, we know problem of state-of-the-art technology? I more human-likerobotsorisita a philosophicalbarriertoengineering is theissueofUncannyValley. Isthis come moreandhuman-like,there ductive interlocutor. Butasourrobotsbe- can simulateemotionisamuchmorese- sions andtofeelempathy, soarobotthat hard-wired torespondfacialexpres- sense of aliveness. We have evolved cabulary offacialbehaviourandastrong and flexible skin which generate a vo- has 32micro-motorsembeddedinitssoft UCSD Institute for Neural Computation, ed fortheMachinePerceptionLabat David Hanson’s would still engineer human-like robots. when jostled.Therearereasonswhywe on itsfeetandretainbalanceeven ically, being able to somersault and land pact andcoordinated.Itperformsathlet- has 28degrees-of-freedomandiscom- Atlas has nimble indoors operation. The 75 kg doors. Withstereoanddepthcamerasit dom arm and manipulator that can open that alsobecomesafivedegree-of-free- seductively dog-likegait,butwithaneck Boston Dynamic4-leggedrobotshavea more robustfeatslikeleapinghigh.The WITTGENSTEIN -theassertion that NIETZSCHE - “. . . there is no being In ourrelationshipswithrobotswe robotisahumanoidwhich Diego robotheadcreat- speak… you writeoronthelipswithwhich TIVE VOCABULARIESOFBEHAVIOUR. SKINS ASSCREENSEXHIBITSEDUC- TY ANDITSHUMANINTERLOCUTOR. SPACE BETWEEN THEVIRTUALENTI- THAT COLLAPSESTHEPSYCHOLOGICAL TIC THICKNESS.ITISTHISTHICKENING NOW ATTAIN ANOPTICALANDHAP- at theotherend. ing withisanactualorsimulatedhuman discern whetherwhatyouareconvers- surface itwillbeincreasinglydifficultto system. Attheaudio/visualofascreen versational agentwithavirtualnervous In otherwordsitisanembodiedcon- syncing to speak appropriate answers. tention behaviouraswelladequatelip to exhibitawareness,curiosityandat- neurophysiology andcognitivesciences combination ofahighfidelity3Dmodel, ate convincingfacialexpressions.Itisa has adequatemorphtargetsthatgener show-and tell-approach.The3Dmodel his ownbabydaughter)canlearnbya a virtualinfant,BabyX(modelledafter the UniversityofAucklandexploreshow togrammetry. MarkSagar’s researchat per-real skinbyeitherscanningorpho- now youcanproduceaninstant,hy- an embodiedconversationalagent.But duce a 3D model of the artist’s head for around a12,000polygonmeshtopro- project –skinthatcouldbewrapped muscle cells.And wecantaketheskin in-vivo. Stemcellscanbecome skin and in-vitro arere-injectedandrepair tissue of anamputee.Stemcellsreplicated a deadbodyandanimateiton the arm body,where wecandetach ahandfrom one bodyandinserttheminto another where wecanextractorgansfrom face wasmadeforthe stretched skin. Originally the flattened flattened floatingface–alandscapeof floor. Spotlitfromaboveitappearsasa wall buthorizontally30cm above the photo installationdisplayednotonthe leries, Melbournein2009isa4mX3m Stretched Skin Stretched This isanageof SCREENS BECOMESKINSTHAT , at ScottLiveseyGal- Circulating Flesh Flesh Circulating Prosthetic Head Prosthetic -

essary. It is also an age of ment, deteriorationanddeathisunnec- of ourexistence.Ouranaloguedevelop- control, will no longer be the bounding versity inourspeciesandforpopulation for shufflinggeneticmaterialtocreatedi- Birth anddeath,theevolutionarymeans replacement ofthemalfunctioningparts. nor necessarilyendindeath,giventhe body’s life would not begin with birth – an artificial and external womb, then a further, if a foetus can be sustained in able tobeimplantedintoapatient.And the fulltermofapregnancywillsoonbe from adeceaseddonorthatwouldlast body andturnitintoaspermcell.Wombs we cantaketheskincellfromafemale into a sperm cell. And more intriguingly cell fromanimpotentmaleandturnit of nition oftheinternet.Anditisalsoatime tivity atvaryingscales.That’s justadefi- generating recurring patters of interac- separated butelectronicallyconnected, Of bodiesandbitsofbodies,spatially for theinsideofmystomach.Closed, and engineered for the inside of the body, specific works,asculpturewasdesigned ture Triennale whosethemewassite THE PHYSICALANDPHANTOM. THE OPTICALTHICKENINGTHAT FUSES IS THE QUICKENING COUPLED WITH ONLINE PHANTOM.THISOSCILLATION BETWEEN ITSPHYSICALFORMAND ITS THE BODYINCREASINGLY OSCILLATES LOGICAL ANDEVOLUTIONARY TIME. DIGITAL NOISE,ASAGLITCHINBIO- APPEARS FLICKERINGONANDOFF, AS as aphantomlimb. phantom notasinaphantasmagoriabut ly experiencesitselfasitsphantom–a Stomach Sculpture Stomach for a private, physiological space. The sculpture is not for a public space but size approximatestheofa fist. The ing lightandabeepingsound.Open, its close, extend and retract, it had a flash - stomach, thesculpturecouldopen and to enablesafeoccupancy. Insidethe agus intothestomach,inflatedwithair that canbeinserteddowntheoesoph- Phantom Flesh Phantom In 1993,fortheFifthAustralianSculp- TO OTHERSONLINE,THEBODY . Thebodyincreasing- , becomes a capsule Fractal Flesh Fractal . THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - - in Perth in is a minimal but full-body Deadalus Project in Perth in 2016, the body the body in 2016, in Perth COUPLED AND COMPLICIT WITH COUPLED AND COMPLICIT Some ideas are important in under StickMan monstrable was attached to the end of an industrial to the end of an industrial was attached even to Ordinarily it is not safe robot arm. robot task envelope of the be within the this very difficult to realize and it proved - position/orien The body’s performance. to be and velocity had tation, trajectory After the 30-min precisely programmed. was replaced by a performance the body the and ear artist’s the of sculpture large performed. The same choreography was the ear is the robot that choreographs the ear. same robot that carved BECOMES AN THE BODY TECHNOLOGY, SYSTEM OF EXTENDED OPERATIONAL AND MACHINE HUMAN METABOLISM ALWAYS THERE WAS MUSCULATURE. A GHOST IN THE MACHINE, NOT AS A BUT ANIMATES, FORCE THAT VITAL OF THE ATTESTATION A FADING RATHER HUMAN. 2017. The body was algorithmically and involuntarily actuated in a five-hour per formance. With its right leg free to pivot and retain its balance it can manipulate its large shadow and modulate the video Sensors performance. the of feedback on the StickMan generate signals that acoustically amplify the movements and immerse the audience in the perfor a miniStickMan was mance. Recently, engineered that enables the audience to insert their own choreography into the performance by manipulating its limbs of kind a – switch play the pressing and electronic voodoo. standing our contemporary relationships Bruno include These technology. with Actor Network Theory (ANT), Latour’s - On Oriented Object Harman’s Graham tology (OOO), coupled with the Internet of Things (IOT), all of which contribute in generating flattened ontologies where the primacy of human existence is reject- all entities ed. In Actor Network Theory, in a network are treated equally and all essentialist qualities are done away with. exoskeleton that is pneumatically actuated. It was originally performed as part of the - - - De involved Ear on Arm Sus project has generat- performance for is not for the artist; rather it rather artist; the for not is Propel Stelarc: Contingent And Contestable Futures: Zombie, Cyborg And Phantom Bodies 27 Ear on Arm at the Scott Livesey Galleries in Ear on Arm Performance In the The Los Angeles, Melbourne in 2006. When 2006. When in Melbourne Los Angeles, the is inserted beneath the ear scaffold over the skin is suctioned skin and the a period of approximately scaffold, over and you get tissue ingrowth six months porous occurring. The vascularization cells to scaffold encourages biopolymer becomes populate it. The ear construct a living the arm and becomes fused to the end of the sec- At part of the body. was insert- a microphone ond surgery, Even with a ed into the ear construct. with bandag- partial plaster cast, even the arm and even es wrapped around a face mask, with the surgeon wearing up and wirelessly his voice was picked has ear the words other In transmitted. and sometime been replicated, relocated augmented electronically be will soon and rewired to internet-enable it. The pension Ear on Arm Melbourne in 2012. When the cable took because it was the full weight of the body, braided it untwisted, slowly spinning the What body one way and then the other. was planned to be a five-minute perfor mance took 15 minutes to stop spinning. the body stopped spinning Fortuitously, in approximately the same orientation as began performance The off. lifted was it when the body was hoisted up and ended when the body was lowered down. This was a counterpoint between a whole frag- larger a much body and physical ment of the body – an ear on an arm. ed other projects, including a four-metre ed other projects, including a four-metre long sculpture of the ear on the arm. This a with foam dense from cut laser was urethane skin to make it more robust. It was exhibited amongst rocks at the seaside for the Lorne Sculpture Biennale in 2011. A performance was also planned. The becomes a remote listening device for people in other places. the body simply lying on the sculpture, covered with a white slip, visually blend- the But whilst on ing them together. sculpture it became apparent that what would be really interesting would be to suspend the body over the sculpture. This was realized as the

is a partial Partial Head project, London, was a collaboration was a collaboration was first imaged as an Partial Head Ear on Arm Blender . When anyone gets close, the . When anyone gets close, Extra Ear Face transplants, now for purposes THE BODY YOU ARE BORN WITH IS The Blender of repairing damaged heads with plas- will soon initiate face trans- tic surgery, plants for cosmetic reasons. The face stitched to the skull from the donor body, of the recipient becomes a third face, In the neither. resembling blender blades are triggered to mix the blender blades are triggered artists’ bodies. biomaterial from the two of the Stomach This was the inverse choreog- machine of Instead Sculpture. environment, wet and soft a inside raphy becomes the here a machine installation composed of bio- host for a liquid body bodies. material from two artists’ with another artist, Nina Sellars. Both Sellars. Nina artist, another with liposuction operations artists underwent biomaterial. their of litres 4.6 extract to that into an installation This was inserted in size. Proximity was anthropomorphic in the chassis sensors were embedded of body is not a site for the psyche nor for nor psyche the for site a not is body for a but rather a site social inscription sculpture. project, Melbourne and Perth 2006, the - face was scanned, as was a hom artist’s transplant digital a did then We skull. inid resulting in a composite human-hominid face, effectively one that is post-hominid and pre-human in form. The 3D-printed polymer scaffold was seeded with living a layer of living skin. The cells, growing face was immersed in nutrients in a custom-engineered incubator at 37 degrees centigrade. It got contaminated within days and the specimen had to be fixed in formaldehyde for the remainder of the exhibition. The portrait of the artist that was partially living for a short amount of time. NO LONGER THE BODY YOU WILL DIE WITH. ear on the side of the artist’s head. This ear on the side of the artist’s was a dumb anatomical site to construct No surgical assistance to an extra ear. realize this was possible because of the possibility of partial face paralysis. It took 10 years to find three surgeons and to get now had what begin to funding adequate become the THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 28 Stelarc: ContingentAndContestable Futures: Zombie,Cyborg AndPhantomBodies REIMAGINING, REWIRING ANDRE- FORMS. ANOBJECTTHAT REQUIRES POSSIBILITIES ANDCONTESTABLE AND THEHOLLOWBODYINVITE NEW AND EMPTINESS.THEEXTRUDED SELF PIES LIMINAL SPACES OF ERASURE fraught body. mind andbody, butasplitphysicaland sessed and performing body. Not a split cy. Thebodyissimultaneouslyapos- acoustical senses and a sharing of agen- an out-sourcingofpeople’s visualand as a3Dmodel.Forfivedaystherewas touch screeninthegalleryandonline dom arm that isbothcontrolled by a exoskeleton armisasixdegree-of-free- and choreographitsmovements.The the artist’s rightarmviatheexoskeleton anyone anywherecouldaccessonline the earsofsomeoneinNewYork, whilst someone inLondon,couldonlyhearwith the bodycouldonly see withtheeyesof 2017. Forfivedays,sixhourseveryday, Perth InstituteofContemporaryArtin Dismembered Body Dismembered fied. are increasingly manipulated and paci- become smarter in a world where people objects aswellwithpeople.Objects increasingly communicatewithother ded withsensorsandcircuitry, objects physical objects are increasingly embed- tributed andconnectedobjects.Andas that isalreadypopulatedbydiverse,dis- and sensibilitiesinaworldwecomeinto it generatesnewkindsofrelationships or effects.Ratherthannegatingmeaning, to theircomponentsnorrelations asserts thatobjectscannotbereduced of relations.ObjectOrientedOntology Differences aregeneratedinthenetwork the THE BODYINCREASINGLY OCCU- The Solidarity withNon-HumanPeople different futureisalwayspossible”. prise andnoveltyintheworld,thata and thattherecanbegenuinesur mechanical componentsofwholes, which meansthatpartsarenotjust Radical Ecologies Radical TmtyMro, Humankind: -Timothy Morton, “Wholes subscendtheirparts, ReWired / ReMixed: Event for for Event ReMixed: / ReWired wasperformedfor exhibitionatthe - from Tennessee, have beenbestfriends,”Tina Gibson, it wassupposedtobeborn,wecould delivery. “Ifthebabywasbornwhen record duration between donation and nated 24-year-old frozenembryo–a born toa25-year-old motherfromado- THE DEAD. THE LIVINGAREONLY ASPECIESOF Bodies. gans awaitingbodies,ofOrgansWithout we willhaveanexcessoforgans,or can stem-cellgrowthemaswell,then And ifwecanprintbodilyorgans, machines andexecutableviralcode. living bodies,microbiallife,operational rial andproximalexistencewithother and syntheticlifeallnowshareamate- tially living,theprostheticallyaugmented brain dead, the yet to be born, the par not die.Thedead,thenear-dead, the disintegrate andnear-dead bodiesneed ined futuretime.Deadbodiesneednot bodies awaitre-animationatsomeimag- systems, whilstcryogenicallypreserved sustain comatosebodiesonlife-support definitely usingplastinationandwecan WITH THECOMPUTATIONAL. DESIGNING. THEPHYSICALISFUSED ones. Whatisinteresting isthatitcir smaller andmorerobustthanprevious test thenewartificialheart which is Lewis. The patient lived long enough to the chestofaterminally ill patient, Craig implanted thefirsttwinturbine heart into Houston, WilliamCohnandBud Frazier generations. collaboration ofremotebodies,between reproduction withindividualexistence,a is the de-synchronization of biological has passedaway. Sowhatishappening of yourtwinandlongaftermother If so, you might be born on the deathbed embryo can be kept viable for 50 years. born. Itisquiteplausiblethatafrozen conceived ayearbeforethemotherwas body oftherecipient.embryobeing embryo fromanother, animatedinthe A fewyearsagothefirstbabywas AND NIETZSCHEREMINDSUSTHAT We cannowpreservecadaversin- In 2011attheTexas HeartInstitutein told NBC News NBC told . The - - - UTED. HERE, ITISJUSTNOTEVENLY DISTRIB- SERVES THAT THEFUTUREISALREADY CONTESTABLE. WILLIAMGIBSONOB- OF CONTINGENCY AND ALWAYS BE ER THEFUTURESHOULDALWAYS BE THROUGH SOMENECESSITY. RATH- ALIEN. THEFUTUREDOESNOTUNFOLD THE HUMANNORDESIREFOR IT –WITHNEITHERNOSTALGIA FOR TURE, WECONTINUOUSLY CONSTRUCT heartbeat… They arecertainlyalive.Buttheyhaveno ing, theyaresighing,breathing. are warmtothetouch,theyspeak- head onyourlovedone’s chest.They near future,then,youmightrestyour culates the blood without pulsing. In the RATHER THANPREDICTTHEFU- □ Stelarc, Exoskeleton Arm Radical Ecologies, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth 2017 Photographer- Steven Aaron Hughes THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 30 Interview withSTELARC byTihomir Topuzovski ing andextending itsunderstandingofexistence. Thebodyhas is capableofalternativeanatomical architectures,thusadjust- of theworld.Buthumanbody augmentedwithtechnology How theirphysiologicalapparatus generatesauniqueumwelt sense differently, becomeaware andinteractintheworld. parative anatomies-howthehuman body, animalsandinsects ly interestedinevolutionarystructures,livingentitiesandcom realized Iwasabadpainterinartschool,ha,ha.amgeneral- nition ofyourwork? body andthenotionofhuman.Would youtrytogiveadefi- several disciplinesandextendingthecapabilitiesofhuman Photo: MilaGavrilovska Stelarc, PresentationCONTINGENTANDCONTESTABLE FUTURES:ZOMBIE,CYBORGANDPHANTOMBODIES,MuseumofContemporaryArtSkopje Interview withSTELARCbyTihomir Topuzovski new corporealities Extending andcreating Stelarc: I’vealwaysbeenaperformanceartist,eversinceI Tihomir Topuzovski: Your artisticworkisspreadingacross - as wellindangerous proximitytoanindustrialrobot arm.So a performancewithmyvirtualbody, the ThirdHandwasused the ThirdHandprojectbeginsbefore thefirstsuspension.In first suspensionperformancein 1976. Andtheengineeringof lon (3metresofvisualprobesbetween 1973-1975)beforethe ning. Ifilmedtheinternalspaces ofmylungs,stomachandco- biology, technologyandvirtualsystemsfromtheverybegin - ment therehasalwaysbeenanoscillationofconcernbetween and re-configuring.Ratherthanalinearlogicaldevelop- periences andideastointerrogate-ameansofre-imagining performing inmixedrealities. now becomeacontemporarychimeraofmeat,metalandcode As fortheprojectsandperformances,thesecreateex- THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - Interview with STELARC by Tihomir Topuzovski 31 Topuzovski Interview with STELARC by Tihomir Let us move to some curious details. Topuzovski: Tihomir ges- Stelarc: Oh, these are modest projects and aesthetic Delaying death is not adequate. Our biology in its present does so immersed in a language structured to simplify, to in- to simplify, structured in a language so immersed does to facilitate comprehension to categorize, in order dicate and the us philosophically with (and often confuses of the world - and more performanc of questions). The more wrong kinds nor have a mind of my own, less and less I think I es I do the these metaphysical sense. In all in the traditional, any mind at than a an object rather the body is considered performances of desire but rather an object that re- subject. Not an object is no Cartesian separation of mind quires re-designing. There Cartesian Theatre. When I speak about There is no and body. is a physiological, phenomenological, what is meant the body, more interacting body in the world. It’s aware, operating and whose behaviour express- body, in sync with Merleau-Ponty’s world it is part of. Not so much in the es the complexity of the And this world is increasingly one of world but of the world. The more and augmentation of the body. technological excess I do the less and less I think I have a and more performances mind at all in the traditional metaphys mind of my own nor any between in- ical sense. The body now increasingly navigates It performs invisible nano-scales and non-places of virtuality. with its ac- creasingly in remote rather than proximal spaces hours. tivities measured in milliseconds rather than or Partial Head’ In your projects ‘1/4 Scale ear’, ‘Ear on Arm cells. This you explored extra organ projects using human genetics and approach opened up questions in relation to challenges such bio-medicine, even addressing some current Could artificially. as delaying death, producing organs and birth you elaborate on these aspects? to surgical tech- tures which incorporate living cells and resort ear was scanned and the artist’s niques. With the ¼ Scale Ear, was seeded with scaled down and a biodegradable scaffold collapsed as the human cells. A human scale ear would have attachable con- scaffold biodegraded. This was not a viable in-itself. With struct but rather was a partially living structure a hominid skull. the Partial Head, my face was scanned as was transplant of my face over the skull, re- then did a digital We hybrid. sulting in a digital object that was a human-hominid The data was 3D printed and a layer of living skin was grown over it. Unfortunately it got contaminated within days and the face was fixed in formaldehyde for the rest of the exhibition. Effectively this became a third face, neither resembling the artist nor the face of a hominid. The Ear On Arm idea goes back to 1996. It was first imaged in 1997 as an extra ear on the side of my head but it was not a good anatomical site. Partial face paralysis might have resulted and no surgeon I spoke to was willing to assist with this. It took 10 years to find 3 surgeons to participate. Funding came from a London production company. The idea is not simply to replicate an ear on my arm but rather to electronically augment and internet-enable it. This extra ear is not for me. I have 2 good ears to hear with. Rather this is to engineer a remote listening device for people in other places. ------Cyborg constructs are no longer only the medical and mil- Cyborg constructs are - How has your enquiry of direct ex Topuzovski: Tihomir body Stelarc : Up till now the condition of this 73-year-old Without wanting to confuse metaphysically, when this when Without wanting to confuse metaphysically, quences. with replacement parts or the Manga itary traumatized body In fact all technology of the body of wearable exoskeletons. What of the body. future might be invisible because it is inside and nano-machines a modified body invaded by nano-sensors might redesign that not only monitor its internal pathology but atoms-up, inside-out? It would happen so incremen- the body, sense its meta- that the body would not even so invisibly, tally, will not be morphosis. And perhaps the future of intelligence entities imbued about bodies and machines but rather viral and with artificial intelligence that replicate, communicate at the speed of contaminate electronic media and the internet possibilities that light? Artists generate contestable futures - and possibly ap- can be performed, experienced, interrogated propriated but most likely discarded. of performances perience with your own body over decades deterioration, changed? Since a body is subject to time-bound and the questions how has this fact determined your approach raised in these projects? ideas. In 2012, I re has not been constraining in actualizing its with 16 hooks alized the Ear On Arm Suspension (suspended ear on arm into the skin and spinning above the 4-metre-long sculpture. (This was 25 years after the first suspension perfor there is simultaneously an interest in the physical body, its in- body, physical in the an interest is simultaneously there opera- proximal and remote augmentation both in strumental body, want to suspend your If you interactivity. tion and virtual you your stomach, if to insert a sculpture inside if you want per arm, if you want to construct an ear on your are want to as a robot arm, then to the end of an industrial form attached - the physical consequenc artist you have to take performance are not expressing yourself in images or es of your ideas. You - have to confront the possibility of bodi inanimate objects. You enable these actions, trauma. To ly damage or psychological of indifference. Indifference as you perform with a posture allow the performance to unfold You opposed to expectation. own rhythm and with its own conse in its own time, with its mance). In 2017, with the Re-Wired / Re-Mixed performance, could only see I for five days, six hours each day continuously, with the eyes of someone in London, I could only hear with the could whilst anyone, anywhere online ears of someone in NY, access my right arm and choreograph its movements via the whole arm exoskeleton. An average of over 1,000 online inter actions occurred with my arm, and about 300 in-gallery inter actions. Physical difficulty has inevitably been a part of most performances (either intense brief experiences or longer duration actions) as well as most projects being technically complex and challenging. body performs it does not think of itself as “my body”. There is as an “I” it And when this body speaks no body but this body. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 32 Interview withSTELARC byTihomir Topuzovski and theoperational insightsofroboticistsMarvin Minsky’s in thepoeticand predictiveassertionsofMarshall McLuhan netic Theory. Otherideas of interestandrelevancearefound one shouldnotoverlooktheimpact ofNorbertWiener’s Cyber Question ConcerningTechnology” are generallyrelevant,and among partsandwholes? ence inengagementwiththehumanbodyandconnections where technologicalthingshavetheirownnovelkindofpres- Do youthinkthattheseprojectsexpressedHeidegger’s idea it isamodeofbeing,orrevealingandcreatingnewwhole. ing closetoHeidegger’s insightsconcerningtechnology, that body onrobotarm’and‘StickMan’canbeunderstoodas- : Eventfordismemberedbody’,‘Exoskeleton’and‘Propel: ects ‘ThirdHand’‘MuscleMachine’,‘Re-wired/Re-mixed with technologyinamorestructuralway, suchasintheproj- life-spans. phantoms flickeronandofflikedigitalnoiseinourbiological potent physicalpresenceswithforce-feedback.Online,our increasing useofhaptictechnologieswewillgeneratemore form asourphantoms.ByPhantomFleshImeanthatwiththe of interactivityatvaryingscales.Whilstwenowbetterper ed butelectronicallyconnected,generaterecurringpatterns Flesh proliferates.Bodiesandbitsofbodies,spatiallyseparat be reanimatedonthelimbsofanamputee.AndnowFractal extracted andinsertedintootherbodies.Cadaverhandscan taneously andinproximity. Fleshiscirculating.Organscanbe the undead,yettobebornandartificiallifeallexistsimul- synthetic lifeisnowbeingcreated.Thedead,thenear not die.Chimerasareengineeredinthelabandrudimentary Dead bodiesneednotdisintegrate.Near-dead bodiesneed preserved bodiesawaitreanimationinsomeimaginedfuture. tained ontechnologicallife-supportsystemsandcryogenically indefinitely withplastinationwhilstcomatosebodiesaremain- inadequate andrequiresre-imaginingre-designing. part ofexistenceorwecanadmitthatthedesignbodyis information. We canpoeticallyjustifydeathasanecessary amounts ofdata,dopatternrecognitionandreliablyretrieve netic spectrumandcomputationalsystemsthatprocessvast sors thatperceivemuchlargerchunksoftheelectromag- a technologicallyterrainoffastpowerfulmachinesandsen- high temperatureskillsus.Thebodyisprofoundlyobsoletein sation tosustainthebody. Excessexposuretoradiationand need tobeatmillionsoftimeduringourlifespanswithoutces- risk. Ifwelose10%ofourbodyfluidsaredead.Ourhearts perature variesbyonly3-4degreesweareinserioushealth be constantlygulpingairtoextractoxygen.Ifourinternaltem- even sense.Oursurvivalparametersareveryslim.We haveto aged andthatcanbefatallyinfectedbymicrobiallifewecan’t ularly. We aresoftandvulnerablebodiesthat are easilydam- death. We fatigueeasily, malfunctionoftenand becomeillreg- form andwithitspresentfunctionsinfactguaranteesour Stelarc: Certainly, MartinHeidegger’s insightsin“The Tihomir Topuzovski: Thecombiningofthehumanbody What issignificantnowthatcadaverscanbepreserved - - - alence anduncertainty, thenit’s probablyinteresting art. confuses, confoundsandconfronts,generatinganxiety, ambiv- formation andpromotingunderstanding.Ifwhattheartistdoes about emotionalintensityandimpactratherthanmanagingin- ogies ofscienceandartshouldnotbeconfused.Artismore ing andsometimesevenphysicallydangerous.Themethodol- be messy-itcanpornographic,psychologicallytraumatiz Embedded inuniversities,ethicalapprovalisrequired.Artcan science andvalidateitundertheguiseofresearchpursuits. need toauthenticateartisticpracticebyassociatingitwith as research”ismoredrivenbyouruniversityinstitutionsthat of craft.Unfortunately, thegenreof“sci-art”oridea“art question, acombinationofartandutility, isinfactadefinition fect thanaccumulatinginformation.Whatissuggestedinthe in anyfocused,reductivescientificsense.It’s moreaboutaf- sense ofselfandshareyouragency?It’s notaboutresearch local spacesandinproximitytoothers?Whynotextrudeyour cognitive computationalamplification?Whyonlyfunctioningin extra limbs?Whynotextendedsensoryexperiences? cuitry, stem-cellgrownpartsandsurgicaltechniques,whynot age ofexcessandincreasinglybiocompatiblematerials,cir sory, cognitiveandinteractiveoperationalsystem.Butinan way utilitarian.Thebodyisanevolutionaryarchitecture,asen- support andexpertise.Theintentnoworinthefutureisno tualized inrelativelyshortperiodsoftimewithlimitedfunding, bility ofalternateanatomicalarchitectures.Theideasareac- gestures inthehuman-machineinterface,exploringpossi- an inartsomedaybeingtotallyremoved? you envisionthedistancebetweenutilitarianandnon-utilitari- reflected onyourartisticprojectsasnotbeingutilitarian.Can aries betweenart,technologyandbiomedicine.However, you they challenge,oftencontradictha,ha. ical elaborationsintext.Sometimestheyaffirm,sometimes experiences thatpointtothesemorelearnedandphilosoph- so muchillustrativeofalltheseideas,butrathergenerate proclaim post-humantrajectories.Theperformancesarenot Will toTechnology andtheCultureofNihilism”expose pher ArthurKroker, whosepublications“DataTrash” and“The amongst manyothers.Nottoforgetthetheoristandphiloso- and PaulVirilio’s “SpeedandPolitics”werealsobooksread, ject OrientedOntology(OOO).JeanBaudrillard’s “Simulations” tour’s Actor-Network Theory(ANT)andGrahamHarman’s Ob- ontologies andtheelevationofnon-humanactorsinBrunoLa- chi). Andmorerecentlytheseductivediscoursesofflattened Tele-presence andSasumuTachi’s Tele-existence (SasumuTa- Stelarc: Theseprojectsandperformancesareaesthetic Tihomir Topuzovski: Inyourworkyouhavepushedbound- □

- THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019

and , edit- , an opera Mike Kelly The Torture Trilogy Broad Museum century cathedral in , etc., continually in- continually etc., , th Pleading in the Blood Gifts of the Spirit and the In 2005 and 2018, Athey cooperated Some of Athey’s performances, such Some of Athey’s is an art and cultural icon art and cultural is an Ron Athey Martyrs and Saints, The Solar Anus, tertwine the aesthetics, excesses and excesses aesthetics, the tertwine affects of evangelism, engraving in the performance act the personal and historical crises and their affective charge. The uncompromising ecstatic nature of the lively flesh, the refusal to sanitize appetites and perverse its and body the sufferings, its excesses and intimate fail- ures, as well as the exposure of wounds he which through representations as endeavours to take the viewer beyond existing regimes of representation, are some of the key issues shaping the trace left by these works. with projects experimental opera with the soprano singer/musicologist Juliana Snapper and the opera composer Shawn Griffin. 2018 was the year he staged the premiere of Foundation Los Angeles. In November 2018, his solo Sebastian Suspended, Self-Obliteration, created by automatic writing in real time layers, made possible by the performed at a 19 ed by Dominique Johnson. as are in fact memorials of AIDS and the are in fact memorials the his- nature of healing, penetrating religious painting torical archetypes of the piece and adoration. Content-wise, possible ways of processes death and worldwide healing. His works featured as such – topics certain with 90s, the in the theme of Christian martyrs – having opened philosophical debates on the nature of identity while re-examining the boundaries of artistic practice. A monograph of his work was published in 2013 under the title Incorruptible Flesh whose beginnings in performance arts in performance whose beginnings to the 80s in the underground date back part of in Los Angeles as music scene band Rozz Williams from the a duo with AIDS In 1990, during the Christian Death. started exhibiting individual epidemic, he in artistic venues and group works of art Highways, the Ran- such as LACE, PS122, the Institute of dolph Street Gallery and His three influen- Modern Art in London. tial pieces of work in Slavcho Dimitrov: Ron Athey and Acéphale in Skopje 33

Ron Aethey, Acephalous Monster, Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Performance, Acephalous Monster, Ron Aethey, Photo: Sonja Stavrova Skopje Acéphale in Acéphale Ron Athey and Athey Ron Slavcho Dimitrov Slavcho Ron Aethey, Acephalous Monster, Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Photo: Sonja Stavrova Ron Aethey, Acephalous Monster, Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Photo: Sonja Stavrova THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 36 Slavcho Dimitrov:RonAthey andAcéphale inSkopje at Haq, was promoted on 1 December 2018, operation withCassilsandArshiaFatima new pieceofwork,theresulthisco- miere inthe performance 2019 - theory festival Skopje Pride Weekend graphs. sequence ofstage,costumesandphoto- as atothervenues.Itiscomposedofa ticipants, Inc. Gallery in New York as well of Art,andwillbepresentedatthePar historian anddirectoroftheRoskiSchool and organized by Amelia Jones, the art preparation for2020;itwillbecurated in Tucson. presented bytheMuseumofModernArt the existenceof suchassumed(self)suf- at the‘ultimatesolution’andway out.For and theviolent,hystericaldesire to arrive the labyrinthasastructureofexistence, tred ofthemultitude.Orbyhatred of recognizable intheprocess.By theha- of transformations,andbecoming un- periencing newrelations,andthusalso multiple meanings,oftransience,ex- rative, ofthepossibilitythingshaving hatred ofthemetaphorical,figu- do yourecognizefascism?Bythedeep fascism ofwhichDeleuzetalks.How mind showing the symptoms of micro- reactions oftheparanoidconservative tions of a partofthe Macedonian public: once againdemonstratedinthereac- his performancepracticeingeneral,was last piece of work by Athey, as well of between humansandgods. formance inwhichhemergesthelimits mation, thedrivingforceofAthey’s per is apowerfulsymbolofradicaltransfor War Two. Theheadlessorbeheaded man ism andfascisminFrancebeforeWorld same name in its struggle against nihil- Georges Battaille’s secretsocietyofthe man whoservedasaninspirationfor Athey turnstoAcéphale,thebeheaded text andsound.Inhisnewpieceofwork, jections, readings,lectures,appropriated is asoloperformancecomposedofpro- sistance work Biosphere 2 Biosphere As part of the queer art, culture and A retrospective of his works is under The relevanceandnecessityofthis Acephalous Monster Acephalous RELATIONS: Vulnerability and Re and Vulnerability RELATIONS: , RonAtheypresentedhislatest PSNY’s Posthuman series Posthuman PSNY’s Acephalous Monster Acephalous underthetitle haditspre- Cyclical, . This . A - - - -

is independentoftheothers. (read: Man)whoconquers,controls, and zation andreason,inthenameof theman killed andsacrificedinthename ofcivili- Acéphale istheMinotaurthat must be submissive topassionsandexposure. an animalremnant,dependentonothers, transient, changeable,uncontrolled,as body, whichispresentedasworthless, the slaveandservantofwhichis ized by the head and reason themselves, individual, thedignifiedperson,symbol- autonomous, possessiveandcompetitive tasms oftheentrepreneurialsubject, human bodyissubordinatedtothephan- ty, theEgocrat,Capital.Justas ereign, the centre of power, God, the Par and commandoftheMonarch,Sov- is alwaysunderthecontrol,domination which the political body of the multitude and theologico-politicalimagination,in fortification – the Western metaphysical headed asitis,challengesthestrongest even more importantly, Acephalous, be- normative bodily morphology. Still, and the bordersof“pure”orderand dations andtheparanoidpreservationof monster isthecreatureshatteringFoun- of theEnlightenedmanreason, the body/passions.Inimagination the Sun and the butthole, the reason and abject/animal, thedeisticandmaterial, borders betweenthehumanand strosity, asitunitesandrearrangesthe Dionysian creatureexistinginitsmon- Acephalous Monster is a beheaded attempts totheologizethepolitical.The ligious theocentricauthoritiesandthe ultra-right movements,thereturnofre- of neo-fascism,authoritarianpopulisms, ever –especiallygiventheglobalthreats Acephalous Monstertodaymorethan only confirmyetagainthatweneedthe saw the performance). These reactions public (the majority of whom never even the partofaportionMacedonian reactions toRonAthey’s performanceon labyrinth is infactthereason behind the er. And I believethis hatred towardsthe relation withandthethinkingofoth- banal) logicoffascistexistenceandthe and universality, istheunique(lazyand parent sign of truth, of a fictitious nature ficiency, asthestrongestandmosttrans- Is there anything at all that we need - of thefounders – weexist? through which–andonly no careforothersandtherelations of capital,isolatedanxiousentitieswith endeavour tosucceedontheladders subjects whoseentirelifeisapainful of success,competitiveentrepreneurs, endt) oftheexhaustedneoliberalbodies more today, inthese“darktimes”(Ar yourself withthisthread!” we, webegyoustraightaway, hang save uswiththehelpofthisthread?And towards you, I am afraid of it. . . can you to happinessandvirtue,whichleads matter tous,yourpathwhich such terriblethingsaretold;whatdothey acquaintance ofMrMinotaurwhom plore thelabyrinth,westrivetomake citing Nietzsche,Bataille’s favourite: cal, violentanderotophobicreactionsby your thread which leads the worldtoGod.” head isreductiontounity, reductionof existence, for the principle even of the movement theacephalouscharacterof of headstendstorealizeinthesame est forms.Thedualityorthemultiplicity explosive outlet,butlimitedtotherich- damental antagonismsoflifeaconstant polycephal societythatgivestothefun- force, thesolefreesocietyisbior says: “theonlyfreesocietyfulloflifeand ceptional importancetoAtheyandwho This iswhythereturntoBataille,one York: RandomHouse,1968). Walter F. KaufmannandR.J.Hollingdale(New 2 FriedrichNietzsche,TheWilltoPower, trans. p.108. ties (Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress2010), Opaque Presence:ManualofLatentInvisibili- Broeckmann andknowboticresearch,eds. Tiqqun, “The problemofthehead”,inAndreas 1 QuotedfromAcéphale(January1937)in References: “We areparticularlycurioustoex- We mayonlyrespondtothehysteri- Acephale 1 out, out, 2 □ , whoisofex- which leads ascends, -

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 , and it would retrohuman (superman): a being which (superman): □ its perfection. For the time being, let us hope that For the time being, let Maybe, regarding intellectual capa- Good news is that posthumanism Übermensch want history does not repeat itself; and that all history does not repeat the en- bashing these people nowadays litt- their with happy be will lightenment for no higher le enthusiasms – reaching having he- ends than protecting animals, minds. These althy bodies and functional make up the core topics, as it seems, The competencies of posthumanists. between animal human situating itself What is new new. and machine is all but seems not that the difference to both is, worth mentioning any more. Inbetween- ness is seen as danger rather than challenge, thereby doubting the powerful and long-lasting idea of existence. The desire for having a fixed position in the world has become attractive, a world without should regard this as a alternatives. We backlash to medieval cosmologies with its analogy of micro- and macrocosmos, including all the societal backlashes that belong to this analogy. intellectu- so-called us of many cities, als are already posthuman compared to of the past. We in the Humanities thinkers better call this reach back long before antiquity. Maybe reach back long before antiquity. these retrohuman thinkers never tried to understand how intellectuals contributed to fascism and militarism a century ago, and how they ignored warnings, for example the one of phenomenologist Edmund Husserl in 1936: „Essentially, there is no zoology of peoples“ (Husserl we 1976, 320, my transl.). Alternatively, might think that posthumanists dream of overcoming the burden of responsibility for taking care of humans. Instead, they prefer being in the two modern modes of slavery: the pet and the robot. does not exist, because it will always be humans, and neither pets nor robots, which are able and willing to ask for post-humans. The question contains the answer. is able to transgress itself while, at the itself while, is able to transgress cannot being full aware that it same time, - not for the op better – for the with values again – for allows Posthumanism timal. idea of Nietzsche’s – misunderstanding Nicole C. Karafyllis: Posthumanism does not exist 37 télos The concept of „end“ or (greek) Against this background, the idea of Against this background, has two meanings: the purpose, which the end and values, normative to relates as ultimate limit, as final end, as finitude. Here, the idea of posthumanism comes full circle. It is either understood as some general other with human new of kind purposes or as the end of the human as such, the death of a genus. Note that the both understandings do not address Post- individual but an abstract totality. human thinkers do not think post human, they think post Humanism. In no way does the idea of posthumanism allow to Posthu- cherish individual personality. manism appears as progressive form of change, and is allied by all the neoliberal capitalistic change metaphorics, e.g. „global change“; but this is affirming old decadence theories enframed by innovation metaphysics. technological progress has outruled enlight- Technical enment philosophy with its idealistic as- sumption of a history that enrichens itself posthumanism developed almost natu- posthumanism developed is in fact a because posthumanism rally, naturalism. And naturalism is a problem of art, particularly modern art, as again Simmel pointed out. The mimesis of nature – a neodarwinist nature from which into – is fragmented is absent the soul rearranged are which elements natural to bring a scattered form into appearance, an endeavour of modern production aesthetics. It cherishes isolated content rather than full form. When form is product, art is instrumental; it is means to an of work the both outside lies which end, art and the artist. tacitly transformed into the will to survive the will to survive tacitly transformed into framework of within the metaphysical determinism Darwinism, technological and economic competition.

- indivi- individuum (1907). The (1907). having individual to individuals, i.e. living personal

being as

From there, we have come a long Before we look at posthumanism, we Before we look at posthumanism, duality. Soon after, during the Baroque, Soon after, duality. individuals sensed and cherished themselves Schopenhauer and Nietzsche

does not exist does Posthumanism Posthumanism Nicole C. Karafyllis Nicole „will to life“ became the central term to disguise modern metaphysical vacan- and it was related sufferings, cies and its was unquestioned: being God’s creature creature was unquestioned: being God’s and thus being result of the impartiabili- ty and indivisibility of a general form of existence. way towards the present ideas of post- and transhumanism (Coenen , in which metaphysical pluralism is absent. Rather, it shows how the last generations have digested the debates on Materialism and while, Darwinism since late 19th century, at the same time, never have reasonably adjusted to the vacancies that resulted from secularization. The famous and still up to date philosopher Georg Simmel has embraced the vague feeling of human existence in modernity by the dichotomy should look at humanism; and before we should look at humanism; we should address focus on the human, hu- Renaissance, Since individuum. the always thought man individuals have different in of – somehow – becoming a transformation the future. At that time, process happened that allowed to think both the „some“ and the „how“ differently: from individuality. This demarcates the high individuality. with along went It humanism. of time thinking a specific substance that makes the individual bodies and souls unique, a substance that soon would transform the soul into material and atomistic counter parts. While early modern individuality was embedded in a metaphysical pluralism (Schmalenbach 1920; Lüschen/ Stone 1977), the core idea of THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 38 Nicole C.Karafyllis:Posthumanism doesnot exist Individualismus. In: Schmalenbach, Herman:Individualitätund logie, DenHaag1976,314-348. schaften unddietranszendentalePhänomeno- liana Menschentums unddiePhilosophie,in: Husserl, Edmund: Die Krisis des europäischen und Technik. Stuttgart 2009:268–275. ropologie. DerMenschzwischenNatur, Kultur Bohlken, E./Thies,C.(eds.):HandbuchAnth- Coenen, Christopher:Transhumanismus. In: Literature: Chicago 1977. man SchmalenbachonSocietyandExperience. Lüschen, Günther/Stone,GregoryP. (eds.):Her Berlin 1907. Simmel, Georg:SchopenhauerundNietzsche. 365-388. VI,DieKrisisdereuropäischenWissen- Kant-Studien 24/1(1920), Husser - - Igor Grubic Do Animals…? 2017 ongoing Multidisciplinary project (5 posters, photography, film)

Do Animals…? (2017) is a multimedia project based on the artist’s research on former slaughterhouses in northern Italy during his time in the RAVE East Village Artist Residency program. As a staunch supporter of animal rights and moreover as an activist, Grubic investigates the psychological effect these factories of death have on human consciousness. The work is composed of a series of five posters that feature photographs of now empty former slaughterhouses, overwritten with the artist’s questions, that appear in the city center in the form of anonymous ads. Silent and cold, but at the same time distinctly disturbing, the images are visually conceived as the path an animal takes from life to death, from light to darkness. Like a surreal call to public moral responsibility, through his work the artist introduces the general public to his examination of humankind’s conflicted feelings towards animals, taking full advantage of commer- cial mainstream media – urban billboards. This compelling urban intervention has already been shown in six northern Italian cities (including Turin, Trieste, and Udine). The Do Animals…? project is also accompanied by a film shot inside these former slaughterhouses at night, together with interviews with former slaughterhouse employees.

39 40 Do Animals..? billboard, street view Trieste, Italy 2018

41 42 Do Animals..? billboard, street view Udine, Italy 2018 Photo: Isabella Pers

43 Jeff Rasel

44 JEFF RUSSELL Plan for my coffin with section removed to store thoughts on religion, 1981 Drypoint on paper 45 x 59 cm Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje

45 JEFF RUSSELL Plan for my coffin with extra one tied underneath to contain art critic II, 1981 Drypoint on paper 45 x 59 cm Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje

46 A LANDSCAPE OF ANXIETY THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 48 JeffDiamanti: Heliotropism atthe Terminal Beachof Critique energy transition. Technologically, then, to mindwhenyouthinkofsustainable most immediatetechnologythat comes generation is,nexttowindenergy, the by a climate discourse.Thatiswhat Imean solar power—hasnotfiguredatallin heliotropism. It’s notthatthesun—or heim andElizabethDeLoughrey, Iterm by wayofwhat,buildingonRudolfArn- physical andconceptualforceofthesun sun, or rather modes of relating to the and creativethinkingaboutclimate:the under-regarded asasourceofcritical course which,whileprimary, hasbeen ing toaprimaryfigureofclimatedis- Critique Beach of at theTerminal Heliotropism Jeff Diamanti My interestinthisessayisreturn- Rudolf Arnheim, try ofsolarjusticetoallitsparts. position that guarantees the symme- moves theflower’s headintotheone a balanced distribution of energy Rather, aninherenttendencytoward nor hasanybodytaughtittodoso. makes theflowerturntosun, anism, transmittedbythegenes, components. Noinheritedmech- out between inherited and acquired refused to let behavior be parceled Wolfgang Köhler meant when he should makepsychologistsseewhat The heliotropismofsunflowers Light primary

figure:photovoltaicpower Parables of Sun Sun of Parables what Foucault would call a mate: forwhilesolarpowerhasbecome of creativeandcriticalthinkingaboutcli- liotropism isanunder-regarded source jects. ItisforthisreasonthatIclaimhe- but alsotonon-humananimalsandob- might have to theworld, to otherpeople, forms ofimaginingadifferentrelationwe which the sun figures itself into cultural politics ofsolarpowerbutthewaysin I aminterestedinisnotnecessarilythe to aworldbrokenbyfossilfuels.What capitalism – a sustainable techno-fix thing likeanenvironmentallyconscious the sunfiguresasakindofkeytosome- meets Yasmine, it’s true, promisingsome cle Shezad Dawood’s ten-part video cy- throughout theopeningepisode of critical thinkingtoday. social—wash upagainstthehabitsof futures—carbon, aquatic,andpsycho- terminal landscapeuponwhichmultiple ventions thatturncoastalbeachesintoa pism, Ithinkaboutthreeculturalinter draw outthecriticalimportofheliotro- and relationtoenvironment.Inorder to a radically different structure of feeling ward thesun(arelationtosolarity)point the discourseofclimate,gesturesto- Leviathan Ben, themalesubjectwhospeaks , doesnotfaresowell.He I: LEVIATHAN’S MOOD dispositif of - a plot,butwhatIwillarguehereisthat is tosayaconcern,atall.Hefiguresin out nottobemuchofaquestion,which that the question of how Ben fares turns features ofDawood’s Leviathancycleis in episodefive.Butoneofthepeculiar repeatedly bythecaptainofacargoship rocco inepisodefour, andfinallyraped three, he is beaten up on a beach in Mo- good timeintheVenetian orgyinepisode ment; and while he seems to have a pretty as opposedtosomeromantic attach- an extensionof“reallyneed[ing]tofuck” but herattachmenttohimseemsatmost gests isakindofcivilizationalmeltdown, tion pastthepointofwhatfilmsug- semblance ofheteronormativecontinua- lished intheopeningsequenceof beside the point. not faringwellis,ifIcanputitthisway, human alongsidediscourse.Ben bifocal commitmenttofiguresofthenon- (or landscapes) is what is at stake in its and thatthemoodofitsmultiplescenes Leviathan ject, hostile and indifferent to the human sub- cle throughthefigureofasunthatisboth human affairs. Insetting upthewholecy- earth systemsthatdwarfthecentralityof insignificance ofthehumaninrelationto as itsstartingpointbyemphasizingthe nalize theapocalypsethatfilmtakes which Imeanhealsoappearstoratio- the human,climate,andsolarity, by to anincongruousrelationshipbetween half blamingthesun,healsopoints crisis thatprecedeshispresent;butin here halfblamingthesunforsocial closer to the sun. Ben is talking, and he is than past two decades: the double bind that humanities andsocialsciences over the social andenvironmentaltheory inthe for all manner of post-anthropocentric be clear, this is a foundational problem concept ofthehuman to beginwith. To of LiberalReasonresponsible for our folds inonitself,andwithittheedifice tion betweennatureandhumanhistory the same moment that the very distinc- man is the agent of climate change, at into anarrativecontradiction: the hu- dominant discoursesonclimatechange This bifocalcommitmentisestab- , asthecameraisdrawncloserand Leviathan turns plotintoakindofscene, turns turnstheveryparadoxof Levia - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - , which Leviathan turns the environ- present—our fore- present—our own present tense, but with Leviathan’s “The Tempest” We are ten minutes into Ben’s nar into Ben’s are ten minutes We ment) suddenly turns (in Bruno Latour’s Latour’s turns (in Bruno suddenly ment) global the foreground of phrasing) into nature concepts of the affairs. Multiple the ma- and the vitality of of the subject inroads have already made terial world what looked like hardened into upending namely categories of theory, and fixed but of history, the subjects and objects is draw out some what I want to do here modes of of the concepts and aesthetic by a set of perception made available always some in that objects cultural climate of critique ready prefigure a new in their very structure: Leviathan’s ment strange, Ben notes, at precisely the Ben have finally we that moment the character before us in the frame, that “The weather seemed to parallel the remaining inhabitants. mood of earth’s Monkeys!” At this, we return from Sorry, past tense analepsis – a past tense Ben’s that is our present today – and take up shortened future—when he tells us in attune- planetary the of tense past the ment that marked the collapse of civilization. As the sun begins to “squeeze” and a specula- triggering pressure”, “amplify human subjects, tive terminus to earth’s in, the floods rush and as the fires roar, and that most Shakespearian melodrama of all, a new relationship in narrative voice Ben, the character in and character. the frame, spills something on his pants while the narrator refers to the spill in the present tense. For the rest of the episode, pres- the in speak will voice narrative the from speaking the frame, of tense ent the viewpoint of Ben. But rather than tie as is more typ- voice to mood, narrative ical of this diegetic attunement (where though a character is also a narrator, speaking from outside the frame of the ration of ration makes plot horizontal with landscape; a makes plot horizontal that lets the recent photography project the negative; and sun burn holes through Mod- at the Tate a canonical installation ern in London that recreates the scene of a sunny day in order to make an experience of collective pleasure available to a viewership increasingly nervous about a warming world. - - , who Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the Terminal Beach of Critique 49 Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the Wuthering Heights What I want to do today in this essay speaks but doesn’t narrate, and whose speaks but doesn’t character is predominantly responsible for the mood or affective atmosphere of the novel). The distinction between mood and voice is important in the study of nar rative because it helps name the distance between discourse, or what is said, and what is felt—those shifting centres of gravity that concern the cultural object ob- cultural a make what or whole, a as ject irreducible to characters or narra- tors who speak. Mood, in other words, need not (indeed, often is not) an effect more and indeed typically, More voice. of mood is just as much a quality strangely, of objects as it is of subjects. is offer a reading of three recent cultur al objects that help figure a new way of thinking about how climate changes the- theory critical how say to is which ory, has imagined, and might yet imagine, the relationship between the physical environment and the unfolding relationship nature between first nature and second in a context of planetary global warming – a context, in other words, in which what had been previously figured as the background to human history (the environ- mood of each episode. Mood and voice in narratology are distinct categories be- a classic account, cause, in Mieke Bal’s many or one from narrated be can story perspectives, while the focal point of that narrative can be a person or thing that never speaks (the golden bowl in Henry’ James’ short story of that name, or Heathcliff in - - Levi in turn as a plan Leviathan helps figure. Ben, Yasmine, helps figure. Ben, named by climate change, ’s, when narrative seems always ’s, Each episode of Leviathan Figure 1: Shezad Dawood, Leviathan Cycle, Episode 1: Ben, 2017 HD Video, 12’52’’ Cycle, Episode 1: Ben, 2017 HD Video, Figure 1: Shezad Dawood, Leviathan NASA) Center, Productions (with footage from the Goddard Space Flight Courtesy of the artist and UBIK is focalized through a new character, is focalized through a new character, though the means of that focalization varies along at least two axes that will the for account, my in matter, to come dethroning of the subject that the climate of at the same time that the multiplicity of agents distributed across the non-human world appear as the solution (either or politically) to conceptually, ethically, the problem of climate change. And im- in the post-anthropocentric portantly, move that seeks to relegate the human to its biophysical place in the world, there typically comes a certain resistance to narrative, since narrative brings with it a set of genealogies and drives that are double human. This resolutely (usually) bind goes by many names, including the Anthropocene, the becoming geological of the human, the geontological turn, and the posthuman. So how more broadly, does such a contradiction possibly get like narrative a into out stretched athan and everywhere to demand a human set of drives, if not a human centre, to begin with? comes with our collective coming to consciousness of our own agency etary force Arturo, Jamila, and Ismael take up the narrative discourse of each episode – they speak in different languages, and with different proximities to what it is we see in these films – but they are not responsible, strictly speaking, for the THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 50 JeffDiamanti: Heliotropism atthe Terminal Beachof Critique suggest thatthe modeofperceptionthat conclusion ofmyargumenttoday whereI doesn’t needto. This will matter forthe corpse –awhalethatdoesn’t speakbut anchored nowtothemoodofa whale’s one, welandontheterminal beach, what willbethefinalsceneof episode because whentheybreakonceagainin uously shared,andweknowitistenuous space, BenandBen’s voiceareonlyten- For the minute or so that they share as thoughthey’vebecomesynchronized. has nowbeenexposedpreciselyas the distinctionbetweenmoodandvoice follow himthroughanabandonedhouse, acter doesn’t speak to the camera as we Ben thecharacter, sinceBenthechar tinguishable Ben’s narrativevoiceis here is paradoxical: precisely because camera), wegettheopposite.Theeffect Courtesy oftheartistandUBIKProductions Figure 3:ShezadDawood,LeviathanCycle,Episode1:Ben,2017HDVideo, 12’52’’ Courtesy oftheartistandUBIKProductions Figure 2:ShezadDawood,LeviathanCycle,Episode1:Ben,2017HDVideo, 12’52’’ atthemomentthatitlooks not thevoiceof dis - - their mostproximatesofarin life above waterarein this landscape at a Moroccanbeach.Lifeunderwaterand again tothebeach,exceptthistimeitis ters, andmatter. distributed betweenlandscapes,charac- return torawmateriality overtime)then temporal one(wecamefrom, and will beach. Butifoursharedmateriality isa Ben andYasmine aresavedinturnonthe bodies turn back to decaying matter as of theshitpast,andwatch living told thatthesenomadsbuilthomes out detritus. We seeshitonthebeach,are differently, thesharedrelationto,andas, new shit,browndeadshit”or, put beach) andwhatJamilacalls“oldshit, stant jumpcutsfromunderwatertothe sharing boththeframe(featuringcon- Leviathan By episodefourwereturnonce makes available is one that is Leviathan , we canalsobegintoteaseoutthe ing. What pressures that come with global warm- cipation not yet alert to the theoretical cepts awayofconceivingsocialeman- theory carriesforwardinitscorecon- flowed. Inshort,thegenealogyofcritical of sex, and indeedofclimate have since tiques ofculture,capital,ideology, postwar era,aroundwhichsomanycri- core conceptsofcriticaltheoryinthe see inamoment–helpedhardenthe signals Jamila saysandwhatseesthat it istheconcludingsplitbetweenwhat again been made and body. Narrativediscoursehasonce than alittletroubledbythissplitinvoice Jamila seesherselfrunningandismore ed beat, running for self-preservation.” ing outofrhythmwiththisnewimport- can seemyselfrunning,myheartpound- asks, self-reflexively, “for on the beach I matter. “HowamIrecallingthis?”Jamila mood across landscape, character, and thing likebifocalizationabletodistribute modernity implied akindoftragicdisso- environment throughwhichfossil-fueled is this dethronedsubjectoflateliberalism of lateliberalism. perception abletodethronethesubject Leviathan unplugged in subject, onthisbeach,hasalreadybeen capital andcriticaltheoryalike.Forthis is theerasureofthatoriginarysubject positions to 20 by capital.Butinreturningtocanonical embodied relationtoenvironment coded see was in the1960s an ideological and been arguingsofar, isthesceneforwhat point ofview. Theterminalbeach,Ihave by anyofitsnarratorstomonopolize ed, neverfullyreducibletotheattempts seeing. Thefilm’s visuality isdistribut- of eachlandscape is already a way of the scene,sotospeak,butthatscene not been scanning the landscape to set life. Itwillturnoutthatthecamerahas vation—which istosay, runningforher it isassignedrunningforself-preser cisely themomentthatbodytowhom the bodytowhomitisassigned,atpre- not But whatIwanttosaynextisthat thesamesubjectthat–aswe’ll Leviathan’s prefiguresasanaestheticof Leviathan Leviathan th century critical theory, commitmenttosome- distinguishable isimaginingforus fromwhatwe’ll social from -

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 instead of instead , the television set. It

3 as a unified body par excellence What Adorno’s scene of boredom scene Adorno’s What What I want to suggest here is that schedule. Free time becomes a form of a form becomes Free time schedule. account, because Adorno’s in unfreedom towards a productive it turns mimetically through self-cultivation impulse: whether about (he is just as grumpy on a campsite or he is about sunbathing), camping as next day before the passive rejuvenation mass cultural ob- at work in front of the ject some conflicted or split subject, the other - domination. Laid out, precise to capital’s “who these bodies ly not like a flower, grill themselves brown in the sun merely for the sake of a sun-tan” express so literally the reach of this pathology: “In the sun-tan, which can be quite fetching, the fetish character of the commodity lays claim to actual people; they themselves become fetishes”. is this unfreedom which Adorno thus en- thus Adorno which unfreedom this is where the great counters on the beach, out of compulsion. unfree turn to the sun fetishism imagines for us is a commodity embodied in the that has become fully itself – the body subject of the commodity market, mass the and culture, mass of treated now - tan-lines give us a rather re Adorno’s an markable insight into something like internal limit to mid-century critique. A of frame the to is it because threshold the weather on the one hand and the “damaged life” on the other that this scene gets played out at a conceptual I will and not the frame to which register, suggest next has come to unnerve the the frame of climate and former: namely, planetary life so central to recent work responsive to global warming in the humanities, as well as the social and physical sciences. The mass cultural body is heliotropic, to be sure, but solarity is paradoxically incidental to the scene, if by solarity we mean a social relation and rhythm somehow calibrated or attuned to are at the very cusp of a We solar energy. beach; this on here, thought, to threshold a threshold that Adorno, Benjamin, and that trac- others in the tradition so many es its roots back to Hegel, will call time and time again the dialectic of nature and And it is a threshold for at least history. two reasons that I want to explore from

2 work 24/7 Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the Terminal Beach of Critique 51 Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the The Culture Industry century capitalism and the free th Adorno has something else in mind. time it generates outside the work environment. “Free time,” Adorno states at the outset, “has already expanded enormously in our day and age. And this expansion should increase still further, due to inventions in the fields of automa- which have not tion and atomic power, yet been anywhere like fully exploited”. entitled ‘Free Time’ and the purpose of the purpose and Time’ ‘Free entitled that chapter more generally is to histori- cize the dialectic of labour productivity in 20 a (noticing descriptive both being is He postwar upsurge in energic power put to use in the factory) and anticipating in the paradox of labour productivity the postindustrial era we’d call our own today: namely that the calculus of work creative, begins to structure the subject’s personal and intimate desires so that the time of work will begin to resemble what Jonathan Crary has called the other words, of one’s socialization into socialization into other words, of one’s second nature): here, the mediations of the picturesque (or in our example, the histo- of outside experience an for desire the terminal beach) appear from with- ry, (an nature second of historicity the in aesthetic sensibility on the one hand, and domina- the escape to drive subjective a tion of second nature over all experience on the other). But that is not what Adorno is after here: these people, he insists, are not after the appearance of first nature at all. The scene sits at the heart of the pen- ultimate chapter of - - pictur By 1969 1 to be SCENE OF MODERN BOREDOM Recall that for Adorno, the scene of II: ADORNO’S TAN LINES AND THE II: ADORNO’S TAN when the essay is first written, boring weather for Adorno is boring because its leisurely draw is no longer heliotropic, dra- that flowers the of say might we as fair weather or Arnheim’s matize Monet’s sunflowers, but pathological. These bodies turned toward the sun do not occur to the critical theorist as a floral metaphor, much less a kind of aesthetic mimesis to just not desires worker the wherein behold the picturesque but modern boredom is a sunny day, and its modern boredom is a sunny day, to need not do We a beach. is landscape imagine the scene, because it is imag- not is sunbathing him, For us. for ined just “physically unpleasant,” but more profoundly “illustrates how free time has become a matter of boredom”. ciation of the subject from an experience an from subject the of ciation of physical environment. Figure 4: Shezad Dawood, Leviathan Cycle, Episode 4: Jamila, 2018 HD Video, 10’36’’ Cycle, Episode 4: Jamila, 2018 HD Video, Figure 4: Shezad Dawood, Leviathan Productions Courtesy of the artist and UBIK esque. In order to read it this way we way this it read to order In esque. would have to imagine a different kind part, of aesthetic analysis on Adorno’s that is, to Lukács’ much ear much closer, lier distinction between first and second nature – a distinction that proves not to be a difference but a process whereby an idea of first nature (unmediated, or immediate nature) re-appears on the other side of second nature as its constitution (where desiring a direct experience of own dis- nature comes to verify one’s tance from the natural – a symptom, in THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 52 JeffDiamanti: Heliotropism atthe Terminal Beachof Critique and an emergent climate of critique. of climate emergent an and sioning inturnanecopoeticsofclimate, the surgeinatmospheric volatility, occa- the violenceoflatefossilcapital,andto day becomesrelativetotheheatwave, one, the heliotropic pleasure of a nice weather turnsstrange,uncanny?For er onthesideofobject–when change bidsfarewelltoboringweath- happens tosocialtheorywhenclimate changes criticaltheory. Namely:what ing throughoutregardinghowclimate question thisbookhasbeentrack- it wreaksonoursharedsenseofhabitat. ond thesupremelyunhomelyqualitythat becoming climateofweather, andsec- that inbothaccountsdescribefirstthe termed “uncannyweather”–adjectives and Amitav Ghosh has so provocatively Andrew Rosscalls“strangeweather” creasingly historicistexperienceofwhat the vantageoftoday’s stillnascentbutin- and whitepalette weseeinthegallery a positive–returnedfinallytothe black an inversionoftonality – anegativeof saturate it.Henceyougetwhatlooks like through themedium,McCaw’s burns mood. IfLucioFontana’s slashesbroke earlier, provides thewholeimagewithits graph asawhole,or, usingmytermsfrom in factsaturatesthetonalityofphoto- tion ofwhatMcCawcalls“solarization” an enigmaonthefilm–sincedura- that is,itisneitherarepresentationnor excess ofitsreferencepointonthefilm– the burnisanimage,butitimagein burn andimage.Theimageisaburn, distinction youmightmakeherebetween hole intheimage,mixinganyreasonable the photographforlongenoughtoburna photons fromthesunareallowedtohit through toitsterminallimit,wherethe very ontologyasamedium—isfollowed to light—atowardnessthatispartofits instance, photography’s innatetropism tography seriestitled‘Sunburned’,for material. InChrisMcCaw’s recentpho- the figurativeorallegoricalsinceitis tropism asatowardnessthatexceeds heliotropism, thestressisonlatter– This is another way of asking the In whatIthinkI’dliketocallthisnew III: SUNBURNED preproducible, inturn redefining large-format photographsbecomenon- films. Unabletouseanegative,McCaw’s ter yearsofexperimentingwithdifferent black andwhitepaperMcCawusedaf- thanks tothevintagefibregelatinand stead, Iamarguingthat is conceptualizedinthesephotos. In- through toakindofeco-capitalism, that of sustainable solar power driving us lation to the sun, much less a discourse series of tropes about the subject’s re- resentation as such. Itisprecisely not a planetarity overtakethemediumofrep- commitment tolettingsomethinglike climate changeasatopicthanforits is interestinglessforitsinvestmentin of thesun’s dailyarch. must trackinrealtimethehorizonlines during adailyrotation,thephotopaper relative position ofthe earth andthesun photography, andbecausetocapturethe and beginstoreconstitutethemediumof through thebarrierofrepresentation materiality ofthesun’s radiationbreaks of heliotropicrealism,bothbecausethe formal intervention.Herethenisakind can readtheArcticoutfromsun’s planetary axis,sothatforinstanceyou sequence oftheirhorizonlinesrelativeto They alsobecomegeolocatedasacon- sun spaceandtimetoworkonthepaper. twenty-four hoursinordertogivethe Caw leavestheapertureopenfornearly more recentiterationsoftheseries,Mc- enormously longexposuresequences.In of photographythattakesshapeinthese tionship betweenthesubjectandobject are indexical,then,oftheflippedrela- of theprintmaking”. has becomeanactiveparticipantinpart age assuch.InMcCaw’s words,“thesun itself intotheimage;itsaturatesim- aesthetic. Thesundoesn’t merelyfigure unique –sincethecuthereisliteraland and madeit,theexperienceof and prickedorbruisedRolandBarthes photograph thatsofamouslyreachedout gy ofthepunctum–thatelement tropism ofphotographyandtheontolo- turn tothemateriality ofthesunas object ofrepresentation.Andit isthis turning ofthesunintosubject and “Sunburned” inmyaccountsofar The variouscutsmadebythesun 4 Sunburned both both isa the “backdrop to reason”. slow and sometimes rapid erosion of its its realmateriallimits–thesometimes isms butareactionagainstitsfaultlines, an originarypremiseofsettlerliberal- governance ofLifeandNonlifemerely a threshold to reason: no longeris the geontologies alsonamesananxietyand merely thebiophysicalmeansforlife.But metabolic, reproductive,whileNonlife hydrocarbons. Life(orbios)becomes from plantsandanimalstominerals governed overasnon-sovereignstock– not adescriptionbutaneffectofbeing contemporary formofpower, “Nonlife”is tinction betweenLifeandNonlife.”Inthis shape thecomingrelationshipofdis- used inlateliberalismtomaintainor a setofdiscourses,affects,andtactics termed thebiopolitical–“butisrather – as was trueofwhat Foucault earlier ernance oflifeandthetacticsdeath” former doesnotoperatethroughthegov- biopower,” Povinelliexplains,“isthatthe difference betweengeontopowerand own. “Thesimplestwayofsketchingthe world thatappearstohaveamindofits seek toinoculatethehumanagainsta discourses andfiguresofreferencethat ogy” ofthepresent,andlateliberal man inwhatPovinellicallsthe“geontol- of this“edge”isthecategoryhu- the meteorological),butfocalpoint scales ofreference(fromtheanimalto course aremultipleandexistat that supportthem”. ecological, andmeteorologicalsystems entangled speciesandthegeological, societies and natures, and between human beingsandnature,between tagonisms”: namely, “theclashbetween us] ontheedge”ofnewgenres“an- abeth Povinelli,thisnewterrain“put[s anthropogenic climatechange.ForEliz- our sharedcomingtoconsciousnessof flooding thedisciplinesinwakeof gles calledthenewconceptualterrain what somanyhavefromdifferentan- critical compassofthepresent,amidst that seemssocrucialtoletbackintoour primary sourceofenergyforlifeonearth entalization ofthe otherwhocanbeput between thewesternsubjectand itsori- operative merelyalongthedifference more simply, lateliberalismisno longer 5 Thestakeshereof 6 So if I can put this THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - But it is 8 For the optics 9 that ‘The Weather that ‘The Weather like second nature precisely Well almost, because remember because almost, Well in infrastructure the material specificity of the encounter specificity of the encounter the material to end bodies here that I want with other invest- is not for a normative on, since it short, relational as such (in ment in the friction of erasure the with beef Bishop’s relational turn) but and antagonism in the togeth- being a of instead experience an er is what is here being indexed by the sun. Weather Proj- Hall figures in ‘The Turbine ect’ not behind the backs of the viewer as a backdrop or frame but as the condition of It is not for an illusion of its encounter. control over the sun, over a modernity’s solar economy re-harmonized with the meteorological, that the project invites The pleasure. heliotropic for in viewer its Project’ is an ‘weather’ in ‘The Weather expression of an electrified culture that experiences weather as, and as an effect of, the built environment – of a landscape that is coextensive with mood. We tan lines then, are returned to Adorno’s the scene of modern boredom: a beach that is not a beach, in front of a sun that serves the subject of capital. Ador on stake at never was this that - beach to begin with, and so treat no’s installation as a betrayal ing Eliasson’s of first experience the from deviation or nature would seem to presuppose the capacity (or desire) for such an experience in the first place. For Louise Hornby, installation and his more re- Eliasson’s cent engagement with ice in ‘Ice Watch’ “undermines notions of nativity and the natural environment” by turning the experience of the subject into the focal point of environment, in turn alienating environment from itself. suing amidst the larger trend in recent of towing melting ice from Greenland and Europe, I find Horn- Iceland to Western objection compelling and worth pur by’s Project’ helps make available. But it is But available. make helps Project’ whose a cheeky kind of togetherness the re-attunement cheekiness is part of be- helps trigger, that this heliotropism that drives and pleasure, ease, the cause modernity come with an infrastructural that feels thing like the participatory turn in art, if turn in art, like the participatory thing relational aesthetics not the full-blown to Claire Bishop. so troubling . - - - - Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the Terminal Beach of Critique 53 Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the of cultural of cultural the natural The Weath recognition, 7 as bound together, but lack but together, as bound , this split exists on the same IV: THE WEATHER AS SOCIAL FORM THE WEATHER IV: In Olafur Eliasson’s 2003 Eliasson’s Olafur In Haunted in the uncanny character of Haunted in the uncanny manner of natural phenomena that we that phenomena of natural manner er Project understand beach, a beach laid out beneath an ar tificial sun that holds the viewer in its enormous an beneath Bathing gaze. assemblage of monofrequency lights Tur London’s Tate in the sun, resembling terminal the returns beach this Hall, bine landscape to the institution of art and imagines a version of the heliotropic that is self-consciously infrastructural. Cer tainly we are on the brink here of some- Instead, it is to an extended critique of extended critique it is to an Instead, bourgeois humanism in the face of its uncanny reappearance as strange weather that leads us back to the beach, looking for a heliotropism that breaks with the pathology of unfree time. cultural means of cultural means - The tragedy of anthropo re-attunement. of account this in change, climate genic that is literature, realist contemporary bind of figure the double it cannot yet the one hand the uncanny weather: on beings” that an- “nonhuman forces and and on the other imate climate change, “they are the hand the manner in which own hands re- mysterious work of our shapes turning to haunt us in unthinkable and forms”. strange weather, the human and non-hu- the human strange weather, and disfigured, man get mutually figured Povinelli claims and the “edge” of reason for the anxiety of late-liberal geontopower returns us to the scene of the sun bearing down on the terminal beach. Except that the beach in this reading has now been doubled, so that there is one produced from within the bored subject of capital, and one that marks the “edge” awfully feels One reason. late-liberal of of beach the turn in them call to tempted first nature and second nature, but is this not already the distinction that is under erasure in the new climate of critique? after an antihumanism are not here We latent in in so many eco-fascisms or fascism as such, around which flows any number of romanticisms of The Great the protago- century to different th beyond even the other, other, the even beyond reduces Ben’s plot, and reduces Ben’s , and the panning out of the of out panning the and , is of what he sees as a defamiliarizes otherwise Poetics Leviathan Povinelli’s periodization of late lib- periodization Povinelli’s nist’s sense of homeliness, a planetary nist’s can see why home turned strange. You Ghosh wants to think about climate inexora- the is it terms: these in change ble rise of the past 200 years of industrial civilization now expressing itself in all narrative following that recognition. But here are the stakes of this anxiety: the uncanny is what precedes anagnorisis, or recognition of the true nature of things in the classic theory of tragedy – since the uncanny genres of gradualisms, but also for reasons that bring us back to the subject and objects of climate change. Ghosh is looking in cultural form for an anagnorisis of climate change and a peripeteia in keeping with it, referring to the recognition of the true nature of events in Aris- totle’s to death by the state (the colonial other, other, state (the colonial by the to death so other), gendered the other, racial the now but “other” an and “us” an just not an too resistance to climate change in contemporary literary realism. His worry is that contemporary fiction does not have the formal or historical capacity to engage fully with the strangeness of climate change. Strange and sudden weather events fit uneasily within the probabilis- tic disposition of contemporary realism, Ghosh maintains: it simply refuses to turn to uncanny weather events, for historical reasons pertaining to the institution of literature and the bourgeois sensibility attached in the 19 which gets disfigured into Nonlife. Cli- disfigured into Nonlife. which gets is the in this way of thinking mate change a weird this backdrop. What erosion to to late liberal idea, no? That the backdrop the distinction reason is an anxiety about Perhaps this is between Life and Nonlife. why plot more generally, to a feature of the plot more generally, like McCaw’s landscape: the landscape, frame. sun, is rushing into the update Foucault’s eral reason works to the present, but genealogy of power for new threshold to the expressions of this reason are for Amitav Ghosh even more pressing on the limits of cultural form. sustained critique in Ghosh’s Derangement Figure 5, 6: Olafur Eliasson The Weather Project, 2003 Monofrequency lights, projection foil, haze machines, mirror foil, aluminium, and scaffolding 26.7 m x 22.3 m x 155.4 m Installation in Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London Photos: Bas Uterwijk 2003 THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - - (Chi- Levi , Theory, , Theory, , Environ- “Geosocial Anything 11 (London: Rout- South Atlantic Quar “The Ends of Humans: The Culture Industry: Se “Appropriating the Weather: “Antagonism and Relational The Great Derangement □ , October 110 (Fall 2004), pp. 51-79. Ibid., 64. Nigel Clark and Kathryn Yusoff, re-attunes our aesthetic faculties, re-attunes our aesthetic Ibid., p. 188. Ibid. p. 191. Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Theodor W. Adorno, Theodor W. Louise Hornby, Louise Hornby, Claire Bishop, Claire Povinelli, https://www.e-flux.com/ Amitav Ghosh, mental Humanities 9, no. 1 (2017), p. 62. 10 11 ledge, 1991), p. 191. 2 3 4 https://www.chrismccaw.com/about-sunburn 5 References: 1 lected Essays on Mass Culture Culture and Society 34, nos. 2-3 (2017), pp. 3-23. 9 Olafur Eliasson and Climate Control” the Illusions of Our Epoch,” Formations and the Anthropocene” Anthropocene, Autonomism, Antagonism, and Aesthetics” cago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), p. 32. cago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), p. 32. 8 terly 116, no. 2 (2017), pp. 293-310. 6 journal/78/81514/geontologies-the-figures-and-the-tactics/ 7 athan social form ca- which is to say a radical in human history of pable for the first time is human in voice caring for an “us” that mood. but not necessarily in short of that is going to continue to feel short of that is going really bad. really, late-liberal reason, and finally, the orig- the and finally, reason, late-liberal from of boring weather inary conditions But Theory first emerged. which Critical - said the post-anthropocen nobody ever it would or that be easy, tric turn would part of feel very good. And of necessity not feel has been that it will my argument until some new so- very good, at least not Kathryn Yusoff cial form (or perhaps what politics) emerges has called a geosocial of which to care for us in the wake

- - - Levia outside in Leviathan historicity Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the Terminal Beach of Critique 55 Jeff Diamanti: Heliotropism at the , finally, the conditions , finally, where we are Leviathan is in the wake of the nation-state, in the wake is So how, finally, is the sun with which finally, So how, have been imagined for us to bifocalize the materialities of landscape and char bifo- this but plot, with coequal acter with how calization is also coextensive films figure a historicity that Dawood’s is a future tense of our own today – that is, only because frastructure of modernity. Whether or not or Whether of modernity. frastructure force the here, pain into turns pleasure is to refuse intervention of the project’s and moralization of form any knee-jerk relation the necessary instead expose - form and the materiali between social future it is entangled. The ties with which climate change tense of anthropogenic on a simple oppo- might yet not depend on the sition between techno-capitalism technophobia on one hand and a kind of might yet resolve Modernity the other. of social and into a collective project infrastruc- puts that justice ecological of a radically ture to work in the service The critique of the unimaginable future. of its (re)produc- weather on the grounds of second nation from the assemblage ture seems to miss the whole point about to its relation weather and what both the the scene climate unsettles. It unsettles of modern boredom, and asks us to bid farewell to boring weather. we open into the world of the global economy, the pathologies of the pathologies of the global economy, than different from the electric sun of ‘The or the subject and ob- Project’ Weather In ‘Sunburned’ series? ject of McCaw’s the account I have offered here, heliotropism always draws us back to the ter minal landscape of critique, not because it offers a vista onto sublime nature as such (that is, this is a terminal landscape of critique not because it is the of critique), but because the available made is what is gesture the of as an aesthetic experience in each of an is it beach, Adorno’s On works. these experience of modern capital in the form In McCaw and body. fetishized of a fully Eliasson, on the other hand, heliotropism me- the reconfiguring toward means a is of solarization via experience, of dium the photograph on the one hand and the the on pleasure of infrastructurualization In other.

- - - - 10 so imme collective infrastructure. In other In infrastructure. amidst that surges through the subject relation to the biophysical, since Hence my argument here runs argument Hence my face of aesthetic experience and the in- the and experience aesthetic of face words, Eliasson’s work registers the his- words, Eliasson’s toricity of climate, more obviously as one approaches its mechanical arrangement up close, where the last thing one sees before entering the interior of the Tate inter Project’’s Modern is ‘The Weather as much as it does London’s grid, and grid, and as much as it does London’s by extension the energy apparatus that binds the polis to fossil-fuelled planetari- Another way to put this would be to say ty. Project’ that the weather of ‘The Weather is the opposite of a Romantic concept of nature, since it is here knotted to the built might term this instead environment. We not in order to pro- man-made weather, mote the hubris of a modern discourse that plans to geoengineer its way out of climate change, but instead to under score the lived experience of attaching oneself to the social, to a provisional col- lectivity, cial form diate ecological aesthetics to bring climate to climate to bring aesthetics ecological critique as it were. But the the subject, shared the on Project’ Weather ‘The of they that namely Watch’, ‘Ice of grounds expe- the conditions for an determine an first by simulating rience of weather - in the mode of a soft-mili environment misses what in my tarization of climate, of reading is the character for me (finally) weather in ‘The Weather for me (finally) weather in ‘The Project’ gets turned into a source of experience that for Hornby does nothing experience that for Hornby human domina- more than “(justify) the environment”. tion of the engineered bound to Climate change is inextricably that infrastructures resource-intensive into London place like in a life daily turn from distinguish to hard awfully feeling a infra- because precisely nature, first grounds through structure is the material which habitus hardens into the given. To of this it is the defamiliarization my mind habi- of modern condition infrastructural tus that needs drawing out rather than an aesthetic project that would naturalize a site-specific fantasy of second nature’s supposed other. against the grain of the normative discourse of the environmental humanities, which prefers an unmediated or 56 Susanna Hertrich Haunted Lands

Haunted Lands is a series of documentary photos taken in the coastal area of Fukushima prefecture in Japan in May 2016. This area was devastated in 2011 by two disasters. The first was a natural disaster, followed by a massive technological failure. An unusual- ly powerful earthquake with a severe tsunami struck the coastline, destroying vast areas of human settle- ments and killing thousands of people. As a direct result of these natural forces, the nearby nuclear power station of Fukushima Dai-Ichi collapsed, causing ra- dioactive contamination which will remain on the land for an undefined period of time.

Haunted Lands evolved as a side project while shooting a short film for my projectBrighter Than A Thousand Suns. The short film observes a fictional character who is wearing a uniform that detects and visually reacts to radiation as he walks about investi- gating the landscapes of destruction. Radiation as a specific form of environmental pollution manifests itself like a supernatural force – invisible to all our senses and beyond comprehension. It appears like a curse or a haunting, rendering the land into a non-place. The notion of this area as a “Haunted Land” was the starting point for both my projects: the fictional take in the aforementioned short film as well as the documentary photos included in this journal.

I and my team found the locations for the short film and the photos while driving around the area over two consecutive weekends. We entered ghost towns that had stood dormant for five years and had just been reopened for daytime visits, like the town of Namie. We looked into the windows of an abandoned primary school, which still had the date ‘11 March 2011’ written on the blackboard and we met the curiosity of bored policemen who were patrolling the area.

Both projects were enabled through financial support from Schader-Stiftung and Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt in Germany. Shooting in Fukushima would not have been possible without the organization and support of Japanese-Canadian artist Daisuke Takeya.

57 58 59 60 61 THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 62 Amanda Boetzkes:Posthuman Planetarity etary existence. poses thequestionofalterityplan- technological siting of globalization that Spivak suggests,thenitispreciselythis globe isinourcomputers”,asGayatri to thequestion of planetarity. For if “the rization oftheposthumanbegsareturn ing ofthehumanasaconstitutivetheo- emphasis onthetechnologicalcondition- entation ofhumanbodies.However, the perceptual capabilitiesandcognitiveori- contemporary art has transformed the tices andvirtualspacesofexhibition, the riseofbioart,robotics,digitalprac- space and time through new media. With incorporation ofnonhumanscales has been considered in relation to the nature and technology. This overcoming coming ofthedichotomybetweenhuman of necessitysituates existencewithin filment. Thetheorizationofthe superject emergence in the pursuit of sensorial ful- of subjectivity in terms of its organismic perject Planetarity Posthuman Amanda Boetzkes the human. question ofwhatissupplementarywithin posthuman, planetarityresituatesthe North Whitehead’s conceptofthe tary canbeunderstoodthrough Alfred suggest thattherecursionofplane- cal alterityinthehumanbodyaswell.I humanism intherecurrenceofgeologi- posterioriority withinthehuman and therecursionofatechnological horizons and extensions of perception art? posthuman planetarityforcontemporary of alterityitpresupposes.What,then,is therefore havetocontendwiththezone posthuman in contemporary art would The posthumanturnsignalsanover While posthumanism invokes new , aposthumanconceptualization 2 Planetarity implicates post- 1 Afulltheorizationofthe as the su - - sion oftheplanet’s planetary superjectisalsotheexpres- back loops.Thustheexpressionof own co-implicationinecologicalfeed- leads toanacuteawarenessofone’s a planetaryconsciousness. Yet italso with “GeographicInformationSystems”; constitute global identity in accordance capital”, thosevirtualdelineationsthat pear withinthe“gridlinesofelectronic imperial drive.Planetaritydoesnotap- from aglobalimaginarystillrootedinthe and others) in ways that are not derived is toradicalizealterityitself(one’s own than asglobalorworldly, sheargues, To thinkofhumansasplanetaryrather not anundoingofsubjectivityaltogether. activates arepositioningofsubjectivity, if rupts identificationswiththeglobaland ies ofinternality and externality. duce formsofovercomingsuchboundar human as they dofromwithout. They in- appearance asmuchfromwithin the instead, planetaryintrusionsmake their balization. a proteanfigure,analter(Autrui)ofglo- planetarity, GayatriSpivakpresentsitas no, PierreHuygheandGanzugSedbazar. works ofAlainDelorme,Tomás Sarace- statements throughananalysisofthe I willexploretheimplicationsofthese nents ofthesuperject.Inwhatfollows consciousness areallintegralcompo- the waysthatreaction,expressionand our planetarityentailsarecognitionof etarity. Reading the posthuman through is co-mingledwithitsreactivitytoplan- to say, theexpressionofindividual In herformulationoftheconcept Posthumanism BecomingPlanetary 3 Itsuncannyappearancedis- superjection . Thatis - 4

Jacques Rancière. of thesensible,touseaphrasefrom concept offiction,ortheredistribution is to account for a distinction from the a figureandanoperationofdisfiguration globalization. of irreducibilitywithinthedominance and planet-thoughtpreservesitszone tion ofdisfigurationbywhichtheplanet to “nature”andalsoaninsistentopera- such isbotharadicalfigureincontrast the stricturesoffigure.Planetarityas uously recedingdomain, never boundto balization. Alterityisthereforeacontin- figured bytheimaginarystructureofglo- Yet thisoriginalforceisneverthelesspre- tributed withanoriginalanimatingforce. figure ofnature,motherorgodthatisat- alterity, whetherthatbeatranscendental argues, humansalwaystendtowardan to schematizetheimagination,Spivak nevertheless feeds backitsexpression Planetarity escapesglobalmastery, but human consciousnessandperception. ity itselfisinterminalwithdrawal from es) tellsusanything,itisthatplanetar stockpiling ofdepletingenergyresourc - tions, climatechange,andtheeconomic further fromvisionandsensibility. same time the planet itself recedes ever to a redistribution of the sensible. At the longer amarginalitytofreelylenditself beings leftuntouchedbyit.Thereisno and thustherearenospaces,peoplesor logic ofglobalizationisall-consuming must confrontitsownspatialfallacy:the the sensorialfield. Yet contemporaryart that organizeageneralconsensusof gestures offreedomfromtheschemas in order to authenticate and activate its ever moremarginalzonesandpeoples trench itselfinthematerialconditionsof art, which paradoxically seeks to en- paradox totheworldofcontemporary Kantian disinterest).Fictionspresenta of thehistoryaestheticdistance(or expression offreedomandaformborn thing of a spontaneous occurrence – an of perception,yetitsemergenceissome- visual field. Afiction canrecastthelens from within a general consensus of the appears asareorderingofsensation To suggest that the planetary is both Despite thecommandofglobalization If ecological crisis (mass extinc- 5 FictionforRancière - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - Planetarity is an uncommon origin is an Planetarity Insofar as the posthuman demands Amanda Boetzkes: Posthuman Planetarity 63 Second, she opens the way to under the way she opens Second, standing planetarity as a geological re- as a geological standing planetarity If we are the human body. cursion within of its the posthuman by way to theorize it must be understood planetary alterity, is both the geological that planetarity the as- of the human and precondition operation of post- semblage by which an place. Posthuman human gestation takes be considered as gestationality can now geological in the both a recurrence of the precondition human from its antediluvian of georeproduction and as the operation as these give at the limits of the human way to a posthuman deformation. intrusion with- that returns as an uncanny that which carries in embodiment, and returning it to the embodiment outward, earth and its elements. The site of planetary power and its distribution does not remain confined to living beings; it cross- Posthuman agents. and materialities es gestation is therefore not a management of life but an activity over the course of and transgressed is biopower which carries forward into a planetary futurity. The processes of georeplication cannot merely be conceived in terms of a redistribution of the sensible within the re- geontopower Rather, biopower. of gime passes through the human and carries its planetarity forward into an indefinite future. It is for this reason that Povinelli calls for a de-dramatization of human life take and on perspective gain to order in responsibility for mass extinctions and the other ecological abuses generated by carbon-based human expansion. materiality in its resituating the body’s continuity with broader geoassemblages, it also raises the question of how vision evolves through these planetary trajectories. For while human perception adjusts to technological extensions that make non-human scales available to the senses, planetarity is not so much an extension as a material precondition and posthumous inertia. Planetarity of vision necessarily emerges from the embryonic agents from which the human emerged, and the dusts, sediments, crystals and it also Yet mire into which we give way. emerges from the geochemical materials Topology , as Eliza- as , The human is not the The human is not the geontopower 8 The earth is not dying, she 12 Povinelli therefore suggests At the edges of these forms of 9 10

From this perspective, gestation be- From this perspective, Posthuman Gestationality as Plastic In finding an origin of life in nonlife, 11 comes a form of form a comes culmination of evolution but rather an culmination of evolution held within a unstable bodily parameter set of material in- vast genomic soup - a entan- from tra-actions that we imagine glement to greater entanglement. beth Povinelli defines it. Geontopower, it. Geontopower, beth Povinelli defines bio- of limits the at appears argues, she articulates the political forms. Foucault biopolitical through the figures of “the of hystericization (a woman hysterical bodies), the masturbating child women’s sex), the (a pedagogization of children’s perverse adult (a psychiatrization of perverse pleasure), and the Malthusian couple (a socialization of procreative behavior)”. outcomes implicate planetary ecologies ecologies planetary implicate outcomes describes vividly Alaimo futurities. and incuba- moment as an the contemporary material agencies: tion of transforming climate, atmosphere and changes in of and the flooding ocean acidification, of xeno- with thousands the environment biotic chemicals. biopolitical management, however, come come biopolitical management, however, new figures that span the living and the and Desert, the the Virus, non-living: considers these figures Povinelli Vitalist. in their narrative unfoldings in literature positioning them as both and theory, the pre-living origin of humanity and its A genealogy of power futurity. non-living argues, in these terms, as Kathryn Yusoff by subtended is biopolitics how reveals geology. the following formula at play upon the (Life{birth, Life geontopower: of rise - Non Death) v. growth, reproduction} v. life. Povinelli makes two interventions. First, she situates the human as an integral part of a broader geoassemblage of entities that neither lives nor dies but rather changes state, and that at times is withdrawn from care by the living biosphere. suggests; rather the planetary extends itself through and beyond the human. - The 7 , giving rise giving , posthuman gesta gestational To think of ourselves (humans) To 6 . of globalization’s unmanageable unmanageable of globalization’s But while posthuman gestationali- posthuman while But In such a predicament, to state that In such a predicament, outcomes of posthuman gestation from this transcorporeal condition are therefore not merely biological concerns. Insofar as posthuman gestation is an operative form of planetary conditioning, its tionality urform precisely in the form of ecological crisis. crisis. of ecological in the form precisely place there is no space or Thus, while is mak- the planet itself of marginality, as the appearances ing unprecedented to new lives and new forms of life that are never fully knowable. The posthuman in common materialities spans position be- differences ontological the across tween those who are imbricated in them. ty is an embodied condition, it is not an expression of the biopolitical regime. As Stacey Alaimo argues, the posthuman position is transcorporeal, a state of nonliving with shared flesh comingled and often toxic material agents as well, such as plastics, heavy metals and other poisonous free-floating elements. zone of alterity. Planetarity’s operation of Planetarity’s zone of alterity. and is a form without fiction disfiguration into formlessness a fiction that declines is expression as It and nonsensibility. only as the catastrophe, representable in and as the collapse of art and reality alongside and tragic end of the human, The figuration of with the end of life itself. would therefore posthuman planetarity the occa- be the end life the occurs.upon sion of its intrusion. is also the de- the intrusion of planetarity gratu- seems such as subjectivity of mise of there is still the experience itous. Yet the human dissolving into the more-than- human at stake in contemporary art. In her analysis of the figuration of bodies describes Neimanis Astrida water, of such experiences as as bodies of water that are inseparable from global water - from other species and from bodies of water that are also future bodies of water - is to alter our accepted cartographies of space, time and posthuman the consider To movement. body as a body of water is more than just between confluence the understand to bodies: it is to understand that the logic water is bodily of Figure 1. Alain Delorme, Murmurations: Ephemeral Plastic Sculptures #3, 2012-2014.] Image courtesy of the artist and Rutger Brandt Gallery.

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 66 Amanda Boetzkes:Posthuman Planetarity of the20 but itsevolutionoverthelatterdecades was designedformaximaldisposability, al theoristGayHawkinsargues, plastic is amaterialheterogenesis.As cultur geosphere. Posthumangestationality logical synthesis of the human with the materiality andnotmerelyasatechno- ality occursthroughtheexpressivityof bags shows how posthuman gestation- manifest subjectmatteroftheseries. planetary conditionisneverthelessthe ries and power lines are visible. Yet the monuments, tipsofwindturbines,facto- that onlythetopsofbuildings,public lifted offandissuspendedintheairso logical ground; their perspective has The imageshavelostanassumedgeo- sunrises andsunsets,dawnsdusks. of plasticbeingsagainstcolorfulskies, and atmosphere,settingthemultitudes Instead thephotographs“scape”air oriented and grounded to a human scale. of air. Theimagesarenotlandscapes automatic playofplasticagainstfluxes isters intherhythmicbutnonetheless a formofposthumangestationality, reg- integration ofplasticintotheplanet,as of plasticbagsthatflyinformation.The Birds havebeenreplacedbymultitudes and initssynchronywiththeelements. ing itinitssynthesiswithlivingbeings ological sedimentbutratherbyshow- or accumulationofplasticasarchae- reality, notbyshowingthesedimentation tographs captureanuncannygeological mations ofstarlings(Figure1).Thepho- bags carriedbythewindincloudfor Delorme visualizesmultitudesofplastic murations: Ephemeral Plastic Sculptures Plastic Ephemeral murations: topology. Forexample,inhisseries tion asasyntheticimageof enact theprocessofposthumangesta- surgery” oftheimage.Hisphotographs structs inaprocesshecalls“plastic creates digitalphotographsthathecon- man gestationality? in andthroughouroperationsofposthu- begs thequestion:howdowevisualize planetary fabric. The planetary condition we create and which integrate into the gent causation. in termsofplastic’s patternsofemer The animatequalityoftheplastic The FrenchartistAlainDelorme th centurymustbeunderstood 13 Thechemicalmakeup Mur - - - - , ganic materialsintheoceangyres. by theaggregationoforganicand inor and traveling“societyofobjects”forged has becomeanintegralpartofthemobile brys arguesthatsensingtechnologies the PacificGarbagePatch,JenniferGa- “plastic surgery”oftheimage). plastic asrepresentation,inDelorme’s aesthetic reactions(thereplicationof repetitions orneoliberalpositivity), dysphoria), affectivereactions(mimetic actions (climatechangedenial,panic,or for example),butalsoasemotionalre- air pollutionsfromchemicalrefineries, tions (asthmacausedbycarbon-based human body, notonlyasallergicreac- the gestationalityofplasticrecursin rials. Further, wemightspeculatehow and co-emerges with elemental mate- through thelivingplanetasitinforms implied sensation of plastic’s procession ment ofaflockbirdsbutratherthe tion isnotthebeautifulautopoieticmove- a commontopology. Delorme’s murmura- beings, as the subsuming of objects into ing ofscales,asapenetrationliving life/nonlife. appears asanuncannyformofplanetary then, butalsoageontologicalforcethat Plastic isnotmerelyaneconomicagent, alyzes toxicreactionsinbiologicallife. environment asaformofwastethatcat- a commodity, butalsoextendsintothe that spreadsthroughsocialchannelsas expresses itselfasaplanetarytopology has becomeaneconomicagentthat croscopic levels.Inotherwords,plastic itself intheearth’s elementsevenatmi- form ofwastesothatithasentrenched qualities madeitmorerecalcitrantasa material, whileatthesametimethese ant, lightweight,useableandsaleable to theeconomicdemandformorepli- of plasticwasdevelopedinresponse as itextractsinformation. Geo-specula- tic garbageandotherdebrisas much the oceanenvironmentalongside plas- processual systeminwhichit informs entific speculationthereforeoccurs ina In heranalysisofthemonitoring Planetary SuperjectionandPlastic Plastic expressesitselfasaflatten- 14 Form Sci- - a societyofobjects. objects thatmoveasgeoassemblages- from theperspectiveofaggregated ing ecologically I suggestthatartcultivatesaway ofsee- ment -andpracticesofrepresentation. that occurinresponsetotheenviron- implicated, andthephenotypicchanges neurological systeminwhichthey’re which includestheopticalorgans, ecosystems, thehumanvisualsystem- perception entails a circuitry between affordances theygenerate. of imagesandthecollectiveperceptual sider theintentionalityofsuchsocieties ality. Itthereforebecomescrucialtocon- as anotherformofposthumangestation- Societies ofimagesmightbethought human geoassemblagesofperception. and thattheplanetalsoperceives exert perceptionasaplanetaryreality, ception), this is to suggest that images that terraformevenastheyinformper blage ofbi-directionalimages(images are perceivingbywayofageoassem- a societyofimages.Morestrongly, ifwe planetarity isexperiencedinandthrough informs collectiveperceptionandthat production ofasocietyimagesthat that theposthumanconditionentails concrese inperception.Iwouldsuggest tion–we mightalsoquestionhowimages jecting backintothebodyaspercep- the bodyintoenvironmentandintro- ception is bi-directional -projecting from introjections inperception. they produce embodied recursions and selves intoplanetaryprocesses.Inturn, ogies bodyoutwardandintegratethem- ontological categories.Sensingtechnol- matter ofthecominglingacross tion (andperceivingperception)asitisa human is as much a process of percep- er words,thebecomingplanetaryof makes sense of the environment. In oth- to formulateascaffoldingbywhichit concresces in a nexus of materialities tion isthereforeasensingpracticethat tional movement, I turn to the concept of tions. To betterunderstandthisbi-direc- environmental projectionsand introjec- art attunesthevisualsystemto itsown representational practices.That is tosay, Gabrys approachesthisphenomenon Elsewhere Iarguethatecological within But insofarasper vision through its 15 - -

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 , inscapes the individual’s the individual’s processes It is in this context that we can con- It is in this context that Amanda Boetzkes: Posthuman Planetarity 67 the internal image projection of external the internal image projection however, environments. For Whitehead, image, but one the inscape is not a still an internal that equally moves in process; objectivity that environmental procession. If the individ- If the procession. environmental it is precisely in ual is a superject, then, it spans the lim- virtue of this inscape that its of internality and externality. sider the architectonic installations of In- Saraceno. Tomás artist Argentinian spired by the spatial organizations of spider webs, Saraceno reconceives cre- by installation the of space the of visitors that plastic thin of layers ating limbs four all using through move must of the midst in themselves steady to continuous feedback from the varying tionship between an organism and an and an organism between tionship be- distinction the through environment to the (what is relevant tween stimulation exists (what and information individual) White- in the environment), objectively more exis- superject is somewhat head’s into the environment tential, proceeding of interpretation the through - The subject 19 While Gibson approaches the rela- Figure 2. Swiss Army knife. Courtesy of Victorinox, 2019. Figure 2. Swiss Army knife. Courtesy of Victorinox, strives to actualize itself in its movement strives to actualize itself its fulfillment through the environment; on its own is therefore always premised unlimitation into the environment, and the return of its perception into its being. The becoming of the subject through environmental process is therefore the becoming-objective with that environment. The superject is the totality of the procession into the environment and the introjection of that environment as perception. afford a behavioural outcome to fulfill to fulfill outcome a behavioural afford affords needs, but it also the perceiver’s as every potential behaviour each and a flux of affords both well. Perception structure invariant the and stimulation This un- combined. of the environment of the objective dimension derstanding allows what is perception subjective of own its to exceed subject individual the It is in this vein subjective perception. considers that Alfred North Whitehead in relation to the the subject processually as a emerges environment: the subject it in pur it proceeds through superject as fulfillment. of its own suit - - - - po Importantly Importantly 16 the subjective inside

17 - cognitive psy by as defined The activity of perception as 18 behaviour, or what Gibson calls behaviour, Affordance encompasses any Gibson’s model of ecological per Gibson’s though, while the perceiver proceeds the perceiver proceeds though, while sampling and through the environment from the ambient selecting information is informed by surroundings, perception stimulus and the both the variations of The affor invariants of the environment. is comprised of dance of an environment that an environ- the limitless information meanings of this ment yields, the possible and the full information to the perceiver, which the perceiv- range of actions with summarize, To er may choose to respond. Gibson argues that the affordance cuts across the distinction between the subjective and objective, and stands as both “a fact of the environment and a fact of behaviour”. tential affordance chologist James J. Gibson. Gibson situ- Gibson Gibson. J. James chologist arguing environmentally, ated perception by is accompanied that “…exteroception world to perceive the proprioception-that oneself”. is to co-perceive “action possibility”. An environment may experience of stimulus response. Thus, while the perceiver senses through the stimulation of the organs, information is not energy-specific; it remains the same despite radical change in the stimulation obtained. example of Gibson’s understanding of the understanding of the example of Gibson’s human perceptual system and its way of gleaning environmental affordance (Fig- ure 2). On the one hand, humans possess sophisticated perceptual organs. On the those organs do not other hand, however, the in environment the instrumentalize are sensi- they tool. Rather, manner of a tized extractors of information from en- ergetic stimuli. Our sensory instruments, including the eye, are not what we think if we assume that they extract information. they exert themselves into the Rather, environment in such a way as to distill information in relation to the stimulation they project into the environment. a being moves through the environment does not distort the objectivity of the knife Army Swiss a of image The world. serves as both an example and a counter ception situates invariant environmen- information tal THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 68 Amanda Boetzkes:Posthuman Planetarity concept ofthesuperject entailsthein- the installationdemonstrateshow the ation withitsinhabitants.Thegambit of sional formationstoemergein co-cre- flexive basisthatenablesfourth dimen- and surroundingmaterial,plastic isare- stead ofbeinganappropriating, invasive changing andatmosphericspace.In- sensibility withinandforanimmersive, the mediumthroughwhichtodevelopa Another waytoputthisisthatplastic to thesurroundingenvironmentoccurs. systemic interactivityandasensitization and moreareceptivemediumbywhich cal actantthatproducesitsowntopology work movement oftheplastic.Forexample,his “string figure”. itself intowhatDonnaHarawaycallsa demands thatthehumanformcontort could notpossiblybelinear, butrather al’s processionthroughtheenvironment stallation’s reflexiveoutput.Theindividu- own movement,thatofothers,andthein- anticipation offeedbackbetweenone’s lation demandstheinternalizationand is constantlychangingshape.Theinstal- the plasticlayerssothatinstallation Their movementsgeneratefeedbackin one anotherthroughtheplasticmedium. of visitorsastheymoveinrelationto combination ofthecollectivemovement tal feedbackproducesasuper-reality, a individuals’ movementandenvironmen- sions arealityinwhichthetotalityof space. The installation therefore envi- fulfillment ofaprocessionthroughthe feedback inorderforthesuccessful ment mustalsoawaittheassuranceof provisional andspeculative.Anymove- visitors isthereforeentirelyrelational, ters thatdefygravity. Themovementof as asetofsuspendedspatialparame- Saraceno imaginesthisfourthdimension a fourth-dimension of material reality. space-time continuumthatconstitute atomic particlesmakealterationsinthe theory, drawingfromtheideathatsub- no derivedthestructurefromquantum and reflexivelevels(Figure3).Sarace- pressures to create several interactive above groundandaresetatdifferentair layers ofplasticfilmthathang20meters a web-likeinfrastructuremadeofthree Plastic materialislessageontologi- On Space Time Foam Time Space On 20

(2012)creates For his spider websandtheircommunication. is alsoatplayinSaraceno’s interest in an inscapeandaplanetarytopology topology. it isintegraltotheco-productionofthat pretation ofthetopologyisgestational; ers aswell.Inotherwords,one’s inter own superjection of the planet and oth- environment; it is the recognition of one’s one’s ownreflexivefeedbackwiththe etarity is not merely a consciousness of herent collectivityoftheindividual.Plan- Courtesy StudioTomás Saraceno2013 Figure 3Tomás Saraceno, about thewebsis notmerelytheircross- ual aboutthatecology. What is“hybrid” ecology returnsfeedbacktothe individ- sending out a stimulus into a surrounding is abi-directionalfeedbackby which trembling. Thisformofcommunication the websasspidersset threads Saraceno recordsthevibratoryoutputof terspecies communicationtechnologies. more importantly, thewebsserveasin- span thedifferentspeciestypes.But that theyweaveinterrelationships What ishybridaboutthewebs,then, others semi-social, and others collective. sociability, somebeingsolitaryspecies, aceno’s spiders vary in their range of intertwined structures.Importantly, Sar through thespaces,producingfloating The spiderstheninterweavetheirwebs Minimalist Plexiglascubes(Figure4). puts differentspeciesofspidersinlarge The superject’s co-productionof Hybrid Webs Hybrid On Space Time Foam Time Space On series,Saraceno , 2012.SoloExhibitionatHangarBicocca,Milan,Italy. - - strong enoughnottoyieldallat once.” weak enoughtoyieldaninfluence but “means thepossessionofastructure draws onWilliamJames’definition from to theexternalenvironment.Thus he the siteofbody’s limitsandopenness plasticity canbetheorizedasprecisely the environment.Hearguesthathuman homology betweentheindividualand fines plasticityasarelationofstructural philosophy ofembodiment. Tom Sparrow’s account of plasticity as a bility, itishelpfultoconsiderphilosopher tivate planetarysensibilityandresponsi- lation ofgestationaltopologies that cul- planetary response-ability. the embodiedcognitiondemandedofa tion andextendhumansensestowards non-verbal environmental communica- the floorasawaytoattunevisitors then airedthevibratorysoundsthrough installation withahybridwebcubeand Biennale (2019),Saracenocreatedan It isa“dynamicstructural integrityofthe The Principles of Psychology of Principles The his a commongestationalinfrastructure.For between them,throughitsfabricationof work crossesthelinesofcommunication ing ofdifferentspecies;rather, theart- Spider/Web Pavilion 7 Pavilion Spider/Web Bearing inmindSaraceno’s formu- Conclusion: PosthumanAcéphale, Planetary Disfiguration attheVenice 21 Sparrowde- : plasticity 22

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - A similar disfiguration of the human is of the disfiguration similar A Amanda Boetzkes: Posthuman Planetarity 69 tantly, the expressivity of the artwork is artwork the of expressivity the tantly, spider vibrations, recast, like Saraceno’s as an embodied communication of planetarity. at play in the practice of Mongolian artist perfor Ganzug Sedbazar (Figure 6). His mances enact an overcoming of interior perception and exterior environment - night of poisonous groupings set amidst and LSD-producing fungi shade plants, A greyhound foxgloves. flowering toxic leg lived with a dyed pink named Human about freely of land, moved on the plot dispa- These no constraints. with site the together were gathered rate lifeworlds of bees agent: a colony by a focalizing the head of built a massive hive around together the the sculpture, thus seaming space. In graft- numerous divides in the and honeycomb, it ing together concrete head and the face disfigured the human patterning onto as a site of expression, world of bees. it the busy signalectic was defaced and The canonical nude fabric. Impor remapped in a planetary

- staged Umwelten Untilled Figure 5 Pierre Huyghe, Untilled (Liegender Frauenakt) 2012 Courtesy Pierre Huyghe, 2019 much of Huyghe’s work, much of Huyghe’s discrete animal and vegetal (lifeworlds) that overlapped but never indifference gaps of maintained theless - The outdoor installa toward one another. tion was composed of a sculptured nude - , Venice Biennale, 2019. , Venice Saraceno’s Saraceno’s installation 23 Untilled Spider/Web Pavilion 7 Importantly, though, to consider the Importantly, at Documenta 13 in 2012 (Figure 5). Like at Documenta 13 in 2012 installations are both determining of the are both determining installations on sense-effecting and movement body’s the body in a way that permits the planetary condition to register in perception. They cultivate a condition of plasticity between the body and the environment in such a way that the environment can intercorpo- and incorporated an become in these terms, ar Plasticity, real reality. ticulates the bi-directional movement of planetary perception and expression that constitutes the operation of posthuman gestationality. plasticity of the human body in relation to planetarity involves the disfiguration of the human as a dynamic planetary operation. The recursion of the planetary in the human body is therefore the disfiguration of the seat of cognition (the myth the as head the and verticality human of refiguration its and mind), the of seat Consid- as embodied interconnectivity. Pierre Huyghe’s er Figure 4 Tomás Saraceno, Figure 4 Tomás embodied subject.” In this vein, he considers the aesthetic dimensions of the plastic body whereby form is defined as the “operation of forces that carry the experience of an event, object, scene and situation to its own integral fulfillment”. The plastic form of the body gives priority to circumstance, materials and energies over cognitive teleologies in the determination of structure. Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno, 2019 Courtesy Studio Tomás THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 70 Amanda Boetzkes:Posthuman Planetarity man gestationality. the axisofhumanlanguageand posthu- seats consciousnessbyentangling itat becomes aformofexpression that un- suffocating enclosureofthedough that is thenervosityofmuffledsound fromthe head asbasicsubstance.ForGanzug, it self acephalicthrougharecastingofhis reconfigure hisposition–torenderhim- uses thedoughtodisfigurehisheadand his bodilyexpressivity. Importantly, he speak withlanguage)whileenhancing his expressivecapacity(theto formances this is aliteral tactic tomuffle der todefacehimself. In someofhisper that Ganzug wraps around his head in or becomes amaterialagent,substance one intotheother. Thedoughtherefore the verygestationalprocessionof life withthecontemporaryworldthrough material thatspansanIndigenouswayof viet Mongolia.We couldthinkofitasa nomadic lifeandcontemporarypost-So- symbol ofcontinuitybetweentraditional calls forthforitsiconisticvalue;itisa Mongolian staple,andonethatGanzug does so.Thebreaddoughisatraditional sometimes chantingorspeakingashe wrapping thedougharoundhishead wall andwatchingitdripdown,then times throwingoutchunksofitatthe the ground,gathersupdough,some- bag offlourscattersitintheairandon formance afteranother, Ganzugbringsa using bread dough Courtesy oftheartist. Figure 6GanzugSedbazar, performance,UnescoPavilion,56thVenice Biennale,2015 (talqan) . In one per - - - between perceptionandgestationality. etarity: thebi-directionalrelationship must accountforitssuperjectionofplan- gestates withtheplanetandtherefore the sametoken,posthumansuperject environment asaplanetarysuperject.By exceeding itslimitsbypropellingintothe ceptualization ofthehumanasalways planetary topologiespermitsarecon- tion initsprojectionandrecursionwith posthuman asapositioningofpercep- permeate theair;buttounderstand the caseofDelorme’s plasticbagsthat ality maybeananxiousposition,asin geoassemblages. Posthumangestation- nition and instead in its synthesis with communication awayfromhumancog- rather arepositioning of perception and a technologicalsynthesisofnature,but Planetarity, then, is not a matter of tinuum, 2010). Aesthetics, StevenCorcoran,ed.(London: Con- 5 JacquesRancière,Dissensus:OnPolitics and 4 Ibid.,p.71. 3 Ibid. neapolis: UniversityofMinnesotaPress,2008). Thinking Through Technology and Politics (Min- human posteriority, seeDavidWills,Dorsality: 2 Forthisinsightful analysis oftechnologyasa versity Press,2003),p.71. Death ofaDiscipline(NewYork: ColumbiaUni- 1 GayatriChakravortySpivak,“Planetarity,” in References: □

23 Ibid.,p.183. 22 Ibid.,p.179. Press, 2015). Phenomenology (London:OpenHumanities 21 Tom Sparrow, RebuildingSensationAfter University Press,2016),p.31. Making KinintheChthulucene(Durham:Duke 20 DonnaHaraway, StayingwiththeTrouble: Press, 1978). ty: AnEssayinCosmology(NewYork: TheFree 19 AlfredNorthWhitehead,ProcessandReali- 18 Ibid.,p.243. 17 Ibid.,p.129. cis Group,1979),p.141. to Visual Perception(NewYork: Taylor &Fran- 16 James, J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach 271-282. Michigan: OpenHumanitiesPress,2015),pp. Environments andEpistemologies(AnnArbor, cene: EncountersAmongPolitics,Aesthetics, and EtienneTurpin, eds.,Artinthe Anthropo- the NeurologicalSystem,”inHeatherDavis 15 AmandaBoetzkes,“Ecologicity, Vision and ty ofMinnesotaPress,2016),p.152. a Computational Planet (Minneapolis: Universi- mental SensingTechnology andtheMakingof 14 JenniferGabrys,ProgramEarth:Environ- Routledge, 2013),pp.49-67. lation: TheMaterialPolitics of Plastic(London: Gay HawkinsandMikeMichael,eds.,Accumu- topologies of disposability,” inJennifer Gabrys, 13 GayHawkins,“Madetobewasted:PETand 12 Ibid.,p.28. 11 Povinelli,p.9. phies 22,no.3(2014),pp.383-407. art ofbecominginhuman,”CulturalGeogra- man origins,geomorphicaesthetics,andthe 10 KathrynYusoff, “Geologicsubjects:nonhu- 9 Povinelli,p.15 8 Ibid.,p.120. p. 127. neapolis: UniversityofMinnesotaPress,2016), itics andPleasuresinPosthumanTimes (Min- 7 StaceyAlaimo,Exposed:EnvironmentalPol- Bloomsbury Press,2016),p.4. human FeministPhenomenology(London: 6 AstridaNeimanis,BodiesofWater: Post- Installation view, Grabbing of the space , Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Photo: Stanko Nedelkovski and Blagoja Varoshanec Gligor Stefanov

A Conversation with Material and Space

When I begin a new piece I try to free myself from my preconceptions. My aim is to start from zero, to begin from the simplest dot or line. This requires a rejection of my own internal monologue. It requires quiet from the conversations and input of others. I refuse outward shows of organization and the finality of conceptual sketches. The beginning of work is like walking into a cave, where I must watch my own steps in the dark, where everything is new and unfamiliar. I reject the desire to decorate, design or organize spaces. The space that is usually granted to me is in galleries, but my attitude is similar when working outdoors. Setting is a point of interest to be activated – to be tested, to be enlivened, and to be revealed through the dialogue of material and process. If future works turn out like previous works, it is foremost because of my spiritual-emotional aspiration towards a particular creative process – a process in which I free myself in a flurry of teenage enthusiasm and wonder. I dislike premise work in important messages or ideology. I don’t foresee changing the world through the processes of my art. I often think of the loneliness of Van Gogh, who on one cold winter morning was able to hold a dialogue alone in his room with his old ripped up boots. What did the artist want to say with these boots? What did he want to ascribe to the world? I only know that the means by which he showed his anxious restlessness was a gesture of immediacy and strength that can leave none indifferent. Only children can often muster such abrupt poetic expression. In my process I try to mirror this childlike attitude of direct expression from momentarily available moods. With my materials I look to immediately control the visual result. Classical sculpture techniques and materials like stone or bronze do not offer much in terms of impulsive malleability and flux. The results of working with stone or bronze are only visible in the nearly final stages of sculpture. Natural materials like tree branches, leaves and, most importantly for myself, straw, are capable of intensive and immediate development. They are also capable of exalting thin 3-dimensional lines that can allow one to draw on space as if it were a canvas. And even more wonderful is the glistening shine of straw. In any abundance, straw casts a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. When I arrange it in a space it’s as if there is a fiery jazz rhythm being played between shadows and light. I try to understand the substance of the material and its real possibilities in a space so that every aspect of the straw comes into play – its smell, texture, variations in colour, every part is an op- portunity for expression. Straw is particularly unique in the energy and light it can convey. The straw forms I create, along with other natural materials, are all physically massive. At first sight it is incomprehensible that these would be used as materials for sculptures that float in the air. I separate straw from the ground and try to grow the straw into the forms I see fit. I try to give new life to the straw by intervening in its natural capacity for growth. That is the sense in which I speak of straw sculptures as a realization of energy, but it is by my intervention in the performance of their biological nature – or their telos of growth – that expansion to the cylindrical form is possible, and that expansion is marked by the form of the nest, of kites, and ultimately, the form of the angel.

72 Installation view, Grabbing of the space , Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Photo: Stanko Nedelkovski and Blagoja Varoshanec 73

Installation view, Grabbing of the space , Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Photos: Stanko Nedelkovski and Blagoja Varoshanec

Installation view, Grabbing of the space , Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, 2019 Photos: Stanko Nedelkovski and Blagoja Varoshanec THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 78 ChrisSalter: IntheHaze of theTechnosphere events tocome. Well knownfortheiraggressivedesigneveryonefromIBMtotheearly laborator ErikAdigardfromthe(in)famousdesignstudioM-A-D inBerkeley, California. scribed atthetopofthisessay. Itwascollaborativelycreated withmylongtimecol- title time-based artworks amidst Hong Kong’s public urban space”, the HK ISEA’s thematic for projects during the symposium and festival “designed to envision specially curated annual InternationalSymposiumonElectronicArt(ISEA).Shown aspartofanopencall place in2019theheatofHongKongprotests;itoccursinstead in2016duringthe event ofdisorderlysoundsandimages,iconssuperimposedover bodies,doesnottake is repleteintheatmosphereofdisplayanditsaccompanyingsoundtrack.Butthis sive boomsandshallowbreathing. ing thetickingpassingoftime,cashregisterfoley, sweepingwhitenoise,deeppercus- short butstartlingsoundtrack–akindofcountdownconsistingbeepingsoundsinvok- observation platformontheHongKongislandsidewhereonecanalsoexperiencea signs andarrowspointingupdown. ple figureofafemaleshadowmovingtowardsoneandthenaway, theflashofcurrency arranged in columns, a massive shadow of a boxer, sudden bursts of white light, the sup- displays astringoficonicimagesonitsglassandsteelLEDfaçade–fluctuatingnumbers and shapesinthedistance.LoomingonKowloonhorizon,488m-highICCtower exploded theboundariesbetween design,art,researchandsocialengineering. crash-like collisionsofimagesand text,M-A-D(McShane–AdigardDesign)haslong new digitaltechnologythroughvisually assaulting,inyourfaceday-glographicsandcar zine spreadsthatferociouslyannounced adualutopian/dystopianworldconstructedby Technosphere In theHazeof timers. Thisgoes backtothelate1990swhenhis SFMOMA-commissionedwebartwork, ferent collaborations, Adigard continually demonstrates his obsession with clocks and In thehazeofearlysummerHongKongsmog,onecanseeflickering,sputteringlight Counterpolis Counterpolis This senseofmotiontowardssomependingmomentapocalypseorsuspension Accompanied bythedinofKowloon’s traffic-filledatmosphere,thereisalsoaspecial Counterpolis Cultural R>evolution Cultural 1

isthenamegiventoparticulartwo-minuteaudio/visualwork de- is deceptivelysimpleinitsstructure: itisbasicallyaclock.Inourdif- nowseemsfrighteninglyprescient,likeapremonitionofthe Wired maga- Chris Salter THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 Chris Salter: In the Haze of the Technosphere 79 Chris Salter: In the Haze of the Technosphere - 2 Chro The Large already introduced a specif- already Chronopolis – as moving silhouettes, as images behind Counterpolis – an installation combining real-time animation, sensors, real-time – an installation combining suggests that bodies, in their forever fleshy, fragile, precarious suggests that bodies, in their forever fleshy, Air XY is described as exploring the relationship between image and object. is described as exploring the relationship continued that tradition both in its merger of desktop iconography and a continued that tradition both in its merger of Counterpolis , which was commissioned by the Goethe Forum in Munich under the then director under the then director Goethe Forum in Munich commissioned by the , which was on biopolitics, posthumanism and contemporary culture? Let me attempt a few an- me attempt culture? Let and contemporary posthumanism biopolitics, on Bodies continually appear in We played these same themes out again in a 2008 commission for the Venice Biennale Biennale in a 2008 commission for the Venice played these same themes out again We Consisting of a very large 10 x 10 meter square floor-projected interface displaying interface meter square floor-projected of a very large 10 x 10 Consisting To put it more directly to the point: what does this urban screen-based work illuminat- put it more directly to the point: what does this To Counterpolis Counterpolis fog, light and sound to explore the way hidden systems in the contemporary city increas- explore the way hidden systems in the contemporary fog, light and sound to swarming icons, flash- and bodily experience. Here too were ingly shape our perception – in other words, spectrograms, the inside code of software es, sliding images of data, exploded into physical space. The bodies of the information layer of a computer desktop time, projected onto the chaotic surface the visitors were captured by cameras in real rectangles, years before such images of the screen and graphically bounded by floating AI-based facial targeting and recognition. would become commonplace in reports about state, are increasingly subjected to the flows and tsunami of global capital. Indeed, more state, are increasingly subjected to the flows and tsunami of global capital. Indeed, more one of the Causeway Bay, before Hong Kong’s it seemed only a matter of time recently, most expensive areas for retail real estate, would fall victim to the blue water planet’s new surveillance-state atmosphere. cannons and teargas clouds that mark the city’s pulsing light bars, sometimes nearly obliterated by flickering, target-like icons. As one pulsing light bars, sometimes nearly obliterated by flickering, target-like icons. As one watches this spectacle of almost advertising-like digital apparitions accompanied by the digital beeping of a clipped sine wave that sounds like a ticking clock, one cannot but be smart cities and Between us. save may not that technology the realization of reminded automated vehicles that attempt to monetize what was formerly thought of as public life, perpe- that companies tech with together algorithms, predatory of manner all through the once glowing racial discrimination, sexual and such as quotidian crimes trate more of vision of the “Northern California ideology” seems to be burning up, along with half that parched state which has long suffered from drought brought on by climate change. ic visual and sonic style that we would deploy on subsequent projects. Within the anima- that we would deploy on subsequent projects. ic visual and sonic style real-time system clock at a specific speed determined by the tion, each pictogram moved symbolized flows in the leaving a trail of dots behind. The pictograms of the computer, goods, people, and processes of decay. contemporary city – currency, of Architecture called nopolis the mysterious and almost hermetic TimeLocator, premiered online during that museum’s that museum’s during online premiered TimeLocator, almost hermetic and the mysterious Soon after, entitled 010101010. new media exhibition only) major sadly, inaugural (and audio-visual installation together – the large-scale I did our first work Adigard and Dieta Sixt and premiered in the cavernous Grand Halle in the Parc du La Villette in Paris in in the Parc du La Villette Grand Halle premiered in the cavernous Dieta Sixt and in 2002. four animated picto- and seconds, together with grids over which days, hours, minutes traveled, the time elements grams representing swers. First, - architected sky hulking, Chinese projects for this so many other commissioned ed like do with the theme of this issue of scraper (a most appropriate name), have to But what here constitutes the “object” – the bodies on Hong Kong Island staring at the But what here constitutes the “object” – the that walk across the surface of the tower? altitudinous ICC? Bodies as pixelated glyphs being violated by truncheons and spritzed blue jumping forwards three years, bodies Or, dye, pummelled by clubs and rubber bullets? physical emplacement in relationship to people’s bodies, albeit this time using an urban physical emplacement in relationship to people’s In our cryptic description, the work is de- scale that dwarfed the Hong Kong observers. commentary on the urban forces that shape scribed as “a 120-second visual and sonic of a countdown populated by a “regime of the 21st century city”. The piece itself consists as our bod- Yet, logic. its own run on to “seems things” that people, spaces and animated an order ecology is time; this industrious the order that frames the global city, ies navigate metropolis and the longevity of all things.” that clocks by the second the flows of the Glass THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 80 ChrisSalter: IntheHaze of theTechnosphere science. AsDetlefMertins,the late architecturalhistorianofbiosinearly20 namely anotherearlyexperiment inthetransformationofhumanthroughtechno- er whollywithiniteither. Forallintentsandpurposes,thetechnosphereis sphere operates on the borders, never completely outside of human control but also nev- prise regional-toglobal-scaletechnology”. are somehow part of the technosphere – that “collection of interlinked systems that com- made possiblebyalow-resbutmassiveLEDsurfaceonthesixthtallestbuildinginChina a melding between computational logic and corporeal experience – that these bodies ioned cashregisters,digitalnoiseandthepantingbreathofsomeoneonrunsuggests and runningbodiesdisplayedontheICCtoweraccompaniedbysoundsofold-fash- plays oninasubtlebutalsoseeminglyperniciousway. Infact,thespectacleofmoving within it”. “exchange of interacting forces”, situating the “idea of the expanding human capacities modernism argues,Kiesler’s notionofwhathecalled“coreality”wasdescribedasan bridge betweenmanandtheartificial,madetechnological environment”. ganisms andtools,hencethearchitect’s approach tobuildingdesignisdefinedas“the have alwaysbeencreatedandevolved,asKieslerargues,through theinteractionofor mean tobehuman.We extendlifebywayofthetechnicalenvironment:forms technical lifethroughbiologicalsystemswouldhaveadramaticimpact onwhatitwould Approach toBuildingDesign’.InthisessayKieslerdeclaredthat thetransformationof tions in his 1939 essay ‘On Correalism and Biotechnique: A Definition and Test of aNew Arthur writesin accelerated tobreakingpointbyourcurrentcomputationalage.AseconomistBrian the relentlessrationalizationofhumanlifeintroducedinmechanicalageandnow been therallyingcryofagenerationphilosopherstechnologycallingattentionto derstanding oftheerasurehumanexperienceinfavourmachinecalculationhas knows nolimits,thoughexcessivegrowthisnotaltogetheranewconcept.Thisun- pure order”. that arenotpredictablefromtheirparts.Theviewwemoving toisnolongeroneof complicated”, creatingworldsthatare“open,evolving,andyieldemergentproperties the systems,processesandapparatuseswecreateareevermore“interconnected “The technosphere’s operation…willtendtoresistattemptscompromiseitsfunction”. who are“essential”foritsoperationandmaintenance,wealsosubordinateparts, of its constituent parts. While the technosphere can and must be influenced by humans, responsible foritsexistence)andexceedinglycomplexduetothedynamicintertwining ultimately inaccessibletothemeddlingofhumanagents(eventhoughwearepartially is aconglomerationhungrilyfedbyfossilfuelsandhighfrequencytrading,itsoperations iment withculturing life.Ashewrote, that took place at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City – the first mainstream exper Chinese policeareusingAI-basedfacialrecognitiontoweedoutprotestors. Kong of2019,thisishardlyanunderstatement,withincreasingfearsthattheMainland putational patterndetectionandrecognitionthatorganizecontemporarylife.IntheHong - the niche customization of human spatio-temporality through algorithmic forms of com- Apple, FacebookandGoogle)increasinglyhaveovertheplanetbutalsoby“Uberization” catalyzed notonlybytheimmensepowerthatamerehandfulofcorporations(Amazon, accompanied the social media revolution suddenly appear to be in eclipse, a situation industry’s initialloftyaims“tobuildcommunityandbringtheworldclosertogether”that momentum asa“wreckingball”,thearticlegoestogreatlengthsprovethatIT which now seems almost hyperbolic. In describing Northern California’s technological It’s importanttoacknowledgewhatandwhomKiesler wasreferringinhisarticle, According toenvironmentalscientistPeterHaffwhocoinedtheterm,techno- That biologicallifeisnowbeingshapedbyandintegratedintoatechnocracythat “Silicon Valley is Not Your Friend” announced a The architect and theorist Frederick Kiesler articulated these coming transforma- There issomethingdeepergoingonhere,however, withathemethat 7 To instantiatethis,Kieslerhonedinonanexample fromastrangeexperiment 5 The Nature of Technology of Nature The 3 , wehavebecomeincreasinglyawarethat

New York Times York New headline from 2018 autonomous Counterpolis 6

th century . It - - 4

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 Chris Salter: In the Haze of the Technosphere 81 Chris Salter: In the Haze of the Technosphere 9 exhibition is . As one walks into Futile Labor wrong 8 Alien Agency: Experimental Encounters with Art installation (initially called ‘Tissue Engineered Muscle installation (initially called ‘Tissue . As sociologist Hannah Landecker writes: “by describing “by writes: Landecker Hannah sociologist As . Futile Labor – techniques developed already at the turn of the century by the already at the turn of the century by the – techniques developed in vitro outside of a body , the work described here involved the creation of a semi-living entity – a In 1912, at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, a hen’s egg in pro- egg in a hen’s for Medical Research, Rockefeller Institute In 1912, at the

Rounding the corner of this passage produces yet another surprise: a large and most- Rounding the corner of this passage produces a more uncanny image appears. Re- But stepping back from this sculptural form, concep- the of account ethnographic an in revealed later As here? happening What’s Perth 2015. If you enter the John Curtin Gallery where the where Gallery Curtin enter the John Perth 2015. If you The protagonist at the heart of this science fiction-like episode was an American heart of this science fiction-like episode The protagonist at the cess of hatching was opened. The developing chick was removed, and the tiny fleck removed, and the tiny developing chick was was opened. The cess of hatching in a to a solution of living tissue was transferred was cut out. This bit of its heart with a and cold and provided poisons, heat, protected from germs, test tube. There, it lived and flourished and other nutrients, sugar, supply of oxygen, never-failing living chick ever did. the heart cells in any far better than But one is quickly obliged to move from this space, finding oneself in a dim L-shaped But one is quickly obliged to move from this Yale-based embryologist Ross Harrison. He was also tantalized by something else, name- else, something by tantalized was also He Harrison. Ross embryologist Yale-based nourish cells in a nu- immortal life by being able to artificially ly the possibility of creating medium trient immortality as something that could be investigated empirically using a controlled system controlled a using empirically investigated be could that something as immortality by the scientist, Carrel medium and a glass vessel designed of cells growing in a nutrient cell biology.” a tangible object of inquiry in the field of framed the concept as Actuators’, or TEMA) in my 2015 book the crepuscular light it feels like the floor beneath is literally moving – that each step the crepuscular light it feels like the floor loud particularly not but deep a like below and surface the on magnified somehow is booming. form positioned at it but a black cylindrical ly darkened room with virtually nothing in object is another undecipherable oddity: its dead centre. At the top of this pedestal-like from two semi-circular pieces of frosted a milky 360-degree round screen constructed the interior of this strange one comes closer, Plexiglas with a small slit on both sides. As with plastic tubing evolving out of its form is revealed – a glass-like apparatus replete me- and glass This hoses. these through circulating liquid red clear of flows and interior with small spurts of red liquid occasionally chanical object seems to act like a pump, pouring into the interior chamber. flected against the frosted plastic, we catch sight of a slight, pulsing form. Barely larger than a one-dollar coin, the fuzzy chimera-like impression seems to beat like a heart. The entire situation is a bizarre mix of the prosaic and the unnatural, and over time something already quality strange a felt which bodies, own Our well. as happening be to seems else walking through the passage that connected the earlier room with this new one, also now to seem to vibrate. A feeling of almost queasiness gradually takes over us until we start feel some kind of unexplainable presence – not from what we are looking at but instead from what seems to surround us. tion and making of the hybrid machine-organism consisting of a bundle of tissue-cultured C2C12 skeletal mouse hybrid machine-organism consisting of a bundle of tissue-cultured C2C12 skeletal mouse electrically is tissue muscle the As bioreactor. design custom a inside grown cells muscle actuated (i.e., shocked), a sensor measures the change of force and displacement the in the Making surgeon named Alexis Carrel. Carrel became interested in perfecting the techniques of Carrel. Carrel became interested in perfecting surgeon named Alexis growing cells running you eventually come into a dimly lit space filled with glass-topped display cases. display glass-topped with filled space lit dimly a into come eventually you running of medical experiments gone awry: culture Within these cases appears to be the detritus strange rubbery opaque objects, a metal dishes with stiches running down the middle, indicator LED larger even and buttons large with box an attached has that contraption In the front of this museal room a large video lights, and photocopied scientific papers. images – some kind of cellular form that ap- screen tilted like a table reveals biological source or what it is. pears to be twitching but does not reveal its There is something about this space that literally feels hallway. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 82 ChrisSalter: IntheHaze of theTechnosphere knower”. into quantitiesofinformation”andhenceincreasingly“exteriorizedwithrespecttothe co-constructive ofeachother. human andthetechnicalenvironment willbeincreasinglyenmeshed,co-dependentand the humancreatorsassoleauthors orexperiencersofworks–wewillfindthatthepost- and established between perceiverandtheenvironment – onesthatseemstogoagainst knowing. Indeed,asevermorecomplexandautonomousfeedback loopsaredesigned the newmediaartsthatfusehumanartisticexpressionwiththose exteriorizedformsof vades and indeed haunts the realm of the aesthetic; in particular, that black magic of cally andphysicallyonourownfragilemortalcoils,theposthumanist conditionalsoin- in the most highly developed societies’, des UniversitiesofthegovernmentQuebecasareporton‘conditionknowledge question: whatisthecurrentstateofworld?OriginallycommissionedbyConseil osophical worldbystorminthe1980s,givesusajumping-offpointtoaskpertinent Lyotard’s workontheso-called“postmoderncondition”,whichtookliteraryandphil- posthumanist conditionwelivewithinatpresent.ThelatephilosopherJeanFrancois environment. him, canonlymakesense(in1939astoday)whenitisimaginedpartofatechnical by whatmeansdoes inanimate matterpassoverandbecomealive?” Life, according to that “Thequestioninvestigated in connectionwiththechick’s heartis:atwhatpointand struction of“rational”(symbolic)artefactstosolvesuchproblems. problem”: thatofproblemrepresentation,predictionfuturebehaviour andthecon- tist andoneofthefoundersartificialintelligenceHerbertSimon claimed,asa“design functions anddecisiontheoryschemata.Intelligenceisthusrecast,asthesocialscien- human traits like intelligence and reason are redefined as optimization procedures, utility of computingandcybernetics(as“languagegames”asheinfamouslyputit)inwhich this casetheposthuman,asLyotard argues,alreadyoriginatesintheColdWar histories subordinated toandatthesametimetransformedbyhybridnatural-technicalforces.In computers”. Itportendsastateofexistenceinwhichhumanbeingsareincreasingly creased exteriorizationofhumanknowledgewithinthecontext“hegemony artwork like ther. Heexplicitlymadetheclaimthattechnoscience,whichtissuecultureandan that isHongKong,andfrom Counterpolis glass apparatus)beginstocontractandexpand. corners ofthelastroomvibratewhenevermuscle(theinvisiblelifeforminside based onhumanvisionbutinsteadinfrasonicvibration:largeresonatorsplacedinthe muscle cellproducesandregistersthistothecomputer. Theresultingeffectisonenot to dowiththeemancipationofhumanbeings”. useful fringebenefitsforhumanityalongsideitsdestructiveeffects.Butthishasnothing conditions oflifeindependentonEarth”.Suchan“a-human”process“mayhave “are alreadyworking,”Lyotard claims,“towardspreserving[akindof]complexityunder Scientists, includingastronomers,physicists,geneticengineersandcomputerscientists ies oftechno-sciencewithinLyotard’s advancedknowledgesocieties.Aswesee from transformation”. chines the“natureofknowledgecannotsurviveunchangedwithinthiscontextgeneral particular facetofsuchsocieties–namelythatwithinagenerallogiccalculationma- The example of Alexis Carrel that Kiesler alludes to isa good foreshadowing of the In a1988debatein For allitstheatricaltrappings, But ourownsituationhasadvancedLyotard’s generalobservationaboutthein- The posthumanconditionisnotonlyadevelopmentforeseenbyphilosophy andstud- 12 Futile Labor Futile ’ pixelated bodies, high atop the financial and nowpolitical eventhorizon 11 Knowledge thus can become “operational, only if learning is translated Le Monde Le possibleinthefirstplace,isnotonlyposthumanbut“a-human”. Futile Labor Labor Futile □ entitled‘DialogueforaTime ofCrisis’,Lyotard wentfur Futile Labor Futile The Postmodern Condition Postmodern The ’s semi-livingentitiesthatoperatepsychologi- 13 basicallymanifestsKiesler’s statement 10 attempted to identify a 14

- agency: Experimental Encounters with Art in in Art with Encounters Experimental agency: Artificial the Making the Condition: A Report on Knowledge on Report A Condition: 10 p. 68. bridge, MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007), Crise”, 13 12 1984), p.4. neapolis: University of MinnesotaPress, Geoff BenningtonandBrianMassumi(Min- Biology”, in 7 Routledge, 2007),p.70. Braham andJonathanHale,eds.,(NewYork: 14 11 A Reader in Architectural Theory Architectural in Reader A 9 8 ing, 2007),p.117. Joke Brouwer, eds.(Rotterdam:V2Publish- Earth’s surface”, pose: theproblemofsolidstransporton 3 2 gallery/ 1 References: 5 4 no. 2(2012),pp.149-156. Biotechnique”, in 6 (London: Penguin,2009),p.393. DetlefMertins,“WhereArchitectureMeets HannahLandecker, Kiesler, op.cit.,p.72. Peter K. Haff, “Technology and human pur BrianArthur, Ibid.,p.127. FrederickJ.Kiesler, “On Correalism and http://m-a-d.com/portfolio/counterpolis/ ChrisSalterandAndrewPickering, “Debat:DialoguePourunTemps de Ibid.,4-5. HerbertA.Simon, Jean-FrancoisLyotard, http://benayoun.com/opensky/open-sky- Le Monde Le (Cambridge,MA:MITPress,1996). (MITPress,2015),p.115. Interact or Die or Interact The Nature of Technology of Nature The (February15,1988). at ytmDnmc 3 Dynamics System Earth Rethinking Technology: Technology: Rethinking The Sciences of the the of Sciences The Culturing Life Culturing , ArjenMulderand The Postmodern Postmodern The , William , trans. (Cam- Alien Alien - ,

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 Amanda du Prezz Amanda (2015, Firs Man Amanda du Prezz: Do Astronauts Dream of Post-Earth? 83 Lucy in the The Martian showing up in advertisements, (1968, Stanley Kubrick), which 2 we are steadily flooded by imag- 1 (2017, Daniel Espinosa), (2019, James Gray) and Life Ad Astra (2014, Christopher Nolan), (2016), 2001: A Space Odyssey Interstellar Beyond Being and Becoming anniversary of th Approaching the Unknown

The purpose here is to explore the image of the contemporary astronaut, both herme- The purpose here is to explore the image of Dealing with the astronaut as an image is not a new venture, since being human is Immersed in an “image-dominated network society” Immersed in an “image-dominated network (2019, Noah Hawley). The astronaut selfie or space selfie has likewise infiltrated so- (2019, Noah Hawley). The astronaut selfie What we do today depends on our image of the future rather than the future de- on our image of the future rather than What we do today depends today. pending on what we do - Ilya Prigogine, online memes and art exhibitions. Most notably, the astronaut has become a dominant the astronaut has become a dominant online memes and art exhibitions. Most notably, theme in recent films, including is probably still the gold standard in terms of representing outer space. During these is probably still the gold standard in terms has been interpreted and staged for different past fifty years the image of the astronaut nuclear threats, terrorism, and the Cold War, political agendas and programs throughout ten years the astronaut has gained consid- currently the ecological crisis. Over the past ap- image through image production. The astronaut’s erable prominence, even urgency, album covers, pears in and over several platforms, filling (2018, Damien Chazelle) and, most recently, (2018, Damien Chazelle) and, most recently, es that saturate our public and private spaces and imaginations. One of those images that es that saturate our public and private spaces the image of the astronaut, particularly since has recently filled our screens and minds is of the Apollo 11 Moon-landing in 1969. Last this year we celebrate the 50th anniversary year saw the 50 Earth? Dream of Post- Dream Do Astronauts Astronauts Do cial networking sites since Akihiko Hoshide shared his selfie during a spacewalk in 2012. cial networking sites since Akihiko Hoshide as an agent that performs or reveals particular ideas and neutically and iconologically, in the Anthropocene. Some of these ideas perceptions about human extinction and Earth there is a dominant trope that can be iden- and images are competing and opposing, but - tified, namely that of the lone heroic explorer in the service of expanding human knowl edge and existence. It would be safe then to identify the astronaut as one of the dominant visual tropes that not only shapes or impresses itself on our imaginations in the present perspective The worldview. post-earth a forward puts or expresses also importantly but image is not always glamorous or even utopian – in fact it is provided by the astronaut’s heroic. mostly sublimely stark – but it remains adventurous and the tone is exploratively already to exist in-between: between the heavens and the Earth, standing with our feet of idea The stars. the at marvelling and skies the towards up looking while ground the on ‘star traveling’ inspired even the earliest stargazers to find their place in the great cosmos by plotting and navigating earthly life by the stars. Our contemporary fascination with the astronaut reveals an always already pessimistic disposition or inclination towards Earth, in that this fascination betrays not only our acceptance that we must leave Earth behind idol then one but in a sense having already evacuated. If the astronaut becomes one’s a post-earth to term like I would into what slipped so subtly) perhaps not subtly (or has Ridley Scott), Sky THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 84 Amanda duPrezz:DoAstronauts Dreamof Post-Earth? in adoubledordoublingrelation. and ideasdonotstandinaone-to-onecorrelation,however, butworkmore ages makevisiblewhatmightotherwisehaveremainedinvisible.Images likenesses inimages.Through“abstract,general,spiritual‘likeness’” see animageisalsoinsomesense“tosee”idea,becauseideasfind “idea”, asW.J.T. Mitchellnotes,derivesfromtheGreekword“tosee”. realities andnightmares.Imagesareimplicatedinideasviceversa: our consciousandunconscioushopes,repressedfears,dreams,fantasies, shadow, appearance,echoand,importantly, thought.Imagesthusmanifest itation, likenessorrepresentationbutalsosuggestsghosts,apparitions, tessence ofthehumancondition”wheninfact“earthlynature” 1958 inherreflectionsontheeagernessofscientiststoforgetthat“earthisquin- “world-alienation” intheageofsciencewerealreadysignalledbyHannahArendt what PaulVirilio the astronautbecomeadystopianemblemheraldingbleakprospectof inter-galactic future?IsitahopefuleagernesstoleaveEarthbehind,orhas image of the astronaut? Does the astronaut reveal an optimism about our makes visibleisalsothentoaskwhatidealikenessrepresentedbythe as thefeministscholarBonnieMann earth life? the contemporary popular imageofthe astronaut notmakeit ‘cool’ todreamof a post- astronaut embodiesanencounterofdisplacementordeparturefromEarth.Afterall,does spin-offs gainedfromspacetravelresearch.Asafamousicon(Figure1),however, the in dangerandoftenpaytheultimateprice,nortodenymanytechnicalscientific modus. This is not to diminish the brute physical bravery of astronauts who put theirlives ing Earth.ThevisionofleavingEarthbehindisnotanewconjecture. alyptic trope” type ofworld,intheHeideggeriansense,isimaginedthroughimageastronaut? vitality andfragility”, whileontheotherhand,viewed morecritically, theEarthmay sig- can beunderstoodontheonehand asan“icon,index,andsymbolofunityplanetary its planetarystatusdoesnotexhaust thepossiblemeaningsofEarth.TheimageEarth observes, “[…]ourbrute,material dependenceinrelationtoit”,whilealsorealizingthat non-human, post-human and interspecies debates, able? Even though the human label has become precarious within recent Anthropocene, possible post-earth?Foreveniflifeissustainableindeepspace, isitnecessarilybear or rathercanbesustainedforlimitedperiods.Itismoreaquestion ofwhattypelifeis sions undertakenhaveundoubtedlyestablishedthatlifeisindeed possible inouterspace, transferred totheEarthasaformofprison-house. iment treatthebodyasaformofimprisonment,justthosesamepresuppositionsare modern world. in favourofthefreedomhumansubject(freedfromnecessities),isaproject Arendt showedthatthedevaluationofEarth,asamaterialnecessityforourexistence, universe inprovidinghumanswithahabitatwheretheycanmoveandbreatheunaided. earth. Naturally, I refer to Earth as a planet, “to emphasize”, as Bonnie Mann earth. linked totheEarth,asArendtsuggests?Letmestartbyfleshing out whatImeanbypost- be humanifwedogobeyondEarth?Isbeinghuman,forbetteror worse,notintimately is necessarytoinquireintotheobviousquestionofwhetherwecan stillbeconsideredto With itsrootsintheLatin In whatfollows,theimageofastronautisunpackedasbothavisualand“apoc- This is not to arguethat life beyond Earth is not possible: the many outer space mis- Earth isadifficultconceptonits own,letalonethinkingaboutthemeaningofpost- 7 thatembodiescollectivedreamsofgoingbeyondEarthortranscend- 10 Thetrajectoryofmodernworldalienationcannotberetracedhere,but 6 termsan“extraterrestrialandexobiological”future?What imago 5 To askwhattheimageofastronaut , imagerefersnotonlytoapparentim- 11 shows,mostbody-unfriendlydreamsofdisembod- 12 and rightly so in many instances, it 9 maybeuniqueinthe 4 im- 3 To To 8 Warnings of Post-Earth 13 astutely - the Visual Arts (1987). Credits:©TheAndyWarhol Foundationfor The iconicastronaut.AndyWarhol, Figure 1: Moonwalk

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019

25 Musk 21 Amanda du Prezz: Do Astronauts Dream of Post-Earth? 85 The Astronaut Given these cursory param- Given these 15 The American journalist David David journalist American The 16 The meaning of Earth as an image Earth as an of The meaning 14 dictates that “there are two fundamental 20 (2013, M Night Shyamalan), where humans (2013, M Night Shyamalan), where humans After Earth or “Spaceship Earth” orbiting around the Sun as “our supply or “Spaceship Earth” orbiting around the 23 If we assume that space is empty and uncharted, we are reminded are we uncharted, and empty is space that assume we If 28 even cowardly bio-conservative. Here the astronaut as a heroic and similarly predicts that “parts of the Earth will likely become close to un- “parts of the Earth will likely become close similarly predicts that 27 17 Although a short-lived attempt was made in the sixties to refer to female made in the sixties attempt was Although a short-lived 29 Not only are we in transit to (an)other planet(s) but also transitioning as a spe- a “Star Ark” Musk’s “astrofuturist salvationism” Musk’s 26 22 as imagined in the film 19 Earth is no longer comprehended as a unique bio-habitat but rather as a space- Earth is no longer comprehended as a unique 18 24 No longer does Earth signal the centre of the universe (a conceit long since disman- No longer does Earth signal the centre of the Derived from the Greek meaning “star sailor”, or one who navigates the stars, the More importantly, however, post-earth refers to the bid to find a Super Earth to re- post-earth refers to the bid to find a Super Earth however, More importantly, The concept of post-earth that is prevalent in my analysis is an initial dystopian read- that is prevalent in my analysis is an initial The concept of post-earth is convinced that the latter option is the “right way to go”. is convinced that the latter option is the “right rather the location for the Axis of the World; tled by Copernicus and Galileo), nor is it the horizons to become just an “earth- Earth now disappears on the sublime intergalactic ly star”, nify “colonialism, imperialism, economic inequality”. economic imperialism, nify “colonialism, Wallace-Wells astronaut status, befitting the bravery requirement, seems mostly to favour a particular astronaut status, befitting the bravery requirement, seems mostly to favour a particular race. and gender brave explorer willing to place his/her life in danger becomes significant in how dreams brave explorer willing to place his/her life in danger becomes significant in how dreams of post-earth are imagined. return to Earth after their desertion and find it a perilous and unwelcoming place. return to Earth after their desertion and find a super locating of utopian dreams the is Here it Earth. Mother too polluted the now place for consumption that take precedence. planet that can sustain our increasing demand con- Corporation), Technologies SpaceX (Space Exploration the founder of Elon Musk, projected timescale of the early NASA’s jures a sci-fi city on Mars by 2024 – “long before 2030s”. paths for mankind – that we stay on Earth forever, eventually succumbing to an extinction paths for mankind – that we stay on Earth forever, and a multi-planetary species’”. event, or to become a ‘space bearing-civilization by Marie Lathers that space is always already “gendered territory” and thus “colonized territory” already “gendered always space is by Marie Lathers that by gender”. cies to adapt to our new home(s). In this context, opting to stay on Earth seems “naïve cies to adapt to our new home(s). In this context, opting to stay on Earth seems “naïve and nostalgic”, ship”. eters regarding Earth, at least two connotations can be associated with the post-earth be associated with the connotations can Earth, at least two eters regarding that will be Earth or New Eden involving a New first is utopian in principle, concept: the second connotes a dystopian inversion of the while to create a better world, discovered the first. refers to recent utopian salvation. The dystopian version ing that calls for subsequent Day have experienced Earth Overshoot on Earth is limited. We estimations that our time humanity has con- the date in the current year by which annually since 1987, marking this Day was marked it takes nature a year to produce. In 2017 sumed all the resources Hawking announced that the late astrophysicist Stephen on 2 August. More recently, survive. to planet another colonize to need would humans craft with limited resources. Once the resources have been consumed, the ship must be craft with limited resources. Once the resources words, “the Earth has become too small abandoned for another because, in Paul Virilio’s amply crash economic today’s as profit, short-term for small too also is it Progress, for has become a matter of urgency. demonstrates”, thus “mobiliz[ing] its resettlement” inhabitable, and other parts horrifically inhospitable, as soon as the end of this century”. parts horrifically inhospitable, as soon as inhabitable, and other Earth for humans, since we have exceeded Post-earth in this context means no more Hence the concept of a “post-human its limits and seemingly overstayed our welcome. Earth” The search for another planet (“extraterrestrial” and “exoplanetary”) also implies that a The search for another planet (“extraterrestrial” and “exoplanetary”) also implies that change in our biology is required (“exobiological”) and a new state of “transhumance” entered. is not stable and is continuously open to interpretation. For instance, the image of Earth For instance, the image open to interpretation. and is continuously is not stable fragility and signified may have in 1972 17 Apollo by photographed “Blue Marble” as the of the blue show a gloomier view of Earth while more recent representations homeliness, due to global warming. red and inhospitable planet turning THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 86 Amanda duPrezz:DoAstronauts Dreamof Post-Earth? so-called “overvieweffect”, (precarious) privilegeofseeingtheworldfromoutside?Withthiscomes admired andevensecretlyenvied.Foristheastronautnotchosenonewhohas astronaut hasbecomeaglobalcelebrityandculturaliconofcourage,someonetobe device totraverse thevacuum,confirmingastronaut’s cyborgian status. the helmet (Figure 3). Similarly, the human voice is ventriloquized through a technological manity?) oftheastronautrecedes behindthedarkmaskprovidedbysolarshieldof whatever theastronautencounters infrontofhim/her. Thehumanface(oris itthehu- trable visorthatdeflectsharmful radiationandwhichactsasamirrorthatmerelyreflects lect bold”bandof“malepioneersbravelyventuringwherefewwoulddaretogo”. escape, orrathertheinventedsaviour, adetachedwandererwhoformspartof“se- the RussianSpaceAgency, whoareknownascosmonauts(“universesailors”). Event” or apocalyptic environmental collapse. They invest venture capital in technologies that can guarantee their escape from “The into ahomelessvagabond. heaven andearth,updown)hasbeendislodged,turningher nature asanin-betweencreature (always negotiating between is toosmalltocontainherafterthisunlimitingexperienceand verse”, because“everything(down)herelookssosmall”.Earth mits, she“justfeelsabitoff”afterseeingthe“wholeofuni- on Earthandpost-earthinouterspace.AsLucy’s character ad- between thewholeandparts,simultaneouslybeing experiencer oftheovervieweffectseemstobetornafterwards applying toallgendersinouterspace. any wonder?)andhavesincebecomeredundant,withthegender-neutral astronautnow space travellersasastronettesandastronautesses,thesetermsdidnotcatchon(isit namely Earthatadistance. observer, perhapsbecauses/hehasseenwhatnooneshouldseeorcantolerateseeing, ators” Currently, thespaceprojecthasmorphedintoaSpaceMovementdrivenby“globaloper with BuzzAldrinandNeilArmstrong(thefirsttwohumanstolandontheMoonin1969). the SovietUnion,withYuri Gagarin(thefirstmantoorbitEarthin1961),andtheUSA, nationality, asbecameevidentinthefierceSpaceRaceduringCold War between whole ataglance. the overvieweffect,asastronautishumbledandperturbedinfaceofseeing the moderntranscendentsublime(àlaKant).Instead,entirelyoppositeoccursduring confirmed asinvincibleorsecuredmasteroftheuniverse,wasusuallycasein defined asthecosmicsublime.Inthissublimeencounter, however, theastronautisnot earth?), sinceitisimpossibletounseewhathasbeenseen. matter. Itisnolongerpossibletoreturnastatebefore(post- sense ofnolongerbelongingtoEarth–orpost-earthforthat few seconds,afterwhichitseemstounsettleandfosteradeep tion orconsolation.Likemostsublimeencountersitonlylastsa of post-earth,ifweinterprettheovervieweffectassuch,donotnecessarilybringsalva- turn tothepartswhilewholeloomsinbackground.Thisfurtherimpliesthatvisions been observed,extractedfromitsconstituentparts,itbecomesextremelydifficulttore- cannot merelyreturntodown-to-earthiness.Phraseddifferently:oncethewholehas (Figure 2).Thefilmsuggeststhatonceapersonisexposedtothisoverviewsightthey from up there that haunts astronaut Lucy Cola (Natalie Portman) upon returning to Earth The typicalastronautisdepicted fullfrontal,donningaspacesuit Colonizing outerspaceisalsocommonlydrivenbyaspecificpoliticalagendaand In 32 Lucy in the Sky the in Lucy fromahypermobileeliteensconcedintheirwealthwhohavegivenuponEarth. (2019)itispreciselytheoverwhelmingeffectofseeingworld 36 35 Theresoundingresponseisoneofawe,orwhatcanbe whichcausesaphysicalandpsychologicalupsetinthe 30 (Anexceptionisthecaseofspacetravellersfrom 33 For them, the astronaut is the vehicle of 37 The A ManWithoutQualities? 38 withanimpene- 39 Nopartic- 31

34 The - the Sky the enchanted bytheovervieweffectin Astronaut LucyCola(NataliePortman) Figure 2: (2019).Credits:Screengrabbyauthor Lucy in in Lucy THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 (2018). First Man (2018). Credits: First Man Figure 3: The impenetrable visor of astronaut. Neil Armstrong on the Moon, Figure 4: Neil Armstrong and his wife, Janet Shearon meeting for the first time since his Moon-landing, Screengrab by author Credits: Screengrab by author Amanda du Prezz: Do Astronauts Dream of Post-Earth? 87 , a being that Where (on) Earth? – a 41 Project Man 2.0 (1995) 40 , we see Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) in First Man implies: beyond the obvious As Nicholas Mirzoeff reflects on space selfies where the As Nicholas Mirzoeff reflects on space selfies 42 The Man without Qualities First Man We no longer need to be in a place or to be situated somewhere in order to see; we no longer need We 43 This supposedly individuated Man remains undifferentiated, both sexually and bi- and sexually both undifferentiated, remains Man individuated supposedly This How is the astronaut depicted or positioned in terms of Earth? Compare, for instance, The ostensibly gender-neutral astronaut reveals the face of a new supra-human be- astronaut reveals the face of The ostensibly gender-neutral The displacement is corroborated by the avalanche of imag- avalanche by the is corroborated The displacement Upon returning to Earth in the film astronaut turns the impenetrable gaze on him/herself: “The astronaut is invisible and un- is invisible “The astronaut on him/herself: gaze the impenetrable astronaut turns more to seeing than being in the place to knowable in his self-portrait. There is, it seems, see”. quarantine to protect him against disease and also to protect humanity from any viruses protect humanity against disease and also to quarantine to protect him as Zylinska suggests, disavowing his kinship he may be carrying from outer space - thus, organisms. The film with other sexes, genders, species and living for the first time after ends with a scene where he meets his wife expedition (her words to the press). They the “Out-of-this-World” but have to commu- are not allowed to touch or meet in the flesh nicate, sterilized, through an impenetrable glass wall (Figure 4). Armstrong resembles an alien species looking on while his human and Earth-bound wife reaches out her hand. He has been altered, modified and conceivably even trans-humanized by the experience. In a sense he has even become untouchable, suffering the same fate that the Lucy character (above) experiences after being dislodged between heaven and earth. Probably this is what the title of the film ular markers identify the astronaut as male or female, queer or straight, black or white black or or straight, queer male or female, as the astronaut identify ular markers all differences. seemingly abolishes The astronaut or sad for that matter. – nor as happy observes: As Zylinska the cost of achieves his status at tragic worldview Indeed, the Man of the ologically. his more than one. Disavowing difference that is always sexual and biological sacrificing and fungi, with animals, microbes, nonbinary gender, women and those of kinship with yet already threatened to emerge standing, proudly erect, Man separates from “nature” and evanescence. with contamination, shrinkage, Buzz Aldrin’s space selfie taken in 1966 (Figure 5) with that of the Japanese astronaut Aki Buzz Aldrin’s first man on the moon connotation it also references the birth of a new Adam. ing, or, as Joanna Zylinska identifies this new creature, Zylinska as Joanna ing, or, has solved the mortality riddle and can survive in outer space – a riddle and can survive in outer space – a has solved the mortality left behind both its nature and Nature. being, in short, that has in which the reflective visor mirrors es and memes of astronauts alien monsters. It is almost as if the as- ominous landscapes and no distinct attributes, an outer space rein- tronaut is a being with carnation of Robert Musil’s can see from everywhere and therefore also from nowhere. The astronaut has become a can see from everywhere and therefore also disembodied eye, hovering weightlessly. clean slate onto which our collective dreams and fears of an off- clean slate onto which our collective dreams of any or every man world can be projected. This is not the face may we though democratic, or representative not is It woman. or future of post-hu- be tempted to think so, but rather the faceless the astronaut one may find when standing in front of True, manity. helmet, and in that sense the astronaut may reflection mirrored in the glimmering one’s - Even more disconcerting is that our eyes can indeed be “us”, although only momentarily. a one-sided relationship of being seen not meet those of the astronaut. It mostly remains gaze. One may even speculate whether without reciprocating the gaze, thus an alienating the astronaut is human at all. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 88 Amanda duPrezz:DoAstronauts Dreamof Post-Earth? 7) and power for pressure suits. In the imageof the firstAmerican EVA (Figure cord orumbilicalbecauseitsupplieslife-sustainingresourcessuch asair ing lifealmostlikeanumbilicalcord.Infact,thecordistermed dangling fromacordthatconnectsthevoyagertospacecraft,sustain- sphere. TheEVA selfieshowstheastronautsuspendedinnogravityspace fronts uswithwhatisatstakeinnouncertaintermsbeyondEarth’s atmo- astronaut bothinfactandfiction.Thiscouldbebecausetheimagecon- below it,theEarth”. shows usonlywhatheislookingat–theInternationalSpaceStationand appearance orpersonalitydisappearsinthisimageashisreflectivevisor – abeautifulandserenebackdroptoframehisextraterrestrialadventures. drin staresintothefutureofhumanitywhileEarthhoversinbackground awareness ofthischangedstatus.Withaslightfrownonhisforehead,Al- type ofman:theSkywalker, themanbeyondearth–apost-earthcreature. could onsomelevelagain(asabove)beinterpretedasthebirthofanew mere spectreonthehorizon.Theinstantcapturedinthisnascentselfie Earth nolongerrepresentsthecentreofhisexistencebuthasbecomea Mother Earthinthebackground.Hehaseclipsedpullofgravitysince looking back from the outside to Earth. We see Aldrin’s half-lit face with cosmic time […] in an unprecedented inertia” and the space world, becoming “an atrophied being […] encapsulated in the astronautisfixedin“theinertia ofadeadcentre”cutofffromlocaltime left behindinspacewalkingbut also “earth’s spatio-temporalreferences”: still afford delight.” to realmswhereformsexistdetached, wherewhathasceasedtobecan you wish,ascend-itmakesnodifferencewhichIsay. From finitudeescape is sendoffintoarealmoutsideoftimeandspace:“Well then,descend!Or, if been disconnected.InthewordsofGoethe’s Mephistopheles toFaustashe Hoshide’s shoulderistheSun(shininglikeagiantspotlight) as “protrudedman[turns]intoaplanet”ontohimself.Whatisrisingbehind to becenteredoutsideoftheselftowardsEarth,ithasnowshiftedinside now “fallingup” umbilical cordfasteninghumanitytoMotherEarthhasfinallybeen ruptured. independently throughpropulsionfromthespacecraft.Here symbolic in thebackground.EVAs canalsobeuntethered,withthe astronaut moving over real space. In the gripping towards “extraplanetary emancipation”. suggests, theworldisnolongerbeforeusbutnowbehindaswetravel background butisnowdisplacedtomergewithHoshide’s face.AsVirilio space, acreature“whichisless status ofanexcitedastronautwhohasinsome sense overcometimeand of Earthintheseimagesshiftssignificantly. BuzzAldrin’s selfiecapturesthe Hoshide takenthirty-sixyearslaterinDecember2012(Figure6).Theplace as thefoundationmythofaeronauticandastronauticadventure”. Sun. Notsurprisingthenthat“thestoryofIcarushasoftenbeenaccepted astronaut whonolongerhasEarthinviewbutinsteadhissightsonthe the Earth.ThehubrisofIcarusforetoldbymythisnowembodiedin 49 thegoldencordisclearlyvisiblewhileEarthappearsalmostwomblike Extravehicular activity(EVA) isoneofthemostpopularimages In Hoshide’s casewecannolongerseehisfacesince“anytraceof Aldrin’s self-portraitaimstoseizethismomentouseventbydeclaringan In spacewalkingtheastronautisnolonger“fallingdown”butinstead is 50 asthereferenceaxistoanygravitationallocalizationhas 51 But it is not only the “gravitational references” that are 45 Earthcannolongerbeseendriftingserenelyinthe Approaching the Unknown the Approaching in theworldthan 46 Whereas the reference axis used 52 as time takes pre-eminence Ascending orDescending? out ofit” 47 (2019) we see andnolonger 44 (myitalics) 48

Credits: NASA/BuzzAldrin Buzz AldrintookthefirstEVA selfiein1966. Figure 5: IV. Credits:NASA Activity in1965.Tethered totheGemini Ed WhiteduringfirstExtravehicular Astronaut tetheredtospacecraft. Figure 7: 2012, withtheSunbehindhim.Credits:NASA extravehicular activity(EVA) onSeptember5, Hoshide istakingaspaceselfieduring Figure 6: THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 (2016). Credits: Wanderer Above (2015). Credits: Screengrab by (1818). Credits: Kunsthalle Hamburg, Figure 8: Caspar David Friedrich, The Martian Approaching the Unknown Hamburg, Germany author Screengrab by author the Fog - - - Ap Amanda du Prezz: Do Astronauts Dream of Post-Earth? 89 Approach Conclusion and screen- and The Final Frontier (Figure 8). Wanderer Above the Sea Fog is a signpost. The lone figure with his back to the viewer draws the 53 (2019) a similar reference is made by Donald Sutherland’s (2019) a similar reference is made by Donald Sutherland’s Approaching the Unknown has revealed, if anything they still dream of Earth and falling. This and Ad Astra image. Robert Rosenblum writes that Friedrich’s lofty paintings, of which image. Robert Rosenblum writes that Friedrich’s is a prime example, immerse the viewer in a “supernatural domain” at is a prime example, immerse the viewer in Approaching the Unknown The Martian As has become evident from this analysis, it cannot be stated unequivocally that as- If up or down have no scientific meaning in outer space then why does the astronaut scientific meaning in outer space then why If up or down have no Insofar as outer space travel and exploration is an encounter with a frontier, and thus is an encounter with a frontier, Insofar as outer space travel and exploration Here the suggestion is that Earth is just another limit or boundary that can be crossed Here the suggestion is that Earth is just another to necessary even not is it maybe other, each to next images these placed Having What the image of the astronaut does reveal, however, is that while leaving Earth What the image of the astronaut does reveal, however, tronauts dream of post-earth. In fact, as the character of Captain Stanaforth from Stanaforth Captain of character the as fact, In post-earth. of dream tronauts character when he warns Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) that “the enemy up here [outer space] character when he warns Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) that “the enemy up here [outer space] evoke the ontological Both examples the endless void”. or a thing it’s is not a person shock and amazement upon experiencing the threatening but thrilling unknown. proaching the Unknown The Wanderer ing the Unknown how stoic Captain William D. Stanaforth (Mark Strong) travels to Mars “to bring life to “to bring to Mars travels (Mark Strong) D. Stanaforth William Captain how stoic and decline into progression mainly on Stanaforth’s The film focuses it” (in his words). Virilio distinguishes) real space as of time and place (or His sense solitary confinement. He is caught “dead tell I’m moving”. in his diary: “I can’t and he writes becomes distorted, meaning to no phenomenological which he travels has inertia. The speed at centre” in Cap- his fellow female astronaut, a conversation with astonishing, during him. Even more as a colony, a base for a future join him in setting up on her way to tain Emily Maddox falling. was I that dream a had “I dream. a relates he Adam, his to Eve complementary You she quickly responds: “It is not a dream. he asks – to which you think?” Ironic don’t are falling.” him of Earth where falling body remember and remind Stanaforth’s dream of falling? Does asleep without nocturnal background noises he cannot fall Is this also why is inevitable? state conclusively and soothing waves. Perhaps, then, we cannot from Earth of crickets of falling, at least if the of post-earth; but it does appear they dream that astronauts dream character in viewer into the scene, and by implication it is the viewer who is confronting a dark alien viewer into the scene, and by implication it is the viewer who is confronting a dark alien void in outer space. In a pioneering endeavour of facing a border, space is often cited as “the final frontier”. In often cited as “the space is border, endeavour of facing a a pioneering of distance, oceans, air and land have other words, on our Earthly planet the frontiers that Compare, for instance, three images been conquered through speed and technology. Friedrich’s encounter: pioneering the unlock the edge of the natural world, on “the brink of an abyss” where the “last outpost of the the edge of the natural world, on “the brink material world” can be observed. man Romantic notion of humanity’s contact with Nature. The latter two follow the same contact man Romantic notion of humanity’s the in on rest to feet astronauts’ the for rock a with complete formula, pictorial or transgressed. Just as mountains and other natural obstacles once held a challenge or or transgressed. Just as mountains and other - all of these have been conquered and mapped, as the Friedrich paint resisted humanity, not pose any problems or obstacles, since ing predicts. Earth as a whole should similarly Earth no longer resists us. The explorer. all that is required to go post-earth is a brave the astronaut is the designated conqueror. remaining frontier is outer space. Naturally, a particular consciously or subconsciously, expand. They speak for themselves. Whether encounter with an explorer or adventurer’s trope has been internalized to announce the Ger clad in a particular early nineteenth century, The first is from the unknown frontier. shots from could be because our dreams, like our bodily rhythms and moods, are regulated by Earth could be because our dreams, like our bodily rhythms of post-earth are incubated on Earth. because all dreams – or even more pertinently, THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 90 Amanda duPrezz:DoAstronauts Dreamof Post-Earth? going tobetold”,according This isbecausethedominantmythsupportsideathat“uptherewhereourstory behind isgruellingandputstheastronauttoultimatetestofbravery, itcanbedone. turned intoascendinggods. no heroicgloryorconfrontationwiththeabyss.Itisonlypost-earthwhereastronautsare 18 http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html 19 Wesleyan UniversityPress,2014) 7 that we’re Gone we’re that 2 13 Music Culture Music 14 ford UniversityPress,2006),p.83. 11 today, wasbornwiththefirstatomicexplosions”. [and] came to an end at the beginning of the twentieth century; politically, the modern world, in which we live 10 17 7, 2017):https://futurism.com/stephen-hawking-humans-must-leave-earth-within-600-years 3 2012), pp. 203-225; “co-evolution” and “co-emergence” (Donna Haraway, 15 man life)(RosiBraidotti,“TheCriticalPosthumanities;or, isMedianaturestoNatureculturesas 6 through actssuchas“imagin[ing]theactivityofimagination”(op.cit.,p.5). It isbecausetheyareimaginedthatimagesnotdirecttranslationsofideasorviceversabutdoubled ing tomirrorortranslatetheworlddirectly, imagesareideas,notions,concepts,andfearsthatimagined. 5 4 p. 5. 16 planet butrather“aninhospitableplace”. 2010) whereinthechangedEaarth(tosignifynatureofEarth)isdiscussed asnolongera“cozy” Social Research Social Bios Change Climate of Era the in Theory phosis: Coming Home Coming 1 References: 9 so astointroducemanipulatingmoralismsandpowercontrols. ing the apocalypse throughout history. Predicting end times as part of “finalist thinking” has becomeahabit 8 Press, 2018). University ofMinnesotaPress,2008);and“ ethics Otherwise,or, HowtoLivewithMachines,Humans,andOtherAnimals”,inTom Cohen,ed., 12 ford UniversityPress,2006). Rails’ 20 www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-mars-spacex-martian-city-625994. JoannaZylinska, Arandomsampling of recentlyreleased albums featuringtheastronautincludes Canyon Spells’album WilliamJ.ThomasMitchell, PaulVirilio, Mitchellexplainsthatimagesarenotpictures,whereapictureismaterialimagehangingonthewallaim- Ibid.,p.31. NicholasMirzoeff, HannahArendt, Infact,asZylinskanotes(ibid.Chapter‘Apocalypse,Now!’),wehumanshavesharedahabitforpredict- Gerry Canavan and Kim Stanley Robinson, HannahOsborne,“ElonMuskRevealsVision forSpaceXCityonMars,” Bonnie Mann, StefanHelmreich,“FromSpaceshipEarthtoGoogleOcean:PlanetaryIcons,Indexes, andInfrastructures,” Bonnie Mann, Arendt (ibid., p. 6) defines the modern age as a scientific venture that began “in the seventeenth century DavidWallace-Wells, “TheUninhabitableEarth,” SeeinthisregardBillMcKibben’s ChelseaGohd,“StephenHawking:HumansmustLeaveEarthwithin600Years,” Theconceptsthatdominatecurrentdebatesinclude:“interspeciesrelationality”(JoannaZylinska,“Bio- Graham St John, “Astronauts, Psychonauts and Electronauts,” D ?” Cancel the Sun the Cancel Cultural Politics Cultural The Futurism of the Instant: Stop-Eject Instant: the of Futurism The 6,no.2:https://dj.dancecult.net/index.php/dancecult/rt/. (2017), Mudface’s (2016),Erica’s 78,no.4,(2011),pp.1211-1242. Women’s Liberation and the Sublime: Feminism, Postmodernism, Environment Postmodernism, Feminism, Sublime: the and Liberation Women’s Environment Postmodernism, Feminism, Sublime: the and Liberation Women’s The Human Condition Human The The End of Man: A Feminist Counterapocalypse Feminist A Man: of End The How to See the World the See to How (2019). 12,no.3(2016),pp.380-390). Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology Text, Image, Iconology: □ Delta Moon Delta Awaken to Another Sun Another to Awaken Ad Astra Ad Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet New Tough a on Life a Making Eaarth: (Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1958),p.2. (2016),DeltaVega’s (London:PelicanBooks,2016). (University ofMichiganLibrary, AnnArbor:OpenUniversityPress, zoe -centred” (nonhumanlife)asopposedto“ (2019).RemainingonEarthapparentlycallsfor Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction Science and Ecology Planets: Green (Cambridge:PolityPress,2010),p.102. New York Magazine York New (2019), Todd Burns’s Breathe Real Slow Real Breathe (Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1986), (Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesota ancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Dance Electronic of Journal ancecult: (July7,2017): When Species Meet Species When Newsweek Lunar Orbits Lunar (2016),FallinginReverse’s Futurism.com Futurism.com (NewYork: Times Books, (15June,2017):http:// bios (Middletown CT: (2019), and The -centred” (hu- (Minneapolis: (Oxford: Ox- (Oxford: Ox- (November Zoe Telemor isto Now Now - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 5 July (New York: (New York: September September Amanda du Prezz: Do Astronauts Dream of Post-Earth? 91 (Oxford: Ox- The Overview Medium Real Life trans. Dawn Cowlsey (June 15, 2017): http:// (June 15, (London: Picador, 1995). (London: Picador, Newsweek (Switzerland: Springer Praxis Books, (Switzerland: (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota , published in 1968, in which he proposes , published in (New York, NY: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1968). Dutton E.P. NY: (New York, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010), pp. 75-78. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010), (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998). (New York: Routledge, 1995). (New York: (London: Pelican Books, 2016), p. 6. (London: Pelican Books, 2016), p. 5. Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth Star Ark: A Living, Self-sustaining Starship. The Moon and the Astronaut: Space Conquest and Theology, (London: Verso, 1997), p. 130. (London: Verso, The Cyborg Handbook (London: Verso, 1997), p. 131. (London: Verso, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth How to See the World How to See the World The End of Man: A Feminist Counterapocalypse The End of Man: A Feminist Counterapocalypse Women’s Liberation and the Sublime: Feminism, Postmodernism, Environment Space Oddities: Women and Outer Space in Popular Film and Culture, 1960–2000 The Man Without Qualities, trans. Sophie Wilkens and Burton Pike The Futurism of the Instant: Stop-Eject Open Sky Open Sky One of the interesting visual tropes in this regard is the widespread depiction of the astronaut’s face as One of the interesting visual tropes in this regard is the widespread depiction of the astronaut’s Nicholas Mirzoeff, Cultural diversity has also been seemingly accommodated with the Indian word “vyomanaut” (vyomana Cultural diversity has also been seemingly accommodated is used by NASA, ESA, CSA, and JAXA. ‘Cosmonaut’ is used by the Russian Space Agency; ‘astronaut’ 2003). Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Love (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, Wealthy are Plotting to Leave us Behind,” Douglas Rushkoff, “Survival of the Richest. The Paul Virilio, Paul Virilio, The phenomenon of the overview effect has been carefully documented by Frank White in The phenomenon of the overview effect has been carefully Hannah Osborne, “Elon Musk Reveals Vision for SpaceX City on Mars,” on Mars,” for SpaceX City Vision Musk Reveals Osborne, “Elon Hannah Men dominate by far, although NASA’s latest class recruited in 2013 consists of 50% women. Men have recruited in 2013 consists of 50% women. Men have latest class although NASA’s Men dominate by far, Marie Lathers, Robert Musil, I realize this is a contentious issue. There are strong advocates for the positive effects and against the I realize this is a contentious issue. There are strong advocates , to put on a space suit is referred to as ‘Spacesuits and Spacewalks’ webpage According to NASA’s had cyborg create a to explorations the first as history, a connected share the astronaut and cyborg The Buckminster Fuller, Buckminster Fuller, Joanna Zylinska, is quoting Buzz Aldrin here, who remarked: “On the moon, the sun shines on us like a Ibid., p.138. Virilio Jacques Arnould, God, Nicholas Mirzoeff, See Buckminster Fuller’s Fuller’s See Buckminster Joanna Zylinska, Paul Virilio, Paul Virilio, Paul Virilio, Rachel Armstrong, ed., Rachel Armstrong, Zack Hatfield, “Seeing Red. The Act of Looking at Mars has Always been Precarious,” been Always has Mars at Looking of Act The Red. “Seeing Hatfield, Zack Ibid. pp. 1-18. Bonnie Mann, 42 corresponding with that of death. In this sense the astronaut is viewed as no longer human. 43 Continuum, 2012), p. 210. 30 naut). + space outer for [Mandarin kong (tai “taikonaut” Chinese the and naut) + space] and sky for [Sanskrit African astronaut, the first with radar the appearance on an made subsequently has Afronaut the Recently Mandla Maseko in 2015. 31 32 33 (Adelaide: ATF Theology, 2016), p. 100. Theology, (Adelaide: ATF that life on Earth can be likened to life on a self-containing spaceship. Although in the case of our planetary planetary our of case the in Although spaceship. self-containing a on life to likened be Earth can on life that and we only learn this an operation manual on how to live on the planet spaceship we have not received states Earth can be likened to living on a spaceship, Fuller In fact, because life on through trial and error. in- utopic becomes our normalised state according to Fuller’s are all astronauts” (p.14). The astronaut “We terpretation. 25 7, 2017: http://reallifemag.com/seeing-red 36 21 ford University Press, 2006), p. x. ford University Press, 2006), 28 woman a is it America of the case in enough interestingly though outer space, in time most the spent also who spent 665 days the most time in outer space, namely Peggy Whitson, who holds the record for spending in space. 29 Press, 2018). 41 37 the overview effect. negative effects of returning to earth after experiencing 38 - the suit”: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/fored “donning the suit” and taking it off is referred to as “doffing ucators/spacesuits/facts/index.html 39 J. Heidi and Mentor Steven Gray, Hables Chris See space. outer in survival human accommodating of aim the Figueroa-Sarriera (eds.). www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-mars-spacex-martian-city-625994. 22 40 47 giant spotlight.” 48 45 2017). 24 2018: https://medium.com/s/futurehuman/survival-of-the-richest-9ef6cddd0cc1. 34 44 46 23 Press, 2018). 35 26 27 Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 92 Amanda duPrezz:DoAstronauts Dreamof Post-Earth? ed. SabineRewald(NewYork, NY: MetropolitanMuseumofArtandtheInstituteChicago,1990),pp.8-11. 51 53 50 49 52 Press, 2014),Line6275. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, RobertRosenblum, PaulVirilio, ThefirstEVA wasundertakenbytheRussiancosmonaut AlexeiLeonovin1965. PaulVirilio, Open Sky Open Stop-Eject Instant: the of Futurism The The Romantic Vision of Caspar David Friedrich: Paintings and Drawings from the USSR the from Drawings and Paintings Friedrich: David Caspar of Vision Romantic The (London:Verso, 1997),p.129. Faust I & II & I Faust , trans. Stuart Atkins (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University (Cambridge: PolityPress,2010),p.52. , Heather Dewey- Posthumanism, Hagborg & biopolitics and Joerg Blumtritt contemporary art

Joerg Blumtritt - Biopunk

There is nothing more convincing than the metaphors of contemporary technology and science. When steam engines run the world, thermodynamics becomes the analogy for everything, and the world will end in the heated death of entropy. Computers have moulded the world into bits, and virtual reality in people’s imagination is much more effective than in the still quite physical reality of our mundane lives. In the ‘90s an all-connecting network that has no holes shifts the model of society from relations to connections. And today artificial intelligence will not only make us all unemployed but flips into the all-seeing eye, the all-knowing mind, by which we will finally understand what our mind is just before all of humankind is sucked into the matrix. DNA, “the code of life itself”, finally offers the ultimate dream of themachine celibataire, the bachelor machine, elevating their inventors to the heavenly heights of the almighty creator. “And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

Heather Dewey-Hagborg - Lovesick

What if love could spread like a virus?

Lovesick, a literal love virus. In 2019 I worked in collaboration with research scientists at Integral Molecular, a biotechnology company specialized in antibody discovery, to create a custom retrovirus that infects its human host with a gene that increases the production of oxytocin. The hormone oxytocin is implicated in feelings of love and bonding, monogamy and devotion, and the promotion of empathy and connection. The work is envisioned as an activist intervention to spread affection and attachment and to combat the alienation and hate of the present. It is my imagined solution to our post-Trump, post-Brexit crisis. To contain the virus I designed small glass vials that

can be broken open and consumed orally. The vials are THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 shaped like different energy states of the oxytocin molecule. The form expresses the uniqueness of what the person is about to do, and in referencing the style of a cyanide capsule, also conveys the gravity and irrevers- ibility of the act. The installation consists of vials of the glowing virus, a video of the microscopic cells expressing their infection, and a piece of music based on a 14th centu- Making the lovesick virus ry ballad by Francesco Landini that tells the story of a Photo: Dewey-Hagborg Heather

Heather Dewey-Hagborg & Joerg Blumtritt: Posthumanism, biopolitics and contemporary art 93 woman struggling with a love in vain. I have re-written the song to list instead the letters representing the proteins contained in the oxytocin molecule. I imagine a lovesick future in which individuals, couples and groups consume this virus by smashing open the glass vials, pouring the fluid into their mouths, incubating it there for several seconds, then swallowing, while chanting together or humming to themselves “CYIQNCPL”. Now the virus is real. It is a lentivirus vector, hybridized with vesicular stomatitis and a plasmid containing genes for red fluorescent protein and oxytocin expression. The cells you see are human. They have been infected with the virus and glow red as a form of expression. This is a virus that irreversibly alters human DNA to produce more oxytocin.

This, is lovesick.

Joerg Blumtritt - Hormone heavens

Lovesick has spread. At first the movement was driven by individuals (or, better, by couples of individuals) who self-improved by infecting. But it was not long before the early adopters start organizing. The love-infected called their cult “Geborgenheit”, which in German means sanctuary or place of safety but also the feeling of being a child, safe with their mother, warm and cosy. Geborgenheit’s leader was a gender-nonconforming transhuman being - pronouns ‘we’, ‘our’ - who could be addressed by the name Wilma Penn. In the first two years, Geb- orgenheit was not unanimously welcomed. To name just a few opponents, men’s rights activists, football players, bicycling extremists and salafist preachers all saw medically inevitable soft- ness not as benign and motherly bondage but as serf- dom. Geborgenheit was not a formal association, however: to claim membership it was sufficient to prove above-average oxytocin levels or, alternatively, the virus in one’s blood serum. The testosterone fraction on the other hand would hardly have access to medical analytics and also lack broad support from the author- ities. Thus, fighting their soft adversaries was almost impossible except for a few skirmishes. Wilma, however, was deeply sympathetic with the poor creatures still suffering from their testosterone-ridden nature. Under her leadership, the bio hacker elite of Geborgenheit advanced the Love Virus until is became contagious. It HEK293 cells expressing RFP 100x magnification took less than a year to infect all humanity. Photo: Dewey-Hagborg Heather The following decade started promisingly. Vio- lence dropped to near zero. Private car ownership was regarded as a necessary evil for poor people who could not live in densely populated areas. But over the months and years the joy started somehow developing a stale taste. Birth rates had plummeted. Infrastructure started to decay. It seemed incredibly hard to motivate people to take risks. The problem was not apparent at first, since it was mainly younger people who started Geborgenheit. For them the muffling properties of oxytocin were still sufficiently countered by higher levels of dopamine. But with an aging society that would find satisfaction in hugging and cuddling rather than in pen- etration and orgasms, propagation started to become a Jurkat cells brightfield 100x magnification pressing issue. The world started to look rather bleak, Photo: Dewey-Hagborg Heather THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 94 Heather Dewey-Hagborg & Joerg Blumtritt: Posthumanism, biopolitics and contemporary art despite all the quilts, garlands and flowery scents. Wilma again took the initiative: “We have become swarm beings, let’s learn from the bees.” The solution the Geborgenheit elite put forward was twofold. The first part was to create a working class caste of more clearly gender dichotomous individuals who would be geneti- cally changed to become more driven and competitive without the leaning towards dominance. Metabolizing proteins fast - a bit like bodybuilders taking their soylent drinks during the “protein window” - and endocrinal caffeine flow, induced by viruses infecting the prostrate, were just two of the many transhuman enhancements the elite would come up with This newly bred transhuman caste became the ‘movers’. While the creation of the movers indeed solved the problem of risk-taking and initiative, at the same time research feverishly continued to address the second issue: children. By learning from bees, the geneticists found a way forward, again guided by their ingenious leader Wil- ma. Only 15 years after the Love Virus was conceived, Geborgenheit’s labs had grown the first generation of experimental transhumans capable of haploidic breeding. These asexual beings were called ‘shakers’. While movers and shakers resolved the immediate crisis, people old enough to remember the times before things turned soft were still nostalgic about physical intimacy. Taking the rather rough movers to be made having sex did not at all work for most - it lacked the drive, the feeling of the need to be intimate. Making the lovesick virus Geborgenheit would take humanity’s desires very Photo: Dewey-Hagborg Heather seriously. Everyone agreed that a world with intimacy would be even more desirable than the quiet world of brotherly love they had so far accomplished. Again, looking towards non-human animals who successfully manage to live in swarms gave the right hint: chemical communication. Glands were gene-spliced into the transhumans to ooze out and receive pheromones inducing sexual reactions in another being close by. The pheromonic synchronization worked so well that within just another decade the transhumans completely overcame any individuality. People were so much connected that they factually became one. At first this one-ness would only extend within one room; however, the long-lasting effects of limbic communication would bond people together even if they were disconnected. Scents would travel with people, sowing the feelings of their friends who stayed at home. The shakers would act more and more like a giant colonial organism - it was not the Leviathan but the birth of siphonophora. About 25 years later, an unexpected incidence of gene drift would take place. The movers, despite their great energy and motivation, would still be very sociable - no com- parison to the striving masculinity of old. Being active and self-sufficient yet capable of THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 living closely together made them ideal astronauts. Capturing near-Earth asteroids in the terrestrial orbit required an enormous amount of labour. More and more movers would be sent into space, leaping from one asteroid to the next, populating the Moon, going further to Mars and Venus, and finally spreading all over the asteroid belt. The long separation from the alma mater of Geborgenheit over time would drive the movers more and more away from the grounded cosiness of the shakers. They evolved. Genetic engineering had bred in them great resilience to low gravity. With their limbs growing longer and longer they started to resemble the mantis. This drifting apart would, over time, have led to a total separation of transhumanity into two species. But history turned again.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg & Joerg Blumtritt: Posthumanism, biopolitics and contemporary art 95 The celestial movers, even though their number was growing into the billions already, felt unsatisfied with the restrictions of the inner solar system. The Moon and Mars were just hostile rocks, while on Venus they could only float high above the surface in their cloud-based cities, the dense and caustic atmosphere making descent impossible. And the infinite vastness of the asteroid belt would be associated with strenuous and danger- ous mining rather than exploration. The collective council of the Geborgenheit movers thus decided on a project for exploration of the outer solar system. Sending ships to Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond, finally aiming for Proxima Centauri and Barnard’s Star, required multi-generational ships. The movers were certainly too restless to find themselves suitable for such endeavours. After years of almost total radio silence, they would finally approach the surface population of the earth. Building the enormous ships in outer space from the abundance of metal and carbon mined on the Moon and the asteroids was still a major task. The first colonial vessel, the Voyager, was completed exactly 100 years after the conception of the original Love Virus. Voyager would take transhumanity out to the final frontier that would never be reached, dropping their seeds along the way, populating the celestial bodies, and turning the solar system into their home - Himmlische Geborgenheit. Messengers called ‘Himmlische Boten’ would be sent back and forth between Earth, the inner Solar system, and the new colonies. The Himmlische Geborgenheit would not rely solely on radio communications. It was clear that physical bonds also had to be maintained. Of course, the messengers would never make it within their lifetime. They would hand their dispatches over to their offspring. However, those were not written words but bodily scents that would speak an unmistakable language and that would hold each cell of the heavenly organism in place. What had started as humans and turned into movers and shakers now once again became once again an animal of cosmic dimensions-physalia coelestia.□

Jurkat Cells Brightfield 40x Magnification and Eyepiece Lens Photo: Dewey-Hagborg Heather THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 96 Heather Dewey-Hagborg & Joerg Blumtritt: Posthumanism, biopolitics and contemporary art THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 GENESIS - and “A-pos 4 Eduardo Kac: Bio Art 97 6 - in 1997. The dif , both presented 5 Genesis is a transgenic artwork that itive” explores the intricate relationship be- belief systems, informa- tween biology, dialogical interaction, tion technology, ethics, and the Internet. The key element gene”, a syn- of the work is an “artist’s thetic gene that was created by translating a sentence from the biblical book of Genesis into Morse Code, and converting the Morse Code into DNA base pairs according to a conversion principle The work. this for developed specially I sentence reads: “Let man have dominion fowl the over and sea, the of fish the over and over every living thing that of the air, ference between biological agency and biological between ference first in- is that the biological objecthood sec- the while principle active an volves In ond implies material self-containment. phrase “transgenic 1998 I introduced the with the same art” in a paper-manifesto the creation (and title and proposed a dog expressing social integration) of This protein green fluorescent protein. a biomarker in ge- is commonly used as my goal was to netic research; however, as properties use it primarily for its visual The social marker. a symbolic gesture, a to the paper was initial public response The pro- curiosity laced with incredulity. posal was perfectly viable, but it seemed that few believed that the project could or would be realized. While I searched for venues that could assist me in creating the aforementioned project, entitled “GFP K-9”, I too realized that canine reproductive technology was not developed enough at the time to enable me to create a dog expressing green fluorescent protein. More important than the canine specificity was the fact that my larger goal was to revisit the history of domestication in a new light and invent a new mammal—the first new mammal in the history of art. In the meantime, I started to develop a new transgenic art work, at premiered which “Genesis”, entitled Ars Electronica ‘99. - agen biological that involved own works to biological objecthood), cy (as opposed Capsule” “Time such as

con- marker should , for example, ram and , for example, will simply critical views, to make present plasmid The presence of biotechnology will The presence of biotechnology I have been employing the phrase the employing been have I megabytes enact have entered the vernacular. Likewise, Likewise, have entered the vernacular. place of out seem may today that jargon in ordinary discourse, such as and telepresence art, developed since 1986, since 1986, developed art, telepresence and with other humans humans coexist animals through telerobotic non-human biotelematic art, developed bodies. In my are biology and networking since 1994, so as but coupled no longer co-present and the a hybrid of the living to produce art, developed telematic. With transgenic and the techno- since 1998, the animate be distinguished. logical can no longer this ongoing work The implications of ramifications, have particular social and provid- crossing several disciplines reflection and ing material for further dialogue. from agricultural increasingly change to a larg- and pharmaceutical practices er role in popular culture, just as the perception of the computer changed and device industrial an from historically military weapon to a communication, en- tertainment, and education tool. Terms such “technical”, perceived as formerly as “bio art” since 1997, in reference to my to reference in 1997, since art” “bio in the physical world invented new entities (artworks that include transgenic organisms) which seek to open a new space for both emotional and intellectual aesthetic experience. be incorporated into the larger verbal landscape of everyday language. This is made clear by the fact that high school students in the United States already create transgenic bacteria routinely in school labs through affordable kits. The popularization of aspects of technical discourse inevitably brings with it the risk of dissemination of a reductive and of the view ideological instrumental world. Without ever relinquishing its right to formal experimentation and subjective inventiveness, art can, art tribute to the development of alternative views of the world that resist dominant ideologies. In my work I subvert contemporary technologies — not to make de- tached comments on social change, but to

1 to 2 Thus, 3

ABSTRACT concept and the I introduced 1997 In ------work my decades two almost For

transgenic art can be seen as a natural my In work. previous my of development BIO ART BIO Eduardo Kac Eduardo This work approached the problem of This work approached human hosting of wet interfaces and the implantation digital memory through consisted of a of a microchip. The work microchip implant, seven sepia-toned photographs, a live television broadcast, web- telerobotic interactive webcast, a scanning of the implant, a remote data- display additional and intervention, base elements, including an X-ray of the implant. While “bio art” is applicable to a large gamut of in-vivo works that employ biological media, made by myself and others, in 1998, I started to employ the more focused term “transgenic art” the phrase “bio art”, originally in relation relation in originally art”, phrase “bio the Capsule” (1997). to my artwork “Time describe a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to create unique living beings. Art that manipulates or creates life must be pursued with great of the com- care, with acknowledgment plex issues it raises and, above all, with a commitment to respect, nurture, and love the life created. I have been creating and exhibiting a series of transgenic artworks since 1999. I have also been creating bio art that is not transgenic. The implications of this ongoing body of work have particular aesthetic and social ramifications, crossing several disciplines and providing material for further reflection and dialogue. What follows is an overview of theses works, the issues have they debates and the evoke, they elicited. has explored the boundaries between humans, animals, and robots. Eduardo Kac, Natural History of the Enigma, 2003/08. Trans- genic artwork. Edunia, a plantimal with the artist’s DNA expressed only in the red veins of the flower. Photo Rik Sferra. Eduardo Kac, Time Capsule, 1997. Mixed media, dimensions variable. BEEP Electronic Art Collection, Madrid. Photo: Carlos Fadon. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 100 Eduardo Kac:BioArt the generalpublic, includingartists. “GFP and academicresearchtoencompass must go beyond official policy-making original intentions.AsIseeit,the debate ductive dialogue,whichwasone ofmy sition. Thestagewassetforavery pro- against theprojectandvoicedtheir po- appreciation forthework,othersreacted cords. Whilesomeshowedsupportand years according to archeological re- going backatleastfourteenthousand throughout theirlonghistorytogether, relationship between dogs and humans of --Iproceededtopointoutthecomplex that weseemedtohavelostconscience out ofthewolfwasatechnology--fact the wild, and that the creation of the dog of PoodlesandChihuahuasrunningin day. Emphasizingthattherearenopacks evolution ofthedoguptopresent rect and strong human influence on the and partnership,pointedoutthedi- long historyofhuman-dogdomestication tualize mypresentation,Ireviewedthe on the“GFPK-9”proposal.To contex- Ars Electronica ‘99. My lecture focused symposium “LifeScience”,presentedby gave apubliclectureinthecontextof emerge asweseektochangeit. we inheritedit,andthatnewmeanings we donotacceptitsmeaningintheform tence isasymbolicgesture:itmeansthat the work,abilitytochangesen- on theGenesiswebsite.Incontextof Bible. Themutatedsentencewasposted changed theoriginalsentencefrom mutation thattookplaceintheDNAhad code, and then back into English. The bacteria wastranslatedbackintoMorse bacteria. After the show, theDNA of the This changed the biblical sentence in the real, biologicalmutationsinthebacteria. an ultravioletlightinthegallery, causing Participants ontheWeb couldturnon teria, whichwereshowninthegallery. Genesis genewasincorporatedintobac- genesis ofglobalcommunication.The the dawnofinformationage--the the useofradiotelegraphy, itrepresents chosen because,asthefirstexampleof supremacy overnature.Morsecodewas tion--divinely sanctioned--of humanity’s for whatit implies about the dubiousno- moves upontheearth.”Itwaschosen While presentingGenesis,Ialso clare “theendofart” posal curiouslycausedonecritictode- support. Theshockgeneratedbythepro- of multipleimplicationstounmistakable from forthright rejection to consideration general mediacoveredthewholegamut, tion for“GFPK-9”,theresponsein publications showedgreaterapprecia- the work in progress. While specialized and generalmagazinesalsodiscussed books andsciencejournals.Dailypapers K-9” wasdiscussedinartmagazinesand (September 1999)andsoonafterwards France. BecandImetatArsElectronica producer, coordinating the activities in rie Houdebine.LouisBecworkedasthe assistance ofLouisBecandLouis-Ma- rabbit. This work was realized with the project, and the social integration of the the publicdialoguegeneratedby of agreenfluorescentrabbit(“Alba”), Bunny”, theworkcomprisescreation second transgenicwork.Entitled“GFP announced in2000therealizationofmy ed itself,atatrulyglobalscale,whenI art astheendofanything. no reason to see the beginning of a new Eduardo Kac,GFPBunny, 2000.Transgenic artwork.Alba,thefluorescentrabbit This patternofresponserepeat- 7 . AsIseeit,there’s GFP BUNNY my paperentitled“GFPBunny” gentle andhealthyrabbit.AsIstatedin Months later, in2000,Albawasborn,a for thefirsttime,toproposeproject. he contactedHoudebineonmybehalf, after afront-pagearticleappearedin Bunny” becameaglobalmediascandal the media,resultbackfired.“GFP press. Internet andthroughinterviewstothe I denouncedthiscensorshipthroughthe it remainsunknowntothisday. Becand explained hisreasonfortherefusal,so tute whereAlbawasborn).Henever (the former director of the French insti- was made privately by one individual family inChicago.Thearbitrarydecision Alba gotoAvignon andthencometomy worked on the project and refused to let authority to overrule the scientists who institute whereAlbawasbornusedhis when theformerdirectorofFrench dia inthesouthofFranceJune2000 nurture, andlovethelifethuscreated.” above all,withacommitmenttorespect, of thecomplexissuesthusraisedand, with greatcare,acknowledgment unique livingbeings.Thismustbedone use ofgeneticengineeringtocreate genic artisanewformbasedonthe “GFP Bunny” attracted local me- 9 Iftheobjectivewastosilence 8 , “trans- THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 ARTWORK Eduardo Kac: Bio Art 101 While fluorescent While 14 As the viewer walks into the gal- are able to see visitors In the gallery, THE EIGHTH DAY, A TRANSGENIC A DAY, THE EIGHTH I created a While in “GFP Bunny” creatures are being developed in iso- lation in laboratories, seen collectively in this work for the first time they form emerging syn- of a new and the nucleus thetic bioluminescent ecosystem. The piece brings together living transgenic life forms and a biological robot (biobot) in an environment enclosed under a clear Plexiglas dome, thus making visible what it would be like if these creatures would in fact coexist in the world at large. she first sees a blue-glowing semi- lery, sphere against a dark background. This semisphere is the 4-foot dome, aglow with its internal blue light. She also hears the recurring sounds of water image the evokes This ashore. washing of the Earth as seen from space. The water sounds both function as a metaphor for life on Earth (reinforced by the with resonate and image) blue spherical the video of moving water projected on Eighth “The see to order In floor. the Day” the viewer is invited to “walk on water”. the terrarium with transgenic creatures both from inside and outside the dome. As they stand outside the dome looking in, someone online sees the space from the perspective of the biobot looking out, perceiving the transgenic bodies faces or as well as environment graphs in this series dramatize the fact the fact dramatize in this series graphs was of GFP Bunny that the reception place across cultures complex, taking pass- her With locations. diverse in and works to create new ing, I will continue I celebrate her life. through which transgenic work new mammal, in the “The Eighth that followed, entitled new ecology of Day”, I investigated the that is evolving fluorescent creatures from October worldwide. It was shown at the Institute 25 to November 2, 2001 for Studies in the Arts, Arizona State Tempe. University, at 13 Continuing my efforts to raise efforts to Continuing my Julia Friedman Gallery, in Chicago (May Chicago in Gallery, Friedman Julia 3 - June 15, 2002). “Free Alba!” included a large body of new work comprised of large-scale color photographs, drawings, prints, Alba flags, and Alba t-shirts. Seen together for the first time were the posters from my public interventions in flying outside flag Alba an (2000), Paris the Gallery (2001), photographs that reclaim green bunny narratives circulated by global media (2001-02), drawings that reflect on our closeness to the “animal that t-shirts Alba and (2001-2002) other” cause beyond gallery’s extend Alba’s walls (2002). Through the leitmotif of the this exhibition explored the green bunny, poetics of life and evolution. The story of “GFP Bunny” was adapted and custom- ized by news organizations worldwide, that, narratives new generating often both intentionally and unintentionally, reinstated or overlooked the facts. My photo- featured exhibition Alba!” “Free graphs in which I reappropriated and recontextualized this vast coverage, exhibiting the productive tension that is en- art contemporary when generated photo- The news. daily of realm the ters images on the streets in an effort to in- effort an in streets the on images public the context of French tervene in cause gather support for my opinion and the home. I also engaged to bring Alba lec- of series a through directly public Su- Normale École (Sorbonne, tures des Beaux Arts, École Superior perior, through face- Forum des Images) and on the street to-face conversations interest. In to- sparked by the public’s 1.5 million tal, I reached approximately the population of people (about half of as step, important an was This Paris). the Parisian it allowed me to address I created “The In 2001 public directly. with the green Alba Flag”, a white flag started to fly it in rabbit silhouette, and front of my Chicago-area house. The flag not only signals publicly the home but most importantly of the green bunny, a beacon of stands as a social marker, her absence. plight and to awareness about Alba’s obtain her freedom, in 2002 I presented a solo exhibition entitled “Free Alba!” - Alba 11 sharing headlines headlines sharing 10 Through lectures and 12 As part of my intercontinental cus- symposia, Internet postings and email and postings Internet symposia, correspondence, the debate intensified - more subtle and nu and became richer, anced, as I had hoped. The response to “GFP Bunny” constitutes extremely rich the in revisit to hope I which material, near future. release, tody battle to obtain Alba’s between December 3 and December 13, 2000, I staged a public campaign in Paris, which included lectures, broadcasts, public and private meetings, and the public placement of a series of seven posters. I placed individual posters in several neighborhoods, including: Le Marais, Quartier Latin, Saint Germain, Champs de Mars, Bastille, Montparnasse, and Montmartre. The posters reflect some of the readings afforded by “GFP Bunny”. They show the same image of Alba and I together, each topped by a different French word: Éthique, Religion, Science, Médias, Art, 3 December Between Famille. Nature, and December 13, 2000, parallel to radio (Radio France and Radio France Inter nationale), print (Le Monde, Libération, Ça M’intéresse, Nova), and Transfert, television (Canal+, Paris Première) interviews and debates, I posted these the Boston Globe, the Boston was also on the cover of Le Monde, San was also on the cover and L’Espresso, Francisco Chronicle and Chica- among others. Der Spiegel full pages to “GFP dedicated go Tribune on the front Bunny”. She also appeared of the New York page of the Arts section BBC Ra- by ABC TV, Broadcasts Times. Alba France also took the dio, and Radio relentless The the whole planet. to story been has Bunny” “GFP to response fascinating, with equally intense and fruitful debate and both strong opposition and support. From October 15, 2000 to December 02, 2004, the “Alba Guest- about opinions general collected book” the work and expressions of support to bring Alba home. with articles about the 2000 Olympics about the 2000 Olympics with articles debates. Articles and US presidential major were published in all about Alba further services wire with countries, the news worldwide. spreading THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 102 Eduardo Kac:BioArt blue light. creatures toglowgreenunderharmless to create“Alba”,agenethatallowsall gene Iusedpreviouslyin“GFPBunny” Eighth Day”arecreatedwiththesame All ofthetransgeniccreaturesin“The ed intheJudeo-Christianscriptures. riod ofcreationtheworldasnarrat- the title,whichaddonedaytope- ecology itresonateswiththewordsin life forms.Asaself-containedartificial pansion ofbiodiversitybeyondwildtype the work,asifenclosedinawebsphere. ecology oflivingcreaturesfeaturedin pant, local viewers become part of the the pointofviewonlinepartici- fish andthebiobotupclose.Thus,from and zoom,seeinghumans,mice,plants, ed above the dome. They can pan, tilt, looking downthroughacameramount- ronment fromabird’s eyepointofview, viewers can also experience the envi- Web interfacetheyrealizethatremote dome. However, oncetheynavigatethe gaze contemplatingtheorganismsin lieve that their gaze is the only human like remotelyontheInternet. exact senseofwhattheexperienceis the galleryalsogiveslocalvisitorsan of localviewers.Anonlinecomputerin enclosed environment. Changes in the bot exhibitsdynamicbehaviorinside the biobot. Whenamoebasdivide,the bio- constitutes the “brain structure” of the form anetworkwithinbioreactor that its “brain cells”. These “brain cells” ba calledDyctiosteliumdiscoideumas Eighth Day”hasacolonyofGFPamoe- its behavior. Thebiobotcreatedfor“The body thatisresponsibleforaspectsof an active biological element within its ological robot. A biobotisarobotwith and bredfortheirGFPmutations. wildtype speciesandallwereselected piece aremutationsoftheirrespective ic evolution,sinceallorganismsinthe literally raisesthequestionoftransgen- evolutionary forces. “The Eighth Day” tive breeding and mutation are two key amoeba, GFPfish,andmice.Selec- “The EighthDay”areGFPplants, “The EighthDay”presentsanex- Local viewers may temporarily be- “The EighthDay”alsoincludesabi- 15 Thetransgeniccreaturesin Gary Kasparov in 1997. puter thatbeatChessworldchampion chines wasthroughDeepBlue,acom- experienced thefutureabilitiesofma- living. Another way in which society has rialize ahybridofthelivingandnon- bodies abiologicalcomponenttomate- perspective. transgenic ecologyfromafirst-person ipants canreflectonthemeaningofa Day” createsacontextinwhichpartic- point ofviewthebiobot,“TheEighth environment insidethedomefrom abling participantstoexperiencethe perience islikeontheInternet.Byen- visitors anexactsenseofwhattheex- as acomputerinthegallerygiveslocal tures from outside and inside the dome, see theterrariumwithtransgeniccrea- body. Inthegallery, visitorsareableto ible throughthetransparentbioreactor ment. with newperspectivesoftheenviron- directions, providesWeb participants the biobottoleanforwardindifferent tonomous motion,whichoftencauses system withapan-tiltactuator. Theau- pants areabletocontrolitsaudiovisual and descentofthebiobot,Web partici- environment. Independent of the ascent avatar ofWeb participantsinsidethe tion. The biobot also functions as the to moveabout,throughouttheexhibi- biobot aremonitoredbyit,andcauseit amoebal colony(the“braincells”)ofthe beings whose actions often acquire a by computersandrobots,inanimate the increasingcapabilitiesdeveloped light onthelimitsofhumanmind and February 26 to May31,2004 -- sheds Exploratorium, inSanFrancisco, from work --presentedforthefirsttimeat est chessplayerwhoneverlived.The player whoeverlivedagainstthegreat- as amatchbetweenthegreatestchess and DeepBluecanbecharacterized The competitionbetweenKasparov to DeepBlue’s dramaticwinningmove. artwork “Move36”makesreference In “TheEighthDay”,thebiobotem- The biobot’s “amoebalbrain”isvis- 16 My transgenic MOVE 36 52 bases: binary digits: sociation betweengeneticbasesand the geneiscreatedbyfollowingas- letter C,forexample,is:01000011.Thus, pecially forthework.In8-bitASCII, according to a newcode I createdes- ly wheretheplantletsgrow. “Cartesian gene”isexpressedprecise- easily see with the naked eye that the of theplantlets,sothatpubliccan coupled with a gene for the expression smooth. The“Cartesiangene”was lets. Inthewildtheseleaveswouldbe leaves of the plants grow multiple plant - ergo sum”(IthinkthereforeIam). genetics Descartes’statement:“Cogito off-line) to translatetothefour basesof numbers asRomancharacters,on-and computer codeforrepresentingbinary The geneusesASCII(theuniversal I createdspecificallyforthiswork. genome incorporatesanewgenethat Blue madeitsMove36isaplantwhose board. Positioned exactly where Deep room. There are no chess pieces on the sand (lightsquares)inthemiddleof made ofearth(darksquares)andwhite move. Thegame,inhismind,waslost. that a machine had made such a keen run, better. Kasparovcouldnotbelieve subtle andconceptualand,inthelong gratification--it madeamovethatwas that would have afforded immediate commentators alike—asoundmove move thatwasexpectedbyviewersand came atMove36.Ratherthanmakinga quintessential moment in Game Two agency. force comparabletosubjectivehuman TCACCCCAGCACTCATTCCATCCCCCATC CAATCATTCACTCAGCCCCACAT The resultisthefollowinggenewith T =11 G =10 C =01 A =00 The “Cartesian gene” was produced Through geneticmodification,the The workpresentsaChessboard According toKasparov, DeepBlue’s - Eduardo Kac, Move 36, 2002/2004 (detail). Transgenic installation with looped digital video, dimensions variable. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 104 Eduardo Kac:BioArt with life-likequalities,andlivingor humanity, inanimateobjectsendowed reveals thetenuousborderbetween where thehumanlosttomachine, gene” intheplant,rootedprecisely computer technology. mathematical foundationsofcurrent body split(CartesianDualism)andtothe gave newimpetusbothtothemind- “machine”). Hisrationalistphilosophy the machine”(forhimbodywasa considered thehumanminda“ghostin cal and ironic gesture, since Descartes Marvelous Discoveries” is a series of Day”, my“SpecimenofSecrecy about transgenic works such as “The Eighth lutionary issuesIpreviouslyexplored in ation ofsciencefictions. physical sciencesasalocusforthecre- duction ofideologicalconflict,andthe is revealed as an arena for the pro- Checkmating traditionalnotions,nature the non-living(machines,networks). living (human, non-human animals) and ventions attheboundariesbetween gives continuitytomyongoinginter statement utteredbyaplant.“Move36” phantasmic players,aphilosophical real lifeandevolution;itisagamefor multiple pathsinachessmatch. boards subtlyemulatesthemappingof sibilities presentedonbothprojected gagement withthemultiplevisualpos- movements. Theviewer’s cognitiveen- and carefullychoreographedthreadof ent intervals,thuscreatingacomplex short animated loops cycling at differ a chesssboard.Eachsquareshows of agridsmallsquares,resembling tia. Eachvideoprojectioniscomposed evoking twochessopponentsinabsen- opposing wallscontextualizethework, Silent squarevideoprojectionsontwo delicate luminousconeovertheplant. tion. Asingle focused lightshines in a ganisms thatencodedigitalinforma- The presence of this“Cartesian The creationofthisgeneisacriti- Expanding onecologicalandevo - SPECIMEN OFSECRECYABOUT This workexploresthepoeticsof MARVELOUS DISCOVERIES - - - in theexhibitionspace. ative humidity, airflow, andlightlevels conditions, includingtemperature,rel- ternal metabolismandenvironmental during theexhibitioninresponseto- topes”, that is, living pieces that change works comprisedofwhatIcall“bio- settlement andcolor concentration. behavior, possibly resultinginregionsof a singlelocationmightyielddifferent material settling.Extendedpresence in migrations, metabolicexchanges, and the biotopeself-regulateswithinternal in thecourseofatrip).Onceplace, the constant physical agitation inherent of themicroorganismsinsideit(dueto causes anunpredictableredistribution another, theveryactoftransportingit a biotopemigratesfromonelocationto as ittravelsaroundtheworld.Everytime tem thatinteractswithitssurroundings ic ecology”,thatis,anecologicalsys- world. tope asadiscreteunitwiththeexternal biotope and the interaction of the bio- tions amongthemicroorganisms in the together theinternaldialogicalinterac- emerge astheworkunfolds,bringing to regionswhereaircannotreach). the anaerobiconescomfortablymigrate tope absorboxygenfromoutside(while the aerobicorganismswithinbio- tirely secludedfromtheoutsideworld: vice-versa). However, theyarenoten- organism enableanothertogrow, and each other(thatis,theactivitiesofone organisms interactwithandsupport because withintheirworldthemicro- work forovertwodecades. principles that have been central to my the biotopesfurtherdevelopdialogical man careandenvironmentalconditions, stances andevolvinginresponsetohu- the mutabilityofunpredictablecircum- ly evolvinglivingworks.Inembracing life in order to produce the constant- the metabolismofthisdiversemicrobial water, andothermaterials.Iorchestrate small livingbeingsinamediumofearth, ecology comprisedofthousandsvery biotopes isliterallyaself-sustaining The biotopeiswhatIcalla“nomad- A complex set ofrelationships The biotopesareadiscreteecology 17 Eachofmy ed animation.This resultsinwhatthe of themactiveandothersinsuspend - ganisms receiveinordertokeep some trol theamountofenergymicroor ent-rich media. In thenextstep, I con- integrating microorganismsand nutri- I producetheself-containedbodyby again. effacement —untilthecyclebegins tions andexhibitionlength,resultinits ing onfactorssuchaslightingcondi- transforms theimageandmay, depend- nications event). video, ortherealtimeofatelecommu- tography, themontagedtimeoffilmor say, thefrozentimeofpaintingorpho- cle ofabeingitself,invivo(contraryto, time manifestedthroughoutthelifecy- what Icall“biologicaltime”,whichis human intimacy. metabolic state,ascopicinterfacefor an ephemeralsnapshotofthebiotope moment intheevolutionofwork, “image” seenatagiventimeisbut cyclical nature of this “image”, each will see a different “image”. Given the ers looking at the biotope another day material propertyofthebiotope.View - viewer inthegallery)thananinternal perception, ephemeralpresenceofthe tions ofobservation(limitsthehuman is moreaconsequenceofthecondi- mative state,theperceived“stillness” is alwaysevolvingintoitsnexttransfor “image”. However, sincethis“image” she seeswhatcouldbedescribedasan day, everyweek,month. progressively different,changingevery no longerintervene.Theworkbecomes come activeagain.FromthatpointonI ganisms insuspendedanimationtobe- exhibition begins,Iallowthemicroor as thebirthofagivenbiotope.Oncean air (breathing,sneezing). release othermicroorganismsintothe perature intheroom(warmbodies)and viewers, which canincreasethetem- factors, includingtheverypresenceof The biotope’s cyclebeginswhen This openprocesscontinuously Each ofmy“biotopes”explores When theviewerlooksatabiotope, I considertheexhibitionopening The biotopeisaffectedbyseveral - - - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 -

21 Eduardo Kac: Bio Art 105 ) and a symbolic ges- [Man a Plant] (1748) [Man a Plant] (1748) tout court I had a sample of my blood drawn Thus, the key gesture of “Natural While in the history of art one finds history of art one finds While in the To create a Petunia with red veins create To ture (i.e., ideas and emotions are evoked by the very existence of the flower). and subsequently isolated a genetic sequence that is part of my immune system—the system that distinguishes self from non-self, i.e., protects against for eign molecules, disease, invaders – any- be more precise, thing that is not me. To I isolated a protein-coding sequence of (IgG) Immunoglobulin my from DNA my light chain (variable region). L’Homme Plante that “the singular analogy between the that “the singular analogy has led me plant and animal kingdoms to the discovery that the principal parts of men and plants are the same.” The preliminary sequencing of the human genome and that of a plant from the mustard family (Arabidopsis thaliana, in the journal Nature, December 14, 2000) and the phi- have extended the artist’s wild- their beyond analogies losopher’s est dreams, into the deepest recesses of the human and plant cells. Both have revealed homologies between human and plant genetic sequences. History of the Enigma” takes place at the molecular level. It is at once a physical realization (i.e., a new life created by an artist, cats and dogs. However, the thought the However, and dogs. cats life also close to other that we are most as flora, will strike forms, including surprising. an- associations between imaginative forms (as thropomorphic and botanical for exam- in the work of Archimboldo, humans and ple), this parallel (between the history of phi- plants) also belongs to science. losophy and to contemporary articulated by Advancing notions first de La Mettrie Descartes, Julien Offray in his book (1709-1751) already proposed in which my blood gene is expressed, I made a chimeric gene composed of my own DNA and a promoter to guide the red expression only in the flower’s or the system, not in the petals vascular In order to make my rest of the flower. blood-derived DNA express only in the

, 18 19 The gene was isolated and 20 The gene I selected is responsible Enigma” History of the “Natural This work seeks to instill in the pub- The new flower is a Petunia strain The new flower is a Developed between 2003 and 2008, between 2003 and 2008, Developed i.e., my gene produces a protein in the veins only. sequenced from my blood. The petal The blood. my from sequenced pink background, against which the red veins stand out, is evocative of my own pinkish white skin tone that is due precisely to the blood that flows beneath it. The result of this molecular manipulation is a bloom that creates the living through image of human blood rushing the veins of a flower. for the identification of foreign bodies. which that precisely is it work, this In identifies and rejects the other that I a thus creating integrate into the other, new kind of self that is partially flower and partially human. uses the redness of blood and the red- veins as a marker of ness of the plant’s our shared heritage in the wider spectrum of life. By combining human and in a visually plant DNA in a new flower, dramatic way (red expression of human DNA in the flower veins), I bring forth the realization of the contiguity of life between different species. lic a sense of wonder about this most amazing of phenomena we call “life”. difficul- no have may public general The ty in considering how close we truly are to apes and other non-human animals, particularly those with which it is pos- as such directly, communicate to sible that I invented and produced through that I invented and produced It is not found in na- molecular biology. red veins on light ture. The Edunia has of mine is ex- pink petals and a gene pressed on every cell of its red veins in Minneapolis, “Natural History of the in Minneapolis, “Natural a large- Enigma” also encompasses a print suite, scale public sculpture, works. photographs, and other form I created and named Edunia, a ge- and named Edunia, form I created is a hy- flower that netically-engineered Edunia The petunia. a and myself of brid its red my DNA exclusively in expresses veins. April 17 to June and first exhibited from Art Museum, 21, 2009 at the Weisman MA The intimacy and personal interac- To only think of a biotope in terms of only think of a biotope To ENIG- OF THE HISTORY NATURAL tion that characterize our relationship but present, also are biotopes the with History “Natural in a different turn take centered is series This the Enigma”. of on what I call a plantimal, a new life viewer may momentarily perceive as a as perceive may momentarily viewer if the image even However, still image. constantly is work the “still,” seems the is never physically evolving and re- time-lapse video can same. Only by a undergone veal the transformation slow in the course of its given biotope change and evolution. is extremely microscopic living beings possible to de- limiting. While it is also in terms of cells, scribe a human being agglom- an than more much is person a not whole, a is person A cells. of erate shall not confuse the sum of parts. We a living entity in our ability to describe as an object com- a given manner (e.g., posed of discrete parts) with the phenomenological consideration of what for that entity. it is like to be that entity, The biotope is a whole. Its presence and overall behavior is that of a new entity that is at once an artwork and a new bioambiguity this with It is being. living that it manifests itself. It is as a whole that the biotope behaves and seeks to satisfy its needs. The biotope asks for In this water. light and, occasionally, sense, it is an artwork that asks for the participation of the viewer in the form of personal care. Like a pet, it will keep col- more produce will and company ors in response to the care it receives. Like a plant, it will respond to light. Like a machine, it is programmed to function according to a specific feedback principle (e.g., expose it to more heat and it will grow more). Like an object, it can be boxed and transported. Like an animal with an exoskeleton, it is multi- has fixed bodily structure and cellular, What is the biotope? It is its is singular. plural ontological condition that makes it unique. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 106 Eduardo Kac:BioArt actual Eduniaseeds. edition ofEduniaseedpackscontaining man ArtMuseum,Iexhibiteda limited the future. In my exhibition at the Weis - the actual seed packs to be produced in these imagesaremeanttobeused in with theflowerandwork’s theme, Packs”. Visually resonantastheyare six lithographs entitled “Edunia Seed planted everywhere,Icreatedasetof Edunias canbedistributedsociallyand veinal colorationoftheEdunia. ing pointofthework(myblood)and is bloodred,inconnectiontothestart- tures commontoalllife.Thesculpture sheets andotherthree-dimensionalfea- lary oforganictwistsandturns,helices, sculpture wascreatedwithavocabu- the flower’s molecularuniqueness.The choreography ofthesculpturebasedon as atangibleform.Icreatedthevisual totyping tovisualizethisfusionprotein to create the flower. from themolecularprocedureemployed In otherwords,thesculptureisderived forms foundinsidethisinventedflower. its formisanenlargementofunique rectly connectedtotheflowerbecause the largesculpture.Thesculptureisdi- living organismwiththepermanenceof work pairstheephemeralqualityof larger-than-life structure.Likewise,the of themolecularprocedurewith 5” (width.)Itcontraststheminutescale suring 14’4”(height)x20’4”(length)8’ sional fiberglassandmetalformmea- History oftheEnigma”isathree-dimen- in thenewflowers. gated through seeds my gene is present that every time that the Edunia is propa- chromosome oftheEdunia.Thismeans University ofMinnesota,St.Paul,MN. the DepartmentofPlantBiologyat plant veins.ProfessorOlszewski is in drives geneexpressionexclusivelyin Yellow MottleVirus) Promoter, which sor NeilOlszewski’s CoYMV(Commelina red veinsofthePetunia,IusedProfes- next ofkininthekingdom sculpture revealstheproximityofour In anticipation of a future in which I used 3D imaging and rapid-pro- The sculpturethatispartof“Natural My IgGDNAisintegratedintothe 23 In its hybridity, the Plantae . 22 and thereforewillbepresentineach into the bacteria’s cellular machinery tion, thepoemwillbefullyintegrated always produced.Afterthetransforma- al division,twoidenticalclonecellsare that theartwork is nowalive. In bacteri- through thistransgenicvisualmarker mally pale)willthenglowred,showing Thebacteria(nor “transformation”). synthetic DNAintothebacteria(the tocol inthebookletandintegrates the viewer/reader/userfollowspro- in itsrespectivecompartment. ing thetransformationprotocol—each for this artwork), and a booklet contain - sequence apoemIwrotespecifically synthetic DNA(encodinginitsgenetic streaking loops,pipettes,testtubes, kit containsPetridishes,agar, nutrients, viewer/user findsaportableminilab.The up intwohalves,likeabook.Inside,the also made of stainless steel — opens moved fromthecase,kit—itself in astainlesssteelslipcase.Whenre- approximately 13x17”andiscontained DIY transgenickit.Theworkmeasures merges sculpture,artist’s bookanda the biotopes),“Cypher”istransgenic. It discussed here (with the exception of test tubes,syntheticDNA,booklet,13x17 in(33x43cm).Photo:NickBriz. Eduardo Kac,Cypher, 2009.DIYtransgenickitwithPetridishes,agar, nutrients,streakingloops,pipettes, The workliterallycomestolifewhen Similartoalloftheprecedingworks CYPHER - integral tothepoem.Bothareincluded in suchawaythatthecodeisabsolutely poem andcodecomplementeachother poem. Theresultofthisprocessisthat the apparentlyenigmaticmeaningof that servesassemanticcounterpointto lected toforma“codewithinthecode” additional sixletterswerecarefullyse- four consonantsandtwovowels:these set ofremaininglettersisformedby and Thymine (i.e., A,C,GandT).The ic basesAdenine,Cytosine,Guanine, letters thatrepresentthefourgenet- high statisticalincidenceofthefour poem “Cypher” is composed with a sequences oftwoorthreebases.The included in the poem with short DNA The codereplacesalphabeticletters I wrote specifically for this artwork. codes in its genetic sequence a poem er toliterallygivelifetheartwork. of theviewerdecisionandpow- ture in“Cypher”istoplacethehands nomadic laboratory. Thekeypoeticges- like a book, only to reveal itself as a ed withglassobjects)isinitiallyhandled industrial techniquesandcomplement- ternal coating,finishedbyhandusing sional metalobject(withavelvetyin- ture andartist’s book:athree-dimen- newly reproducedbacterium. The syntheticDNAin“Cypher”en- “Cypher” visuallyhybridizessculp- THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - The , 11 No- [Ireland], The New ‘99 - Life , October Eduardo Kac: CIRCA (February 1998), Reframing Conscious Performance Research Ars Electronica Eduardo Kac: Bio Art 107 9, no. 15, (Dec. 30, 1999 - 1999 30, (Dec. 15, no. 9, 2, no. 2, (1998), 4-13.; Julia 4-13.; (1998), 2, no. 2, Eduardo Kac: Teleporting An , April 1999, 89-95; Carvalho, , April 1999, Folha de São Paulo ed. Peter Tomaz Dobrila and ed. Peter Tomaz , September 22 -27, 1997 (Chica- , March 11, 2002.; Steve Tomasula, Tomasula, Steve 2002.; 11, March , ed. Roy Ascott (Exeter: Intellect, ed. Roy Ascott , October 02, 1997; Simone Osthoff, New Art Examiner Folha de São Paulo, Cotidiano The Eighth International Symposium on Reframing Consciousness: Art, Mind and , ed. Roy Ascott (Exeter: Intellect, 1999), , ed. Peter Tomaz Dobrila and Aleksandra , ed. Peter Tomaz Jan. 05, 2000). “Time Capsule: Self-Capsule,” “Time 18-23. 6. Kac, E. “Genesis”, Scheeres, “New Body Art: Chip Implants,” Scheeres, “New Body Art: Electronic Art Science, ed. Gerfried Stocker and Christine 1999), Springer, New York: Schopf (Vienna, 310-313. Also: . Charles Strom, formerly Di- assistance of Dr. rector of Medical Genetics, Illinois Masonic now is Strom Dr. Chicago. Center, Medical Biochemical and Molecu- Medical Director, lar Genetics Laboratories Nichols Institute / Quest Diagnostics, San Juan Capistrano, CA. Original DNA music for Genesis was composed by Peter Gena. 7. Charles Mudede, “The End of Art”, Aleksandra Kostic (Maribor, Slovenia: KIBLA, Aleksandra Kostic (Maribor, 1998), 39-63; Matthew Mirapaul, “An Elec- tronic Artist and His Body of Work,” Technology, 8. Eduardo Kac, “GFP Bunny,” in 8. Eduardo Kac, “GFP Bunny,” 9. I had proposed to live for one week with where Alba in the Grenier à Sel, in Avignon, ness Art in America issue, London, 4, no. 2, (“On Line” special Capsule,” “Time 1999), 8-12.; Christiane Paul, Intelligent Agent Wired News Art Kostic (Maribor, Slovenia: KIBLA, 2000), 101-131. Kostic (Maribor, html>. Also: . See: in theArts).Documentationcanbefoundat: (with thesupportofInstituteStudies mons Gallery, ArizonaStateUniversity, Tempe 2, 2001.Exhibitionlocation:ComputerCom- The exhibitiondates:October25toNovember in theArts,ArizonaStateUniversity, Tempe. two-year residencyattheInstituteofStudies 14. Ideveloped“TheEighthDay”througha 2002, 21. at Ethics,Rabbit,” 13. LisaStein,“NewKacShowTakes aLook book.2000_2004.html 12. http://www.ekac.org/bunny- . 11. Forabibliographyontransgenicart,see: and sweetdispostion.’’ even notedthatshehasa‘’particularlymellow to join Kac,but said that she is healthy, and doesn’t knowwhen,orif,Alba willbeallowed her forKac,Louis-MarieHoudebine,saidhe tody ofthebunny. Thescientistwhocreated tute ofAgronomicResearch,togranthimcus- ernment laboratory, calledtheNationalInsti- while KactriestopersuadetheFrenchgov- article states:“KacandAlbaremainapart , ed.SheilahBrittonandDanCollins(New , September17,2000,A01.The Chicago Tribune Chicago The Nobel Prizes 2008 2008 Prizes Nobel The , May10, The The - Was theWord,” curs.” See:R.C.Lewontin,“IntheBeginning process influenceswhichofthesefoldingsoc- cellular milieutogetherwiththetranslation foldings ofthesameaminoacidchain,and is oneofanumberminimumfree-energy but onlytheaminoacidsequence.Theprotein “A DNAsequencedoesnotspecifyprotein, teins. AsRichardLewontinclearlyexplains: 20. Inactuality, genesdonot“produce”pro- the vascularexpressionofgene). GUS (anenzymethatallowedmetoconfirm red veins, is a fusion of my IgG fragment with the fusionprotein,producedexclusivelyin lergens). In “Natural History of the Enigma”, in thebody, suchasviruses,bacteriaandal- substance thatprovokesanimmuneresponse antigens. Anantigenisatoxinorotherforeign mune system to identify and neutralize foreign and otherbodilyfluids,isusedbytheim- function asanantibody. IgGisfoundinblood Immunoglobulin G(IgG)isakindofproteinthat 19. ThegeneofmineIusedisanIgGfragment. Edunia seedpackswithactualseeds. set ofsixlithographs,andalimitededition al Edunias,thecomplete“EduniaSeedPack” 18. Theexhibitionwascomprisedoftheactu- ennale (4September-12November2006). Discoveries” premiered atthe Singapore Bi- 17. “SpecimenofSecrecyAboutMarvelous 36 (Paris:FiligranesÉditions,2005). 16. See:ElenaGiuliaRossi.EduardoKac:Move (Stockholm: NobelFoundation,2009),p.162. 24. Thisnaturalability hasmadeagenetical- enzymes thatproducetheredpigments. tion factorthatcontrolsgenesencoding the the flower. Moreprecisely, AN1isatranscrip- IN1 (AN1),responsibleforredpigmentation in component is from the Petunia’s ANTHOCYAN- (IgG) light chain (variable region). The plant man partisafragmentofmyImmunoglobulin composed ofhumanandplantparts.Thehu- 23. Thesculpture’s formisaninventedprotein was furtherconfirmedthroughPCR. achieved throughastainingtechnique.This fused totheIgGsequence.Thedetectionwas enzyme GUS(betaglucuronidase),whichis edunia veinsbydetectingtheactivityof that myIgGproteinwasproducedonlyinthe Olszewski, Iobtainedpositiveconfirmation 22. WiththeassistanceofProfessorNeil Laboratory Services. on May13th,2004inthepremisesofApptec was drawnfor“NaturalHistoryoftheEnigma” Laboratory Services,St.Paul,MN.Theblood time Icarriedoutthiswork,theCEOofApptec gratitude toBonitaL.Baskin,whowas,atthe isolating my IgG and cloning it, I owe a debt of 21. For her assistance in drawing my blood, 2001), 1264. Science Science 291, no.16(February from amicroorganism.” genic inthesensethattheyacquiredagene is notman,butallvertebrateswhoaretrans- above, Dr. Reichconcluded:“Itappearsthatit issue. Inthesamecorrespondencementioned lieved tobeconfirmed.Seep.903ofthesame bacteria andinvertebrates,113casesarebe- coding forproteinsthatarealsopresentin 6822 (February15,2001),860.Ofthe223genes Genome SequencingConsortiumv. 409,no. of thehumangenome,”InternationalHuman genome. See:“Initialsequencingandanalysis mans havehundredsofbacterialgenesinthe early apes).”TheHGPalsosuggeststhathu- some 10to40millionsago(aswestillwere and subsequentdispersionoverthegenome acquired into germ cells by retrovirus infection anyway) isusuallythattheseelementswere (which, incidentally, lookslikeagarbagebin these massive[viral]insertsintoourgenome in Berlin-Buch,stated:“Theexplanationfor ic InformaticsoftheMaxDelbruckCenter the topic,Dr. JensReich,DivisionofGenom- as afollowuptoourpreviousconversationon email correspondence(28January2002),and 409, no. 15 (February 2001), 814-816. In private vid Baltimore,“Ourgenomeunveiled”,Nature Bios ScientificPublishers,1999),138;andDa- 25. SeeT. A.Brown,Genomes(Oxford,UK: Physiology 107(1995),1041-1047. from Agrobacteriumtotheplantcell,”Plant Zupan andP.C. Zambryski,“Transfer ofT-DNA Plant MolecularBiology19(1992),15-38;J.R. bacterium andplantgeneticengineering,” P.J.J. HooykaasandR.A.Shilperoort,“Agro- ry of Genetics, Gent University, Belgium, 1983); foreign genesinplants.PhDthesis.(Laborato- Herrera-Estrella, Transfer andexpressionof a favoritetoolofmolecularbiology. See:L. ly engineeredversionoftheagrobacterium A LENS ON THE RADICAL HORIZON THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 110 SaulNewman: Postanarchism andtheposthuman horizon democracy, theygenerallyfailedtobring ment, communication, assemblyand alternative modesofpolitical engage- financial crisisboldlyexperimented with that emerged in thewake of the global tain. WhiletheOccupationmovements zon today is highly opaque and uncer knowledge thattheradicalpoliticalhori- forms ofradicalpolitics. make itmorerelevant to contemporary a renewal of anarchism in ways that of arationalsocialorder–italsofosters about humannatureandthepossibilities – particularlyintermsofitsassumptions the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ontology oftheclassicalanarchism a centralchallengetothefoundationalist temporary anarchism.Whileitpresents has importantconsequencesforcon- argued elsewhere, ‘post-structuralist’ anarchism. As I have postanarchism canbeunderstoodas Lacan, amongothers.Inthissense, Deleuze andFelixGuattariJacques chel Foucault,JacquesDerrida,Gilles the keyinsightsfromthinkerslikeMi- turalist theory. Itacknowledgessomeof through an engagement with poststruc- of theclassicaldoctrineanarchism generally beseenasareformulation different pathsandtrajectories,itcan political thought.Whileithasfollowed central genre in contemporary radical horizon posthuman and the Postanarchism Saul Newman However, wewouldhavetoac- Postanarchism hasemergedasa 1 poststructuraltheory - diagnosed longagobyJ-FLyotard mate outcomeof‘postmoderncondition’ or epistemologicalcertainties. that cannolongerrelyonfirmideological a social order that has lost its legitimacy, nihilistic one, as we are confronted with the prevailingconditiontodayisadeeply ecological - that it generates. No wonder of managing the crises - economic and at itscoreasitisincreasinglyincapable ment. Whatisrevealedthe‘anarchy’ symbolic efficacyandisstartingtofrag- nomic orderthathaslostanysenseof seen asareactiontoliberalglobaleco- politics, despitetheirdifferences,canbe discourses andpolicies.Bothformsof eignty throughracistandexclusionary reanimate thephantasmofstatesover ulist andauthoritarianrightseekingto neoliberalism hascomefromthepop- ful reactiontotheeconomicfailuresof Instead, itwouldseemthemorepower about anysignificantorlastingchange. progress, technological development ties andaPromothean faithinhuman was founded on anthropological certain - and ourplacewithinit.Thisparadigm of aparticularwayseeingthe world manism; in other words, the exhaustion of theendmodernparadigm ofhu- of thecurrentmomentaresymptomatic too far. Rather, myclaim isthatthecrises of the‘metanarrative’-isperhapsgoing condition characterisedbythecollapse Whether thiscanbeseenastheulti- 2 –a - - ecological crisis and the threat of the of thediscursivelimitshumanism. The an auto-critiqueorauto-deconstruction end ofthehumanexperience,but rather wards theother. Thisdoesnotsignifythe tric sense –and forces anopening to- strictly individualisticandanthropocen - – orrathertheillusionofautonomyin limits oursenseofmasteryandautonomy our immediate control. This unsettles us, human andnon-human,thatarebeyond by networks,relationsandlifeforms,both to the human condition. giving greatermeaningandspecificity and non-human,whileatthesametime the binarydivisionbetweenhuman technological andsoon–whichblurs tems –natural,communicative,cultural, of thehumanwithinbroadersocialsys- knowledgement oftheembeddedness Wolfe explains,posthumanismistheac- and eventomaterialobjects.AsCary non-human life-formsandecosystems, rably boundtooneanother, aswellto series of relations in which we are inexo- takes theformofanetwork,anentangled significance inaworldthatincreasingly world butalsoourowncentralityand not onlyourrelationshipwiththenatural cal collapse, we are forced to question as we are faced with imminent ecologi- and limitlesseconomicgrowth.Yet today, speak inDerrideanterms, situated within,dependentuponand,to ognition of the way we ashumansare and lesscelebratory. Itissimply a rec- manism, bycontrast,aremoremodest reign of technics. The claims of posthu- course ofhumanismarticulatedasthe extension oftheimperialismdis- and biomanipulation,theyaresimplyan unprecedented levelsofsocialcontrol Not onlydothesecreatethepotentialfor bodily augmentation,ortheAIrevolution. ics, newcommunicativetechnologies, dition, whetherintheformofcybernet- transform andenhance the human con- about thecapacitiesoftechnologyto transhumanism, oranynaïveenthusiasm manism shouldbedistinguishedfrom it istobehuman.Inmyview, posthu- paradoxically, arealsowhatdefine evolved withnon-humanformswhich, mentally prostheticcreatureswhohave edge thatweare,asWolfe putsit,funda- 3 It is to acknowl- supplemented

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - 6 In this 7 in traditional sense, the at the heart of Kropotkin’s at the heart of Kropotkin’s telos telos but an emancipatory orientation. but an emancipatory In view of this deconstructive ap- While I would insist that there is a insist that there While I would Poststructuralism sharpens an au- Poststructuralism sharpens bioregionalism. So this is what I am this is what So bioregionalism. that showing exploring, currently or aid, does not constimutual help, - tute a sense, what unites the diverse strands of poststructuralism is the rejection of the discourse of essentialist humanism, or what Derrida would refer to as the metaphysics of presence: the idea that there is a fixed, determined and determining Man, Truth, identity (whether it is Power, the Good) behind or at the origin of the play of signifiers and social forces. proach, we must ask ourselves whether we can make the same assumptions about subjectivity held by the anarchists Starting with of the nineteenth century. who argued that human Max Stirner, essence was an ideological illusion, through to Foucault, who rejected any idea of a universal Subject behind the various historically specific ways in which subjectivity is constituted by pow- the truth, of regimes discursive and er unity of the subject as a transhistorical entity has been placed in doubt. One of Foucault from taken be to points key the and other poststructuralist thinkers is rational evolutionary theory – something that at evolutionary theory – emancipatory its drives time same the is interesting in politics – what I think of mutual aid is interpretation Malabou’s towards a post- the way that it is oriented coopera- interspecies of terrain human boundaries be- tion and disrupts the neat lifeworlds. tween human and non-human within an- to-critique already immanent archism itself. Indeed, poststructuralism, as I have suggested, might be seen as a kind of continuation of the anti-author itarian impulse of anarchism itself, but turning its critique on discursive and epistemological authority and fixed identities. For Derrida, poststructuralism is an attempt to break with the ‘chain of sub- stitutions’ that reaffirms the authority and whether – centre a of power determining even or consciousness, man, God, be that the structure of language itself. - - Saul Newman: Postanarchism and the posthuman horizon 111 we find ideas of sol- 4 that his evolutionary theo- 5 This would also give me the op- portunity of questioning the frontier between traditional anarchism and called post-anar has been what chism, a grouping of several trends and lines of thought that seek to rec- oncile libertarianism with post-struc- very crit- Post-anarchism is turalism. ical of thinkers like Kropotkin, whom they judge essentialist and rationalist because of his use of biology and evolutionism. Such a rejection is what I intend to challenge, thus re- definition of newing also Kropotkin’s mutual aid. In his work, mutual aid appears as the other trend of evolution, along with natural selection. Living beings do not only compete, Political they also help each other. mutuality keeps something of this Mutual help is biological memory. not only support and solidarity; it is cooperative econ- self-management, organic symbiosis or ecological omy, However, while classical anarchism, classical while However, idarity and cooperation based on shared idarity and cooperation instincts be- biological and evolutionary – ideas tween humans and non-humans anthropocentric which challenged the as a crude artic- view of the world as well that saw the ulation of Darwinian theory only in terms natural (and social) world The philos- of the fittest’. of the ‘survival opher Catherine Malabou has recently - idea of mu sought to rethink Kropotkin’s tual aid as a basis for social solidarity she Importantly, and political mutuality. argues, in contradistinction to post-an- biological of Kropotkin’s critiques archist determinism, ry, which he derived from observations of ry, animal species, disrupts the boundaries politics and biology, between philosophy, between the human and natural worlds. She says in an interview: - and dis that limits coercive force alien and moral natural rational torts people’s and for freedom, development capacities sociability. is about human nature, in its assumptions par humanist the of part ways many in beyond goes also it modernity, of adigm Peter Kropotkin’s this. For instance, in idea of ‘mutual aid’ - , it is a critical reconstruction Firstly What can anarchism – or as I prefer What can anarchism Postanarchism: deconstruction and main two involves Postanarchism collapse of ecosystems upon which all which upon of ecosystems collapse clear depends is perhaps the human life of Man of the decentring est example Whether our long-term from his world. reactive the take will this to response at form we are witnessing or paranoid of or result in the invention the moment, solidarity and commonality of forms new world – with the natural and non-human some signs of which we are also seeing – remains to be seen. – tell us about the to call it postanarchism And what forms of posthuman condition? emerge with politics, ethics and culture I section below, this condition? In the and ethical outline some of the political contours of postanarchism. theoretical gestures. deconstruction of some of the epistemological limits of the nineteenth-century paradigm of classical anarchism. This revo- the of borne anarchism an was lutionary optimism of Enlightenment It was an anarchism that be- modernity. emancipate would revolution the lieved the whole of humanity and transform the entirety of social relations, ushering in harmonious and cooperative forms of coexistence. Underlying this vision of so- imma- was the belief in an cial relations nent rationality and morality - obscured and distorted by existing political and economic structures, as well as by religion and ideological mystification - that would be revealed once these artificial institutions had been overthrown. There was a belief in the inherent sociability of mankind which would form the basis of why is This community. self-governing a the political state was seen by anarchists as an unnecessary and destructive intrusion upon an otherwise rationally ordered society – an obstacle to human progress and flourishing. What is central to classical anarchism is a kind of Mani- chean logic that assumes an ontological separation between humanity and pow- embodied in the state and in Power, er. other social institutions, was seen as an THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 112 SaulNewman: Postanarchism andtheposthuman horizon exist inanypost-revolutionary society. the powerrelationsandlimits that will engaged inacontinualcontestation with ongoing ‘practicesoffreedom’ that are ‘liberation’ we should think in terms of insight thatratherthanspeaking about postanarchism embraces Foucault’s state offreedomandharmony. Instead, tificial limitations and usherin an eternal all, fromallkindsofoppressionsandar would liberatehumanity, onceandfor emancipation istheideathatrevolution political event.Investedinthisfantasyof relations inonetotalizingandcollective tempts totransformtheentiretyofsocial the worldinaPrometheanwayandat- ernist paradigminwhichmanactson notion ofrevolutionwaspartamod- a centralisedstructure.Moreover, the taking theformofanetworkratherthan much moredecentralisedandcomplex, in latemodernitypowerrelationsare erarchical powerevadesthewaythat as astruggleaimedatoverthrowinghi- ask ourselves.Theideaofarevolution be abletoachieve,isaquestionwemust rent powerrelations,andwhatitwould emerge fromafieldsaturatedandcur power. Whereandhowarevolutioncan economic relationsandliberationfrom transformation ofsocial,politicaland if byrevolutionweunderstandatotal doubt theveryideaofrevolutionitself, non-human, man,animalandmachine. individual, connectingthehumanand forces thatcutacrossandfragmentthe saw desireasamultiplicityofsocial way, GillesDeleuzeandFelixGuattari of desirewithoutfulfillment.Inadifferent incompleteness thatpropelsthedialectic over, foundedonafundamentallack–an external orderofsignifiersandis,more- subject istheoflanguageasan of Jacques Lacan, who claimed that the present inthepsychoanalytictheories The decenteringofthesubjectisalso tion muchmoreprofoundthanhimself.” already inhimselftheeffectofasubjec- for us,whomweareinvitedtofree,is constituted byit:“Themandescribed subject whoresistspowerisalsoinpart social forces,includingpower-sincethe ration betweenthesubjectandexternal that therecanbenoontologicalsepa- Poststructuralism alsoplacesin - - 8 9

several centuriesago, with iswhatÉtiennedeLaBoétietermed, cal problemthatpostanarchismgrapples radical politicalengagement: for thinkingaboutthesenewmodesof outline anumberofethicalcoordinates ical strugglesandmovements.BelowI gies thatcaninformcontemporaryrad- and ethicalstrategyorseriesofstrate- of postanarchismasapositivepolitical ‘reconstructive’ one–anunderstanding central topostanarchismisthereforea it oncereliedupon.The ties andmoralrationalfoundations project -withouttheontologicalcertain might mean–asapoliticalandethical challenge tothinkaboutwhatanarchism framed. At the same time it presents the ical limits within which it was initially humanist epistemologicalandontolog- for anarchism,particularlyregardingthe theory nodoubtposescertainproblems this sense. seen as ethical ‘practices of freedom’ in both humanandnon-human,canallbe ways of relating to other living beings, the commons,and,aboveall,non-violent forms ofexchangebasedontheidea munities, ways of living, non-capitalistic Today, theinventionofalternativecom- no consistencyor stabilityofitsownbut analysis ofobedienceisthatpower has sight to be takenfromLa Boétie’s radical be workedthrough.However, thekeyin- freedom becomesanethicalproblem to desires freedom;rather, theprojectof humanist assumptionthatman always servitude tosomeextentoverturnsthe and obedience.Theproblemofvoluntary ever greaterlevelsofconformity, docility ized politicalpoweris accompanied by tures ofpatriarchalauthorityandcentral- in whichthedeclineoftraditionalstruc- politics. Theparadoxofourtimeisone us today–thefundamentalenigmaof in thesixteenthcenturyasitremainsfor and itisthiswhich,asmuchforLaBoétie obedience not coerced but freely given – obedience totyrannicalpower. Thisisan ntaire Perhaps themainethicalandpoliti- The encounterwithpoststructuralist –thephenomenonofvoluntary Voluntary servitude servitude volo servitude second move - more, andyouareatoncefreed”. As LaBoétieputit,“Resolvetoserveno will and free volition, so too is its undoing. the constitutionofpowerisamatter does notexist.Thismeansthat,justas identification withit;power, onitsown, power is an illusion created by our own choose toobeyit.Putmoreradically, of it.Powerwouldnotexistifwedid deed constitutedby, ourfreeacceptance is somethingentirelydependenton,in- gest wethinkintermsof exploitation andviolence.Instead,Isug- to challengestructuresofdomination, of neoliberalbiopoliticsthatdoeslittle alized andexcludedidentitiesisaform The demandforrecognitionofmargin- a limitationofourpoliticalexperience. ing legalandinstitutionalstructuresis recognition andinclusionwithinexist- confining one’s struggletoademandfor and oppression,theproblemisthatin gender, aresooftensubjecttoviolence ties, whethercultural,religious,sexualor Even thoughcertainmarginalizedidenti- egoism, Stirner understood theego(or are oftenwronglyconflatedwith selfish of ownnessanduniqueness.While these ly indebtedtoStirner’s radicalconcepts ethical self-interrogation.HereI am part- and relatingtoourselves,onpractices of mentation withdifferentways ofliving emphasis onmultipleformsofexperi- of relations.Postanarchismplacesan relation toothersandwithinnetworks becoming -reconstitutingthemselvesin contingent andinaconstantprocessof categories ofidentity. Theyaremutable, Singularities escape and slip between forgotten –thatweare servitude revealssomethingwehaveall obedience isthusdispelled.Voluntary illusion of power constituted by our own it, byturningourbacksonit;thereflexive such butbysimplyrefusingtorecognise overcome powernotbydestroyingitas who we are but to refuse who we are”. be thetargetnowadaysisnottodiscover fined to identity. about subjectivity that is no longer con- we needonlytorealiseit. We needanotherwayofthinking As Foucault put it, “may - already Singularities singularities freeand 10 We We 11 .

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - - the prefigure working to modify, working to modify, He places the em- 17 Prefigurative politics Prefigurative here and now, The notion of prefiguration can also Perhaps we need to understand to understand we need Perhaps at a micropolitical level, one’s immedi- at a micropolitical level, one’s relations with ate environment and one’s others. As Bakunin argued in his debates with Marx and his followers in the First authoritarian of use the International, measures in a revolutionary struggles, of state pow- and the instrumentalization er to build socialism, would only lead to a replication of the structures of state au- power. its of intensification an and thority tell us something important about critical transforming In today. practices art type of society, the kind of social rela- type of society, tions, one wishes to create. Prefiguration and anti-strategic of kind a therefore is the idea that impulse: it is indeed ethical - moral principles should not be sac one’s rificed to the exigencies of politics, that the ends do not always justify the means. For instance, if you aim to build a society without violence, then you should not use violent means to achieve this; if you want a society without domination, then you should not employ authoritarian or van- revolutionary guardist measures in one’s - prefigu Understood in this way, strategy. ration also means acting on the present, in the power not as a substance or a thing but as a substance or a thing power not and re- which we forge as a relationship and through our actions new everyday anar with others. As the our relations state “The put it: Landauer Gustav chist of a certain way a social relationship; is It can be another. people relating to one new social rela- destroyed by creating relating to one tionships; i.e., by people another differently.” chism: prefiguration. Prefiguration is the idea that the type of politics one engages in should already reflect or phasis not so much on the revolutionary phasis not so much on of the external seizure or destruction a micro-political system of power as on self and its relation transformation of the of alternative to others, and the creation – the and more autonomous relations result of which is the transcendence of Here Landauer touches on state power. one of the key ethical principles of anarchism – one also shared by postanar - -

): 16 political Saul Newman: Postanarchism and the posthuman horizon 113 Uprising that spring from , the state or so- or the state , external conditions ourselves be arranged, status act; the latter has indeed act; the latter has indeed let above arrangements Revolution and insurrection must and insurrection must Revolution social While revolution works to transform it. The Revolution aimed at new ar it. The Revolution aimed leads us no rangements; insurrection longer to for its unavoidable consequence a for its unavoidable consequence yet transformation of circumstances, but from men’s does not start from it is not themselves, discontent with rising of indian armed rising but a without regard viduals, a getting up to the ciety, and is accordingly a accordingly is and ciety, or not be looked upon as synonymous. upon as synonymous. not be looked - consists in an overturn The former of the established ing of conditions, or condition but to arrange ourselves, and sets no sets and ourselves, to arrange but glittering hopes on ‘institutions’. It is not a fight against the established, established the prospers, it if since, collapses of itself; it is only a working forth of me out of the established. external social and political conditions and institutions, insurrection is aimed To own self-transformation. at one’s engage in an insurrection means placing oneself and constraints, whereupon these con- these whereupon constraints, and straints simply disintegrate. It starts from affirmation of the self, and the political consequences flow from this. Insurrec- tion, unlike revolution, is radically anti-institutional – not necessarily in the sense of seeking to get rid of all institutions, as this would lead simply to different kinds – place their in emerging institutions of of asserting one’s the sense but rather in power over institutions and, indeed, indifference to them. This notion one’s of insurrection is radically different from most understandings of radical political action. It eschews the idea of an overar ching project of emancipation or social transformation; freedom is not the end goal of insurrection but its starting point. insurrection of notion Stirner’s What highlights is the extent to which we are often complicit in the systems of power we see as dominating. and his idea of the Empörung ( idea of the and his

- 15 Ro- 13 Insurrection and Giorgio 14 We could also consider more could also We 12 We must also think about political about think also must We - notion of a non-im berto Esposito’s munitary communitas; what he called the ‘unique one’) in terms one’) in terms ‘unique he called the what process of flux, becoming of an ongoing was which for him and self-constitution it undertaking because a deeply ethical from radical disengagement sought a of this world that diminished the illusions Rather uniqueness. and autonomy one’s experience, than this being a solipsistic the ground Stirner believed that clearing of humanism of the ideological ‘spooks’ for new and more would open the way with the external autonomous relations we need to think more world. However, between carefully about the encounter One of the singularity and community. tasks today is to most important political community that do invent new ideas of and uniqueness not destroy difference under Stirner’s it. enhance to work but developed and paradoxical idea of the ‘union of egoists’ – a loose, rhizomatic collective association without any fixed identity or structure – points in this direction. which invoke the idea of gatherings and convergences that are not based on pre- – ‘who’) on based (not identities defined indifferent to words, other in are, which identity and are defined instead by their co-belonging. where and this is action in new ways, the notion of insurrection becomes im- on from a number portant. Following of themes outlined above, insurrection might be seen as a kind of revolt not so much against the external world of be a conse- although that might power – a kind of quence of it – but more so as a re- ethical form of self-transformation, volt against fixed identities, modes of action and forms of life that power imposes internal- freely have we which or us upon ised. Again, I am indebted to Stirner here - references to ‘whatever sin Agamben’s gularity’ and ‘the coming community’, recent attempts within continental theory to rethink community in non-totalizing and non-exclusionary ways: Jean-Luc community’; ‘inoperative Nancy’s THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 114 SaulNewman: Postanarchism andtheposthuman horizon However, wherepostanarchism departs, and anthropocentricviewofthe world. archism arearejectionofthe dualistic poststructuralism –bothcurrents ofan- despite theirsharedhostility towards between thesetwoapproaches –and archism. and anti-civilizationalorprimitivistan- radical elementsofdeepgreenecology and socialdomination, the interrelationshipbetweenecological theory ofsocialecologywhichexplored natural world:fromMurrayBookchin’s into accountourconnectionswiththe of the variants of anarchism which take anarchist theoryorpractice.We think ical sensibilityhasneverbeenaliento man naturalworld.Ofcourse,anecolog- instead anentanglementwiththenon-hu- centric viewoftheworldandembraces evade thiskindofcontrol. and seeingourselveswhichallowusto to thinkaboutalternativewaysofliving is modulated, through whichoursubjectivitytoday gathering andmarketingtechniques of biopoliticalcontrol,surveillance,data only attemptsareflectionontheforms hierarchical spaces.Thiskindofartnot between individuals,andtodevelopnon- is tofosterrelationsof the aimofmanycriticalartpractices our identityassubjects.Inparticular, ethically onoureverydaybehaviour, on designed tomakeusquestionandreflect as well.Attheveryleast,theyare to modifyethicalandpolitical relations aesthetic register, thishasthepotential seeking tomodifyrelationshipsinthe of capitalistandstaterelations.In localised spaces–aimatthesuspension temporary andconfinedtoparticular who, intheirveryexistence–evenif immediate control of institutions, and between peoplethatareoutsidethe new formsofautonomousrelations in thepresentmoment;theytrytoeffect also trytocreateakindofinsurrection objects, imagesandspectators,artists between artist and audience, between collective spaces, in the relationships Postanarchism rejectsananthropo- 20 Despitethemajordifferences 18 butalsoencouragesus Ecological entanglement 19 non-domination toevenmore

society.” a newly born community, or anewlyborn newly plantedseed,aborninfant, potentiality. Thispotentialitymaybea that arelatentinanas-yet-undeveloped unfolding ofawealthparticularities, mean varyinglevelsofactualization,an Man. cial forcesandthefullhumanisationof about arationalharmonisationofso- tions somehow immanentwithinsocialrela- a rationaltotalityorwholenessthatis naturalism’, is in rejecting the idea of particularly fromBookchin’s ‘dialectical condition thatcanbereferredto as been outliningherearereflective ofa of asocialorder. disrupting anyfixedorconsistentimage changing andadaptingtherefore tions, ofecosystemsthatareconstantly unstable, unpredictablenetworkofrela- now have be considered as part of an gency; itmeansthatallsocialidentities embodies indeterminacyandcontin- nal socialorder, ecologicalentanglement providing thebasisforastableandratio- rational principles.Ratherthannature view ofasocialorderfoundedondeep expresses somescepticismaboutthis observable conditions. Postanarchism by naturalprinciplesandscientifically cial phenomenaareseenasconditioned positivism here, in which political and so- we mustperceive.Thereisanimplicit at thefoundationofsocietywhosetruth by thereisarationalessenceorbeing fall intothetrapofessentialism,where- ical andsociallogic?Thiswouldseemto in a Hegelian manner, by a unified histor rational unfoldingofpossibilities,driven, metaphor? Canweassumethatthereisa waiting to blossom, to use Bookchin’s waiting to be discovered, like a flower rooted in the natural order, like a secret the possibilitiesofhumanfreedomlie principles, the as thewitheringawayofepochal first er, Reiner Schürmann, definesanarchy logical anarchy logical Many oftheideasandthemesIhave Ontological anarchy, or‘anarchae- and whoseemergencewillbring Bookchin says: “By wholeness, I 21 However, canweassumethat arché . TheHeideggerianthink- thatdefinedmeta - ology’ onto - - of freedom: it frees action from its no formofpoweris that allpowerisbad;ratheritmeans non-acceptability ofpowerone’s However, whereitdiffersisinmakingthe consistent withmostformsofanarchism. litical standpointisonethatlargely sible or incontestable. This ethico-po- ed.” in whichpowerisactualfact accept- the form of a questioning of all the ways but ratheratthebeginningof workin power, not at theendofenterprise, non-power orthenon-acceptability of relations. Itisratheramatterofputting end ofaproject,societywithoutpower not a question of having in view, at the with, anarchy?To quoteFoucault:“itis starts, ratherthan(necessarily)endsup understand anarchismasapoliticsthat of powerasitsstartingpoint.Canwe of actionthattakesthenon-acceptance rather asanopenandcontingentform as aspecificrevolutionaryprojectbut to think of anarchism today not so much es up. In other words, perhaps we need power.” always support any kind of relation of obvious rightthatcaneverywhereand “there isnouniversal, immediate, and cal’. Itstartsfromthepresuppositionthat scribed hisapproachas‘anarchaeologi- the CollegedeFrancefrom1979-80,- pre-determined end. – thatistosay, groundlessandwithouta determine it.Actionbecomes‘anarchic’ the ruleofendsthathithertosoughtto from fixed normative frameworks, from departure departure physical thinking: For Schürmann,thisisanexperience So perhapscontemporary forms Foucault, inoneofhislecturesat tive, power. space deprivedoflegislative,norma- longer anythingmorethanablank be itauthoritarianor‘rational’,isno ous thattheprincipleofcohesion, yields and where it becomes obvi- action, ahistorywherethebedrock affecting the ground or foundation of sue hereisthenameofahistory 24 The anarchythatwillbeatis- 23 Thisisnotthesameassaying rather thanwhereonefinish- 22

automatically point of of point admis- telos , THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 ------, ed. , , trans., C-M , trans. Timothy , trans. Timothy (Columbia: CAL The Ecology of Free Gustav Landauer: Rev Communitas: the Ori Heidegger on Being and The Coming Community, The Ecology of Freedom: The Inoperative Commu The Ego and its Own On the Government of the Future Primitive and Other ., p. 78. Ibid Elements of Refusal (New York: Autonomedia, 1994). (New York: (Palo Alto, CA: Cheshire Books, 1982). , trans., Peter Connor et al., (Minneapolis: , trans., Peter Connor et al., Giorgio Agamben, Jean-Luc Nancy, Jean-Luc Nancy, Michel Foucault, ‘The Subject and Power’, in ‘The Subject and Power’, Michel Foucault, To give just one example, Hito Steyerl’s Hito Steyerl’s example, one just give To See Murray Bookchin, Reiner Schürmann, See Max Stirner, See Max Stirner, op. cit., pp. 279–80. Max Stirner, Peo- State, Weaker ‘Weak Gustav Landauer, I am thinking here of the work of John Zer of John here of the work I am thinking Roberto Esposito, Murray Bookchin, Michel Foucault, , ed. M. Senellart, trans., G. Burchell (Hound- Campbell (Stanford: Stanford University Press, Campbell (Stanford: Stanford 2009). 15 David Leopold, trans. Steven T. Byington (Cam- T. David Leopold, trans. Steven Press, 1995), p. bridge: Cambridge University 161. 13 books/Etienne%20de%20la%20Boétie/The%20 Politics%20of%20Obedience%20The%20 Discourse%20of%20Voluntary%20Servitude_ Vol_3.pdf 11 olution and Other(Oakland, Ca.: PM Press, 2010), pp. 213-214. Writings, a 18 Political Reader2013 exhibition and installation, ‘How Not to Be Seen’, makes us think about the ubiquity of surveillance and experiments with themes of visibility and invisibility. 19 dom: The Emergencechy and Dissolution of Hierar (Paolo Alto, CA: Cheshire Books, 1982), p. 31. 22 Power: Essential et al. trans. Roberty Hurley ed. James Faubion, Works of 326–48. (London: Penguin, 2000), pp. Foucault 1954–1984,12 nity gin and Destiny of Community trans. Michael Hardt (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993). 16 17 ple’ in Gabriel Kuhn ed. zan. See: 20 mills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), p. 77. 24 Foucault, University of Minnesota Press 1991). University of Minnesota Press 14 21 Acting: From Principles to Anarchy the Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy Press, 1999); and 1999); Press, Gros (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, University Indiana (Bloomington: Gros 1987), p. 6. 23 80 Living, Lectures at the College de France 1979- Essays ------Fig (Minne- Saul Newman: Postanarchism and the posthuman horizon 115 , trans. Har , trans. Geoff , trans. Geoff □ The Postmodern Writing and Difference, The Politics of Postanar Discipline and Punish: the Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evo From Bakunin to Lacan: an , trans. A. Sheridan. (London: The Politics of Obedience: The , Vol. 1, James D. Faubion ed., , Vol. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2016). What is Posthumanism? < http://figureground.org/inter (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, , ed. Paul Avrich (New York: New York Uni- New York (New York: , ed. Paul Avrich Étienne de La Boétie, ‘Discours de la servi- Cary Wolfe, Cary Wolfe, Michel Foucault, Saul Newman, Jacques Derrida, See Saul Newman, See Interview with Catherine Malabou by See Jean-Francois Lyotard, Lyotard, Jean-Francois See See Michel Foucault, ‘The Ethics of the Con- Peter Kropotkin, Condition: a Report on Knowledge Bennington and Brian Massumi (Manchester: Manchester University Press) 1979. 3 trans. Robert Hurley et al. (London: Penguin, 2000), pp. 281–302. 10 tude volontaire’ ( trans. A. Bass (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978). 8 Paul Rabinowcault Ethics: 1954–1984 Essential Works of Fou lution chism ure/Ground References: 1 ti-authoritarianism(Maryland, MD.: Lexington Books, 2001); and and the Postanarchismdislocation of power Discourse of Voluntary Servitude view-with-catherine-malabou/> 7 versity Press, 1972). 5 2010). 6 Gerardo Flores Peña (July 25th, 2017) 2 Penguin Books, 1991), p. 30. 9 cern for the Self as a Practice of Freedom’, in Against this blind and nihilistic drive, Against this blind and ry Kurz (Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2008), p. 47. http://library.mises.org/ apolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010), p. xxv. 4 Birth of the Prison anarchism today must affirm a kind of anarchism today must of the ethical care or even conservation in which we networks and ecosystems world faced are entangled, for a natural as well as cul- with ecological collapse, life, of forms new affirming and tivating which are al- community and autonomy by the onto- ready being made possible us. logical rift opening before intent on hastening the coming disorder. disorder. the coming on hastening intent is of ontological anarchy The condition by the temptation always accompanied to fill principle of authority, to restore the proliferations new with place empty its in that power itself has realise We of power. anarchic. become dangerously - it would seem that the im However, of anarchism should be seen not as seen not be should of anarchism but by fixed objectives pre-determined on a certain contingency, rather founded thought and freedom of open-endedness forms It may take different and action. of action different courses and follow and moments. It might resist at different at of power contest specific relations on the basis localised points of intensity violence; it might of their illegitimacy and institutions and in- work against certain working either by practices stitutional of other kinds of in- within and in support alternative stitutions, or through creating of organisation. In practices and forms or non-pow- other words, taking anarchy postanarchism as er as its starting point, and autonomous a form of experimental thinking and acting, can work on multiple fronts, in a variety of different settings, institutional and non-institutional, producing reversals and interruptions of existing relations of domination. plications of ontological anarchy for radical politics today are highly ambiguous. On the one hand, anarchism must em- brace the experience of anarchy and no foun- ontological firm the on rely longer dations once provided by humanism. Ex- perience of the contemporary world suggests that the tectonic plates of our age are shifting, that familiar and once hegemonic institutions, principles and philosophical categories – economic, political and above all anthropological – appear lifeless and obsolete. increasingly empty, Never has political and financial pow- position. precarious more a in been er Never before have we been confronted in such a dramatic way with the extreme con- Anthropocene the of consequences dition, whereby the survival of all species, including our own, is threatened. This makes possible – indeed necessitates – new and more autonomous forms of action, communication, economic exchange and being in common. On the other hand, this sense we all have of is that world dislocated increasingly an spinning off its hinges confronts us with immense and unparalleled dangers – the empty nihilism of the global capitalist machine and the appearance of apocalyptic and fascistic forms of politics that seem Red Discussion 2, Chantal Mouffe 2 Nada Prlja, Ink on paper 50x35cm Chantal Mouffe tion between art that is ‘political’ and art that would supposedly be ‘non-political’. The difference is better expressed in terms of critical art. Critical artistic practices are those Critical Artistic that contribute in a variety of ways to unsettling the dominant hegemony and which play a part in the process of dis- articulation/rearticulation that char- Practices: acterizes counter-hegemonic politics. Such counter-hegemonic politics aims at targeting the institutions that secure the dominant hegemony so as to bring about An Agonistic profound transformations in the way they function. This ‘war of position’ strategy (Gramsci) comprises a diversity of practices and interventions operating in a Approach multiplicity of spaces: economic, legal, political and cultural. In the present con- juncture, with the decisive role played by the culture industries in the capitalist process of reproduction, the cultural and The central question that should be sense’ is built and subjectivities are con- artistic terrain has become of ever-great- asked by artists aiming to challenge the structed. Such an approach reveals that er strategic importance as artistic and status-quo is that of how artistic practic- artistic practices constitute an important cultural production is currently so vital es can still play a critical role in societies terrain for the construction of political for capital valorization. This is due to the in which every critical gesture is quickly identities and that they contribute to the increasing reliance of post-Fordist capi- recuperated and neutralized by the dom- emergence of new forms of subjectivity. talism on semiotic techniques to create inant powers. It allows us to grasp the decisive role that the modes of subjectivation necessary I would like to intervene in this debate those practices could play in the count- for its reproduction. As Foucault pointed with some reflections about the way to er- hegemonic struggle. What is at stake out, in modern production the control of envisage the politics of artistic practices in this struggle is indeed the transforma- souls is crucial in governing affects and from the perspective of the hegemonic tion of ‘the common sense’, understood passions because the forms of exploita- approach I have developed in my work. as the space where specific forms of tion characteristic of the times when By bringing to the fore the discursive subjectivity are constructed. manual labour was dominant have been character of the social and the multiplic- I want to clarify that the hegemonic replaced by new ones that constantly ity of discursive practices through which approach does not envisage the relation call for the creation of new needs and ‘our world’ is constructed, the hegemon- between art and politics in terms of two incessant desires for the acquisition of ic approach is particularly fruitful when separately constituted fields, with art goods. To maintain its hegemony the it comes to apprehending the relations on one side and politics on the other, capitalist system needs to permanent- between art and politics. It highlights the between which a relation would need ly mobilize people’s desires and shape fact that the construction of a hegemony to be established. As I have repeatedly their identities; and the cultural terrain, is not limited to traditional political insti- emphasized, there is an aesthetic dimen- with its various institutions, occupies a tutions but also takes place in the multi- sion in the political and there is a political key position in this process. This is why plicity of places of what is usually called dimension in art. Indeed from the point of the hegemonic perspective asserts that ‘civil society’. This is where, as Antonio view of the theory of hegemony, artistic

it is not by deserting the institutional THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018 Gramsci showed, a particular conception practices play a role both in the constitu- terrain that critical artistic practices of the world is established and a specific tion and maintenance of a given symbolic can contribute to the counter-hegemon- understanding of reality – which Grams- order or in its challenging, and this is why ic struggle but by engaging with it with ci refers to as the ‘common sense’ – is such practices necessarily have a politi- the aim of fostering dissent. What is at defined, providing the terrain in which cal dimension. The political, for its part, stake in this struggle is the construction specific forms of subjectivity are con- concerns the symbolic ordering of social of a multiplicity of what I call ‘agonistic’ structed. The domain of culture plays a relations, and this is where its aesthetic spaces, where the dominant consensus crucial role, according to Gramsci, as dimension resides. This is why I do not is subverted and where new modes of one of the terrains where the ‘common think it is appropriate to make a distinc- identification are made available. By

Chantal Mouffe: Critical Artistic Practices: An Agonistic Approach 117 agonistic public spaces I mean public post-political order. Its critical dimen- ulation with affects that ideas can gain spaces where conflicting points of view sion consists in making visible what the real force and crystallize in desires. This are confronted without any possibility dominant consensus tends to obscure means that the impact of artistic practic- of a final reconciliation. Such an ago- and obliterate, giving a voice to those es should not be envisaged as occurring nistic view challenges the widespread who are silenced within the framework directly at the cognitive level. The object conception of the public space as a ter- of the existing hegemony. I would like to of artistic practices is not the production rain in which one should aim at creating stress that, according to such a perspec- of concepts but the production of sensa- consensus. It is therefore very different tive, critical artistic practices do not seek tions, and thus the cognitive/ conceptual from the concept of the ‘public sphere’ to lift a supposedly false consciousness dimension should not be privileged. This defended by Jürgen Habermas, who pre- so as to reveal the ‘true reality’. This does not mean that there is no cognitive sented it as the site of deliberation aimed would be completely at odds with the dimension in artistic practices, but that at achieving rational consensus. To be anti-essentialist premises of the theory it is via the affective dimension that the sure, Habermas has since accepted that, of hegemony, which rejects the very idea cognitive level should be reached. If we given the limitations of social life, it is im- of a ‘true consciousness’. It is always want to visualize how artistic practices probable such a consensus could effec- through insertion in a plethora of prac- can contribute to the subversion of the tively be reached and now sees his ‘ideal tices, discourses and language games dominant hegemony, it is necessary to situation of communication’ as a ‘regula- that specific forms of individualities are acknowledge their discursive/affective tive idea’. However, from the perspective constructed. The transformation of polit- character, conceiving them as provid- of the hegemonic approach, the impedi- ical identities can never be the result of ing affections able to modify subjective ments to the Habermasian ideal speech a rationalist appeal to the true interests structures. situation are not empirical but ontologi- of the subject. Such transformation con- For those who want to contribute to cal. Indeed, one of the main tenets of this sists rather in the inscription of the social a radical politics of counter-hegemonic approach is that such a rational consen- agent in practices that mobilize its affects engagement with neo-liberal institutions, sus is a conceptual impossibility because in a way that disarticulates the frame- one important task is to cultivate a multi- it presupposes the availability of consen- work in which the dominant process of plicity of practices that would erode the sus without exclusion, which is precisely identification is taking place in order to common affects sustaining the current what the hegemonic approach reveals to bring about other forms of identification. neo-liberal hegemony. Those practices be impossible. This means that for the construction of should aim at fostering affects of a differ- I would like to specify that we are oppositional identities it is not enough ent nature. A counter-hegemonic politics never dealing with one single space. As simply to foster a process of ‘de-identi- necessitates the creation of a different I understand it, agonistic confrontation fication’ and that a second move is nec- regime of desires and affects so as to takes place in a multiplicity of discursive essary. To insist only on the first move is bring about a collective will sustained surfaces, and public spaces are always in fact to remain trapped in a problematic by common affects able to challenge the plural. I should also insist on a second proposition according to which the neg- existing order. This is what I understand important point, which is that while there ative moment would be sufficient on its by the mobilization of passions, which I is no underlying principle of unity and own to bring about something positive take to be a condition of the success of a no predetermined centre to this diver- – as if new subjectivities were already progressive politics. sity of spaces, there exist diverse forms available and ready to emerge once the Unfortunately, left-parties general- of articulation among them and we are weight of the dominant ideology is lifted. ly do not understand the importance of never confronted with the kind of disper- Such a view, which informs many forms mobilizing passions in a democratic di- sion envisaged by some postmodernist of critical art, fails to come to terms with rection. They believe this is something thinkers. Nor are we faced with the kind the nature of the hegemonic struggle and specific to the right and that they should of ‘smooth’ space found in Deleuze and the complex process of the construction limit themselves to rational arguments his followers. Public spaces are always of identities. and deliberative procedures. This is why striated and hegemonically structured. A I contend that for all those who want they are not able to answer the challeng- given hegemony results from a specific to intervene in the cultural and artistic es posed by the rise of right-wing popu- articulation of a diversity of spaces and domain in a counter-hegemonic way it is list movements whose success is linked the hegemonic struggle also consists in crucial to visualize artistic practices as to the fact they understand much better an attempt to create a different form of an articulation of discursive and affec- than the left that politics is always par- articulation among public spaces. tive elements. Contrary to rationalist ap- tisan and that it requires the creation of For those who foster the creation proaches, such a perspective indicates an us/them relation. They are aware of of agonistic public spaces, critical art that it is not by reaching understanding the importance of constructing collec- is constituted by manifold artistic prac- through concepts that artistic practices tive political identities and of fostering tices aimed at bringing to the fore the are able to bring about a transformation the development of a collective will. This existence of alternatives to the current of subjectivity. Rather it is by their artic- is what explains the growing success of THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018 118 Chantal Mouffe: Critical Artistic Practices: An Agonistic Approach populists in many European countries where they have managed to foster new forms of collective identifications about a notion of ‘the people’, constructed in a way that curtails democracy instead of radicalizing it. The best way to fight those parties is not by condemning their appeal to affects and accusing them of ‘popu- lism’, however; it is a profound mistake to claim that democratic politics must be based exclusively on rational arguments and that it is necessary to expel passions from politics. I am convinced that such a stand represents the main obstacle in the elaboration of a strategy to challenge our post-democratic condition. What is at stake is the construction of a progressive collective able to crystallize affects aimed at the deepening of democracy, and critical artistic practices have a decisive role to play in this counter-hegemonic struggle.□ THE LARGE GLASS No. 25 / 26, 2018

Chantal Mouffe: Critical Artistic Practices: An Agonistic Approach 119 THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 120 Sarah W. Sutton:Thinking Differently, with Creativity, CuriosityandCourage ble thatwe force thatleavesnoquestion.The invisi- what wecansee. us tobecourageous-helpingacton increasingly ourmodernworkcallson others canseeandappreciateit.And ideas andinformationtoplaceswhere to becreativeandcuriousaswebring of methanebubblesintheArctictundra. a warmingclimate, and theappearance backdrops, glacialretreatinthefaceof the rise of sea levels against Venetian system. hidden workingsofamunicipalwater terior of a pump station illuminate the our consumptionage. historical furnitureformsdetritusfrom architecture andbeauty. specimens layoutforustheirbiological ible: greater thanour powersofwilfuligno- and restorethebiosphereisequal toor that ashumansourpowertounderstand Courage Curiosity and with Creativity, Differently, Thinking Sarah W. Sutton Our work is to make the invisible vis- We mustspeak totheWorld witha Our worktraditionallycallsonus Yet others’ photographs illustrate Another’s neontracingsontheex- Another artist juxtaposes familiar An artist’s imagesofdyedseaweed must makevisibleisthetruth for thebenefitofhumankind: as toolsforeducationorexpressionbut worldwide to see their mission not simply That statementwasacallforinstitutions of museums in building a thriving world. pared astatementaboutthecriticalrole Environment andClimateNetworkpre- of theAmericanAllianceMuseum’s rance anddestruction. edge andtofoster connectionsthatfulfil we findittocreateart,build knowl- creativity, freedomandauthority where health, justice,andculturesflourish. significant environmental impact so laborative andcollectiveactionfor search, andcreativitytomobilizecol- They do this using education, re- to healtheWorld. the worldneedsmost:To helpEarth, and authoritytofosterthechanges sources, abilities,creativity, freedom, verse physicalandintellectualre- Museums holdinonebodythedi- A fewyearsagonow, theleadership We allcanuse ourskills,abilities, Heal theWorld 1 planets thatwemove amongwhiletrying gas anddust,debris,otherstars and Way (theview ofourowngalaxy, fullof courageous amongus)andbythe Milky rupted byspeedingsatellites(the most networked efforts).Theirpattern isinter saturated withadvanced,integrated and and brilliant planets (those institutions bright stars (museums hard at work), sky youseethattherearemanysmall of theOceanlookingout.Innight metaphor. Pictureyourself at theedge we couldusethenightskyasavisual able andrestorativehumanlifeonEarth, mat ofthefield’s worktosupportsustain- started. To illustratethescopeandfor started toolate,butatleastwehave are already far ahead of us. We have search, industry and many governments beginning ofthisglobaljourney. Re- affect themmost. work togethertosolvetheproblemsthat around it-toknoweachotherand come tounderstanditselfandtheworld best, areideallysuitedtohelpthepublic or localdisasters.Museums,attheir nity healingafterterriblenationalevents ready spacesforindividualandcommu- access. Progressiveornot,manyareal- inequality, injustice, diversity, equity and have showntheirwillingnesstotakeon among staff,visitorsandthepublic.They ed in building skills to develop empathy lic. Progressive museums have invest- as trustedandsafespacesforthepub- and likelyinmostplaces,areidentified know thatmuseumsintheUnitedStates, people tobecomecriticalthinkers.We the businessofmakingithappen. formation, andthenwemustallgoabout that wehumanscancreatesuchatrans- Each ofusmusthelpgeneratethehope do somethingimportantandboldaboutit. of climatechangeandthepoliticalwillto we aretoadvancepublicunderstanding greater good.Andwemustalldomoreif our institutions’missionsinpursuitofthe The museumfieldisattherelative We knowthatmuseumsprepare In theBeginning h Museums? Why - - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 27, 2019 5 Emotional Resiliency in measurable impact, and measurable and , gives 17 recommendations for ad- , gives 17 recommendations Clinical psychologist Leslie Daven- Clinical psychologist -provide safe spaces for exploration -facilitate inquiry into unexamined beliefs that interfere with regenera- tive work -encourage connections to the natural world -cultivate creativity in solutions -teach communication skills -validate grief -teach self-care -model community involvement. Will we use our institutional resourc- While we pursue this creative and the Era of Climate Change – A Clinician’s that shared values and experiences lead that shared values and can scale mean- to collective action that These are all ingful and lasting change. within museums’ remit. port, author of dressing climate grief and despair. Eight and despair. dressing climate grief immedi- are recommendations these of settings: ately achievable in museum es, alongside our creativity, curiosity and es, alongside our creativity, must. courage to do this work? We grief-fighting public work of raising awareness and motivating people to create change, there is also practical cannot ignore the work to be done. We physical impact of our buildings and op- energy own Our planet. the on erations use, primarily fossil-fuel-based, must surely be significant, but we still do not know what it is. There are likely 55,000 museums in the world, many providing air conditioning for the protection of collections and comfort of the public; all operating with lights and equipment and inviting a commuting workforce and public onsite. Other industries thoughtfully log and manage their carbon footprints, The world. museum the in so do few yet bright spots in this effort are the proto- Bicycle, with the col developed by Julie’s support of Arts Council England, and the Guide saging, not neutrality or ‘doomism’, that that or ‘doomism’, not neutrality saging, and conversations fosters continued is Hope issues. climate on engagement grief for antidote best the as recognized action is the and collective and despair, path to- and supportive most powerful wards hope - -

3 exhibit at the exhibit at Mental Health and , warned: “[…] psy- Sarah W. Sutton: Thinking Differently, with Creativity, Curiosity and Courage 121 with Creativity, Sutton: Thinking Differently, Sarah W. Anthropocene Climate grief and despair has become That process has a risky by-product: We are learning that climate grief climate that learning are We - Hudson Hill devel In 2018, Shiralee Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implica tions, and Guidance chological responses to climate change, climate to responses chological such as conflict avoidance, fatalism, fear, helplessness, and resignation are growing. These responses are keeping us, and our nation, from properly addressing our for solutions and of causes core the changing climate, and from building and supporting psychological resiliency.” Art Gallery of Ontario in partnership with of Ontario in partnership Art Gallery offers a artists. Her thinking three visual climate impacts of kinds the into glimpse and the kind art can have on the public order in expand must we research of more of this work. to build our case for acti- “art that position the from Starting learning and vates emotions, memories, brain in unique meaning-making in the unique pos- and complex ways”, offering museums to forge sibilities for artists and her approach pathways to engagement, to encourage “in- was to use visual arts connections dividuals to make personal with issues of planetary change.” climate grief and despair. Opening our Opening our climate grief and despair. minds to new information requires letting in the overwhelming news of the damage we have caused and the risks we face. a global health issue that threatens any climate the Mann, E. Michael progress. scientist who created the famous ‘hock- the increasing indicating graph’ ey-stick concentrations of carbon in our atmosphere, recently tweeted: “The greatest threat I see to climate action is the paralysis that comes from disengagement, In contrasting disillusionment, despair.” scale, the American Psychological Asso- publication, ciation’s and anxiety are a manifestation of a per awareness of climate change, and son’s that individual awareness and learning about climate change are necessary foster and skills to build beginning for if emotions, These action. necessary they are accepted and examined, can enhance learning; but it is positive mes- oped the mination appear, there is room to learn to is room there appear, mination think differently. - . Some of us . Some of us These exam- 2 doing What Are We Missing, Though? What Are We It does not matter what we do so matter what we do It does not A contemporary art exhibition at the A contemporary art exhibition Those who are not artists but re- to understand our place). And there are there are place). And our to understand we of deep dark space (where vast areas and all) at active is field our if tell cannot or two. a black hole we are much as that lead breakthroughs in energy efficiency in energy efficiency lead breakthroughs bring about insti- and generation; others curatorial to shop tutional change, from to public engage- sales, and operations work out amongst ment; some do their do it mainly onsite. the public and some who do this By a large margin, those work are not environmental and climate buoyed are but it done have to glad only to encouraged and experience the by up do even more. Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, issues big brought USA, Connecticut, such as marine debris and pollution to land-based viewers and non-scientists who nevertheless care about our Ocean. Los Angeles’ A + D museum partnered with this Californian city to create an ur ban resilience plan: a perfect match for a design museum, as we are all learning how to redesign our cities for resilience and for thriving. The Climate Museum in Sig- City sponsored ‘Climate New York climate of series popular hugely a nals’, messages posted on portable, illuminated traffic-information signs distributed - major roadways. WATER along the city’s SHED+ was a multi-year public art project of temporary and permanent work created as an artist-municipality collaboration Canada, that explored how in Calgary, arts projects could create “emotional connections between citizens and their place in the environment”. searchers, climate activists and muse- activists climate searchers, um leaders must learn more about how create attitudes aesthetic and aesthetics space that In discovery. for space brain where new angles, information and illu- ples offer a glimpse of contemporary art’s ples offer a glimpse of contemporary art’s special role in helping the public look, see and think in new ways that support the development of creativity and sense of urgency that can lead to change. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 122 Sarah W. Sutton:Thinking Differently, with Creativity, CuriosityandCourage guidelines. stealthy andunevenadoptionofthese no longerapply, buttherehasbeenonly and nuanced. Those standards simply and collectionsneedsarequitedifferent and humiditycontrol,thereality, capacity flat-lined, requirementoftemperature enough tomeettheneedsofmodernity. of ourprofessionarenotcourageous mental guidelines”andthat: gether andagreedapositiononenviron- conservation profession has cometo- Group. Thesereportsdeclarethat“The the workofwhatisknownasTheBizot the ICOM-CCandIIC,include pacts ontheplanet. and the responsibly to reduce our im- collections, the realities of our buildings, lections thatacknowledgetheneedsof ence-based standardsofcareforcol- and recommendationstoadoptsci- ment worldwidewiththediscussion orama, however, isthelackofengage- approaches. countries contributed their own effective apply theseapproachesandifmore achieved ifonlymoreinstitutionswould measurable reductions. Much could be fy carbonimpactsinwaysthatsupport approaches offertestedwaystoidenti- Environmental ProtectionAgency. Both Energy StarPortfolioManagerandthe in theUnitedStates,partnershipwith energy benchmarkingworkbyJoyceLee dations come their energyuseandexaminingalter mitigate climate change by reducing footprint andenvironmentalimpactto should seek to reduce their carbon -Museums andcollectinginstitutions of futureprinciples. needs tobeakeyunderlyingcriterion about environmental standards, and is much broader than the discussion -The issueofmuseumsustainability Where tradition adheres to a strict, native renewableenergysources. We. Simply. Must. Do.Better. The blackholeinournightsky pan- This from within our field our within from iswherethetraditions 6 Theserecommen- , from - itself worldwide,thenmovefrom for theParisAgreementmustannounce the comingyears,culturalsectorsupport of supporterstheParisAgreement.In largest coalitionanywhereintheworld sociations, arenowavitalsectorinthe well ashistoricsitesandprofessional- zoos, publicgardensandaquariums,as States art,historyandsciencemuseums, ed theCulturalInstitutionssector. United tors insupportoftheParisAgreement. Are StillIn--acoalitionofnon-stateac- education bandedtogethertocreateWe local governments,tribes,andhigher of businessesandfinanciers,state Climate ChangeConvention,thousands port oftheUnitedNationsFramework the ParisAgreementanditsgoalsinsup- announced itsintentiontowithdrawfrom spreading. In2017,whenthegovernment action in the United States that is slowly to examineandillustrateourprogress. accelerate theresearchonourimpacts must scale-upcooperativeactionand our communitiesaroundtheworld.We edly onourworkasafieldbehalfof on energyforoperationsbutwholeheart- haps ledbycuratorsandartists,notonly tion?” and opportunitiesforcooperative ac- new understanding,hopefulmessaging, “Which recipesaremostsuccessful for Instead thelikelyresearchquestionsare know which comes first, or if it matters. or actionleadtohope?We maynever question isnotDoeshopeleadtoaction, tion withthosepathways.Theresearch come tounderstandalignhopeandac- ment” thatcreatehope,andwemust grams to“forgepathwaysforengage- research ontheeffectivenessofourpro- study, tolearn,andshare. to discovery – a commitment to think, to goals. To do this we need a commitment reporting on reporting on ing Within ayear, We AreStillInadopt - We haveanexampleofcooperative Museums mustcometogether, per And together we must accelerate our tothegoalsofAgreement successinachievingthese What Next? sign - - for, nor no longer do only what we were trained courage wehaveinsideus,butcan it withallthecuriosity, creativityand We canmaketheinvisiblevisible. tion fromclimatedespairtohope. conditions weneedmostforthetransi- themselves. Our museumscancreatethe that worldmovementsusetostrengthen ries, thesongs,playsandmovies to encouragecreatingtheart,sto- use ourspecialresourcesandtalents our roleasallieswithscientists.We can and humanitiessettingsasexamplesof thrive. We mustnamewhatwedoinart that. Our role istohelp our communities creative, curiousandcourageousthan as . We mustbebigger, bolder, more 6 sica KingsleyPublishers2017),pp.143-142. We can figure it out if we approach 5 LeslieDavenport, pdf press/releases/2017/03/mental-health-climate. ecoAmerica, 2017):https://www.apa.org/news/ D.C.: AmericanPsychologicalAssociation,and Manning, Kirra Krygsmanand Meighen Speiser, 4 SusanClaytonWhitmore-Williams,Christie FxPY tion-on-environmental-guidelines/#.XagbAnd- org/332/-icom-cc-documents/declara- Era of Climate Change: A Clinician’s Guide Clinician’s A Change: Climate of Era Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Im Guidance Climate: and Changing Our Implications, and pacts, Health Mental Education Museum of Journal 3 ShiraleeHudsonHill,draftmanuscriptforthe (City ofCalgaryArtProject,2017),p.11. ful’”, of aHealthyWorld: ‘Just,Verdant andPeace- and ShengyinXu,“MuseumstheFuture mopolous, Carter O’Brien, Stephanie Shapiro, 1 Sarah W. Sutton, Elizabeth Wylie, Beka Econo- References: IIC Declaration IIC 2 (2017), pp.151–174. Plus – a succession plan for WATERSHED+ WATERSHED+ for plan succession a – Plus Environmental Guidelines ICOM-CC and and ICOM-CC Guidelines Environmental Curator: The Museum Journal Museum The Curator: be only what we were trained (2014)http://www.icom-cc. Emotional Resiliency in the the in Resiliency Emotional (2019). Conclusion (Washington, , 60,no.2 □ , (Jes- - The MoCA’s Pavilion in Venice Biennial 2019 Nada Prlja Subversion to Red

Nada Prlja’s ‘Subversion to Red’ is a project that uses ar- them towards a different kind of political emancipation? And tistic practices and methods to articulate the causes of today’s finally, in what ways can contemporary leftist alternatives re- crisis - the precarious, socio-politically and critically produced store ideological support, bearing in mind the historical devel- discourse and its manifestations, the expansion of capitalism opment of twentieth-century socialist projects? and the growth of nationalism and right-wing polices in local It is very likely that the range of problems that define the and global contexts. ‘interesting times’ in which we live will continue and that an ef- The growth and popularity of extreme right-wing options fective political response to these problems will not arise. This have confirmed Walter Benjamin’s observation that the emer- is one of the reasons for refraining from placing our hopes on gence of fascism is a symptom of failed revolution. The failure the power of the democratic left, and likewise a reason to avoid of leftist theories and practices to gain recognition as a serious mythologizing past communism and fantasizing about a ‘social- political alternative inevitably paves the way for right-wing op- ist horizon’. tions and extremism. On the other hand, capitalist realism and From this premise, through a series of artistic and non-ar- its widespread effects on popular culture, work, education and tistic methods, the author of the project raises questions about mental states in contemporary society, implicitly confirms that the democratic way of solving problems through imperfect but history is moving in a single direction - towards a world in which permanent dialogue, through disagreement, disputes, struggles capitalism is the only social option, with an authoritarian and and the resolution of public problems. bureaucratic mode of politics and a lack of viable strategies for The ‘Subversion to Red’ project shows the potential of art social transformation. The machinations of power in this kind of as policy, while also referring to other works of art from the past world provide support solely for those who are already wealthy with similar aims. The process implies an artistic as well as a while ignoring the needs of the oppressed and the marginalized. political imagination, transformed and amalgamated into a ‘new Guided by the notion that the past century was character- work’ - a provocative call for unity and coming together in new ized by notably left-leaning significant historical events, but forms of political action through a specific approach to rhetoric also by the declaration of the end of utopian socialism, the in- and interaction with the public. tention of the project ‘Subversion to Red’ is to reconsider the The artist analyses existing historical material relating to need and possibility for re-actualizing the socialist past through socio-political conditions from the 20th century, relating these practices from the present and re-evaluating its positive sym- to the key cultural moments of modern history through several bolic elements, while all the time remaining conscious of its stages of development, applying a research process that takes negative connotations. a documentary approach in the art video Red-iness: Robespi- The project redefines the idea of communism, understood erre, and Red-iness: Gestalt; using photography through the here as an alternative collective organization and a set of new project Human Communism; a performance and public debate, emancipatory policies to oppose the profit-driven market log- Red Discussion1, which resulted in a video; a performance art ic that currently prevails. Loyalty to the idea of a socialist past event, Red Discussion 2, and the collection of works entitled means little if we do not relate it to the current situation of an- She does what She wants, produced for North Macedonia’s tagonisms we face today. pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale Therefore, we raise the following questions. What do we di Venezia. really mean when we say socialist experiments have ended in failure? What is the basis for their proper terminological and Jovanka Popova practical interpretation today, with the intention of directing Red Discussion II, 2019 Live art event (with Charles Esche, Maurizio Lazzarato, Vlad Morariu, Chantal Mouffe, Laura Raicovich and Artan Sadiku) 6 participants, table, markers, 340 x 340 x 120cm., 2 hours performance. Courtesy of Nada Prlja Photo © Ana Lazarevska Red Discussion II, 2019, Installation Table, markers, 340x340x120cm, 1 TV (video documentation of live art event, 2 hours) Courtesy of Nada Prlja Photo © Raul Betti THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 126 VladMorariu: NadaPrlja: theLeft,Language andWriting Discussion fermenting soundof around theredtable.Yet theshiftingshapeof thepublicand nian pavilion’s openingspeeches.Aconversationtakesplace tion, fromtheleftside,onehearsremainsofNorthMacedo- inspired by, amongothers,OlgaJevric.Fromtheoppositedirec- re-appropriations ofBorkoLazeski’s paintingsandsculptures a structuralcorrespondencewiththesettingoffirst is hotandcongested.Inotetheartist’s subtletyinmaintaining nal-yellow, fabric-coveredwallsofthePalazzoRotaIvancich ja isshowingher a transitspacetotheexhibitionspacesonrightwherePrl- crowd ofhuman-shapedshadowsonthewall. bulbs and clearly discern their yellow filaments projecting on a low centreoftheredtableIamlookingatlow-wattagelight in the early evening these ghosts go into retreat: from the hol- her childhood here and we are allowed to mythicise this. But the Palazzo’s formerbeauty. We learnthattheownerhadspent immemorial mirrors,rottenplasterandcrackedfloorsevoking semiotically ladendecadence:itscrumblingornaments,stained Venice itismuchmoredifficulttoworkwiththespace,its ing, splotches clumsily reaching the upper limit of the cube. In white walls; but painting remained imperfect towards the ceil- In 2013,visuallyassertiveredpaintseizedtwoofCalvert22’s Language andWriting Nada Prlja:theLeft, Vlad Morariu scribble downtheEnglishtranslation of I ampleasedthatunderstand enoughItaliantobeable at leastobliquely, RalphRugoff’s ambiguous‘interesting times’. vinced thatheisspeakingabout‘apocalyptictimes’toaddress, student union,asit-in. taken placeanywhereelse:atrainstation,publicsquare, es andhand-and-legmovementsmakemethinkitcouldhave language thatone millionRomanian I amRomanianandthatunderstand Italianquitewell–this ti-capitalist. Iamthinkingaboutthe wonderfulcoincidencethat tal -withoutpoliticalrevolutions; revolutions –easilycapturedin the webofreproductivecapi- The roomwithitsdimlightsfixedonthetainted,autum- The audience in this room is hardly disciplined. This is also Maurizzio Lazzaratoisfirsttospeak,inItalian.Iamcon- \ : bothareincompleteandintentionallyunfinished. Subtle Subversion Subversion Subtle English -es, vibratingtechnologicaldevic- rivoluzione badanti badanti series, escortedbyher Rivoluzione asnecessarilyan- 1 andagricultural : nosocial Red Red to thefore.NotDerridaof post-structuralism; however, itisJacquesDerridathatcomes disrupt them).Iamthinkingaboutthe1980s,post-Marxism,and ical’ (buttheycaneitherreinforcehegemonicconstructionsor cault inpassingandIwritedown‘Allartisticpracticesarepolit- the strongimpressionitleftuponme.ShementionsMichelFou- understanding of thesemanticsofprogressivecultural practic- Mouffe toCharlesEscheandLaura Raicovich.Theysharean instantiations of it asagiventhatMarx’s spectreshavealready been withall reading of the book she co-authored with Ernesto Laclau decisive and persuasive. It conjures up the memory of the first throat. It ispowerful, rounding up acommanding tone thatIfind splendid accent,withthatdistinctive‘R’pronouncedfromthe myself. Theyrelyonwhatisscribbledtheredtable. tage, becausethoseseatedatthetableunderstandlessthan and constructionworkersnowcalltheirown.Iamatanadvan- Courtesy ofNadaPrljaPhoto©AndreaAvezzù /LaBiennaledi Venezia hours) Table, markers,340x340x120cm,1TV(videodocumentationofliveartevent,2 Red DiscussionII,2019,Installation power andcapital. tions, structures,andapparatuses thatconnectstate,cultural ulation, articulatingitselfagainst politicalandeconomicinstitu- struction wouldreadthroughagonismandhegemonicdisartic- With awhitemarkerofdifferent widthsIdrawlinesfrom I turntoChantalMouffeandcannothelpfixatingonher Subversion to Red to Subversion 4

Specters of Marx of Specters , butaDerridawhosedecon- , 3 sinceItake 2 and THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019

- - - - -

Manifesta 8 Red Discus Berlin Bien th 8 – which blocked Peace Wall (2010) – the work shown at decoded the victorious march of neo-liberalism 6 system. We find it again in the manner she used she manner the in again it find We system. Vlad Morariu: Nada Prlja: the Left, Language and Writing 127 Vlad Morariu: Nada Prlja: the Left, Language and Writing – to return to the graffiti scribbled on it, in the White Cube – to return to the graffiti scribbled on it, in goes a bit further than all these. The project is – to use I think it is important to ponder the significance of this ar the traumatic experience of the in Murcia, where Nada investigated the ambiguous interpreta- in Murcia, where Nada investigated the ambiguous as formalised in the language of the tion of the letter of the law, guage for Beginners Tercer Grado nale sion Red Discussion II, 2019, Live art event (with Charles Esche, Maurizio Lazzarato, Red Discussion II, 2019, Live art event (with Charles Esche, Sadiku) Vlad Morariu, Chantal Mouffe, Laura Raicovich and Artan performance. 6 participants, table, markers, 340 x 340 x 120cm., 2 hours Courtesy of Nada Prlja Photo © Ana Lazarevska it seems to me that Gallery in London in 2013. Yet one of Fisher’s favourite terms, itself borrowed from Derrida - one of Fisher’s that it lets itself be hauntological: it affirms, without ambiguity, ‘a certain haunted by Marx, or at least, as Derrida would say, spirit of Marx’. tistic act of affirmation and allegiance, precisely at this histor beginning the at phrase this used first Derrida juncture. ical thesis of the of the 1990s at a time when Francis Fukuyama’s end of history in Eastern Europe and beyond. Almost three decades after the end of history we are facing the prospect of the extinction of all bor skilfully has art world of the much whilst and humankind; rowed, used and abused Marxist vocabularies to describe the it has not always crisis at the end and after the end of history, the southern part of Friedrichstrasse during the the southern part of Friedrichstrasse during - - Red (2006– - and use 5 Foreign Lan Red Discussion , about the undoing City Operated Red Discussion 1 . Gail mused upon the elusiveness of the future - . Gail mused upon the elusiveness of the future Artan Sadiku is very close to my heart: we are both Eastern Artan Sadiku is very close \ I am trying to think through the relations between these : capital, labour, state, violence, alienation and self-criticism. state, violence, alienation : capital, labour, of capitalism as a practice of undoing gender. In words spo- In words of undoing gender. of capitalism as a practice inflexions, Laura approaches a topic very ken with transatlantic of cultural institutions as indexical to dear to me – hierarchies She argues that societies. of Western the social organisation institutions (yes, we do!), through we need to reinvent cultural through self-care within communities recuperating time and entire the with shared work cultural of ethics an nurture that world. only a few months apart; and whilst I European and were born to be socially remain stranded in Brexitland, he has returned the ex-Yugoslav and politically active in North Macedonia and he speaks about space. It is with practice in this context that models of cap- forms of work that escape market-dominated remind me of italist production and reproduction. His points from the terms and Nina Power’s Dave Beech’s ongoing) - the series of public interventions in which Prlja transforms the meaning of right-wing graffiti on city walls by about think could We words. and letters changing es, such as those established by Charles and Laura. It is hard It is hard and Laura. by Charles established as those es, such sentences, Charles’ of effect perlocutionary the overlook to by his unspoiled insular modulations, with English spoken in an running van Abbe- whilst he perfected Dutch that command of Western when he insists on Eindhoven, precisely museum in - counter-capi de-modernisation, counter-colonial, European how I remember counter-patriarchal. significantly, talistic and, in Hannah Black spoke, Different contexts, however, different working classes, different different Different contexts, however, in the af- forms of violence. With Artan I had a long discussion as we were return- ternoon, prior to the opening of the pavilion, we were thinking ing from the Arsenale. It concerned writing: writing. For exam- about the uselessness of the descriptive in return to Lazzarato, ple, the description of times which are, to they are so. But is truly apocalyptic – and we know well that What would it look there a writing that survives the apocalypse? in both present and Mark Fisher, Day Gail of thought I like? how obsessed we are with the ruins of mythical pasts. Mark how obsessed we are with the ruins of mythical public sphere; but Fisher talked about desire, authority and the more inclined to re- since his tragic disappearance I am much Future turn to his words - Slow Cancellation of the 1 Discussion 1 them as an interpretative grille for the present. Perhaps, then, them as an interpretative grille for the present. Mark could have also thought about a slow cancellation of writing, here: doing am I what precisely is this yet And writing. drawing, tracing. languages and writing, as indifferent speeches, discourses, table. It appears to me on the red scribed, at least momentarily, work, this is a strand one identifies with clarity in Nada Prlja’s which approaches writing, linguistic idioms, and language per may look, for example, at We formativity. THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 128 VladMorariu: NadaPrlja: theLeft,Language andWriting display ofessences’. tension, contradictionandstrugglecomesoutas‘aharmonious meta-language, itdepoliticisesspeech.Whatentersmythas is tosay, dowhattheysaydo. nately. France as a great Colony who looks after her sons indiscrimi- analysis, uponwhichmythaddsitselfasanulteriorsignified: saluting thenationalflag.Theimagelendsitselftoavisual paper image of a young black man in French military uniform, self-consistent. in thesignificationofFrenchimperialityasunproblematicand young black man is almost erased, or at least made accomplice and memoryatadistance–inthiscase,thebiographyof speaker whointendstochangethem. language: languagethatrepresentsstatesofaffairsbyandfora esting observations.First,thatwhatopposesmythispolitical work dedicatedtomythandideology. invoking oneofRolandBarthes’often-forgottennotesfromhis included. AndIwanttoexplainwhythisfeatisimportant,by where artisticandcuratorialpracticesmustnecessarilybe of theperformative,planesocialandpoliticalstruggles nection totheworldofcriticalactionandpractice, though notalwaysfittingtogetherharmoniously, shareacon- rather agreatfamilyofauthors,themes,andconceptswhich, promise torevealordiscovertheessenceofa‘newleft’but from practice,practice-basedtheory. Prlja’s projectdoesnot of politics,politicaldeconstruction;insteadtheorydivorced guistic fashion,politicisedlanguage;insteadofappropriation olution becomesTheLeft. insofar asitdoessostopsbeingrevolutionary–orwhenrev- this isnottosaythat‘theLeft’doesproducemythsbut and workingwithacertainMarxianheritage, articulation ofspeechesthat,fromacertainMarxiantradition form themselves – what would be the point of that? - but as an mance, whereacollectionofleft-wingintellectualswouldper so muchasaworkofartthatengageswiththegenreperfor from. Buttheygather theirforcefromtheveryfact thattheyre- with thepracticalnecessityofa world ofactiontheyaredrawn they areenergetic;farfromformulaic, theyindicatethemselves speeches. Farfromperfunctory(even perfunctorilyideological), and experiencearecondensed in theselivinglanguagesand to mewithmoststrikingclarityis preciselyhowhistory, memory cussion action waspresent.ThisiswhereIlocatethevalueof been thecasethatanengagementwithplaneofcommunal determination, fromanymessianism.’ from any dogmatics and even from any metaphysico-religious certain experienceofthepromisethatonecantrytoliberate Marx’s spirit,which,touseDerrida’s wordsagain,indicates‘a ought to be understood precisely as conjuration of Marx, or language isabsorbedintransformativeaction. not belongtotherevolution,preciselybecauserevolutionary We may well remember Barthes’ famous example: a news- The distinction in question here is important: instead of lin- Having participatedinboth 10 as an itinerant and iterative performative: I see it not Butitdoessothroughrobberyandtheft:putshistory 11 Mythisafraudulentlinguisticoperation:as 12 ItisherethatBarthesmakestwointer 15 Red Discussions Red 7 Ibelieve 8 9 13

Second,thatmythdoes perform Red Discussion Red , whatappears 14 Importantly, –which Red Dis Red - - - -

words ‘butthemeaningofthingsthemselves’. of significationwhoseidealsarenottoreachthemeaning are languagesthatresistmyth,infra-semiologicalsystems or contemporarypoetry:indeed,ifonebelievesBarthes,these the redtablemuchmorelikeVenn diagramsofmathematics describe, much less to prescribe anything. Its signs convene on does notofferaself-consistentnarrative:itclaimto sometimes continuous, other times fragmentary, the red table tary, inconsistent, unfinished. With its white connecting lines, zo RotaIvancich?Thiswriting,thesetraces,remainfragmen- in the same way and the same fashion. to appropriationrestsonthefactthattheydonotoccurtwice main momentaryandprovisional;theirauthorityresistance table from How elsecanoneinterpretthe disembodied segments of the at theexpenseofremainingmodularandself-deconstructive. well awayfromtheseductionofmythification;butitdoesso the endofhistory, remainspossible. be theonlywayinwhichwriting,afterapocalypseand 3 2001). 2 ropean women. much ofthisworkisdonebyoftenoverworkedandmistreatedEasternEu- 5 Kate Linker(London:Routledge,1997),p.313. 12 11 10 Towards a Radical Democratic Politics Democratic Radical a Towards 9 16 6 (Hampshire, UK:ZeroBooks,2014),pp.2-29. 4 York: Routledge,2006). Mourning and the New International New the and Mourning thinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory Cultural in Reader A Architecture: thinking 1 References: 7 The FreePress,2006). 8 Press, 1962). 15 14 13 Noonday Press,1972),142–44. JacquesDerrida, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, MarkFisher, ‘TheSlowCancellationoftheFuture’,in RolandBarthes, See Francis Fukuyama, SeeJacquesDerrida,‘PointdeFolie–maintenantl’architecture,’in See John L. Austin, Derrida, Badante Badante RolandBarthes, Barthes,191. Barthes,p.189. Barthes, Barthes, Barthes,147. Barthes,146. Red Discussion 1 Discussion Red Specters of Marx of Specters (It.) isacareworker(usuallywoman)fortheelderly;inItaly, Mythologies Mythologies Mythologies Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of of Work the Debt, the of State The Marx: of Specters Mythologies How to Do Things with Words with Things Do to How , 1972,133. , 1957,219–30. The End of History and the Last Man Last the and History of End The , pp.111–112. (Paris:ÉditionsduSeuil,1957),p.185. restingonthewallsofPalaz- , trans.JonathanCape(NewYork: The , trans.PeggyKamuf,newed.(New , 2nded.(London;NewYork: Verso, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Strategy: Socialist and Hegemony □ Red Discussion Red , ed.NeilLeach,trans. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Thismaywell Ghosts of My Life My of Ghosts (New York: stays Re -

THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 - , after Boris Nikolos and in Skopje, influencing Subversion to Red Fine Art High School Blanca de la Torre: Relocating Red Narratives 129 Blanca de la Torre: Jordan Grabuloski, Olga Jevric , considering them to represent artists’ freedom of expression The Collection: She does what she wants, History of Humankind, XX century, The Collection: She does what she wants, History of Humankind, XX century, 2019 Metal profiles, concrete, 141x150x175cm. Courtesy of Nada Prlja Photo © Raul Betti ki in opposition to the constraints that commonly defined the cul- the defined commonly that constraints the to opposition in tural context of one-party states. These artists went beyond the researching the museum’s collection, Prlja selected artworks Prlja selected collection, the museum’s researching by the artists her understand of the unique role of art and the artist’s respon- her understand of the unique role of art and the artist’s For sibility in a particular social reality. Prlja’s adolescence during her frequent visits to the museum Prlja’s while attending the - The Col . is not acciden- La Biennale Subversion to Red . It is not surprising that Prlja Museum of Contemporary Art is an original multidisciplinary project

(MoCA Skopje). Prlja’s choice to highlight this collection (MoCA Skopje). Prlja’s

Subversion to Red No one is surprised, nowadays, to witness that some of the No one is surprised, nowadays, with the Nada Prlja´s practice is well known for dealing The three sculptures, occupying three of the six exhibition The three sculptures, occupying three of the The relevance of the Museum’s collection as a personal ref- The relevance of the Museum’s Skopje lection: She does what she wants

Narratives Relocating Red Red Relocating Blanca de la Torre de Blanca uses ‘The Collection’ in the title for these three works, as the sculptures are inspired by selected works of art from the sixties from the unique collection of the and this museum in her exhibition at tal, as the museum and the collection are founded on the notion collection are and the as the museum tal, of solidarity - the collection itself comprises of 7,600 works of art all donated by different countries and individual artists fol- (1963). Skopje of city the in earthquake devastating the lowing The notion of solidarity is a key concept of leftist thought and a exhibition, key aspiration of Prlja’s boldest proposals at La Biennale di Venezia are far from the tra- Biennale di Venezia boldest proposals at La is the case of the pavilion of the Republic ditional circuits. Such represented this year by the artist Nada of North Macedonia, Prlja. injustice in society, complexity of situations of inequality and immigration. and nationalism of to issues current politics from and solidarity On this occasion she encourages leftist thought contemporary so- by seeking to revive the notion of idealism in ciety as an alternative form of motivation. that examines - under an evocative title - how historically forms that examines - under an evocative title - how the past to aspects of to relocate/’recycle’ can be used of art speaks about the current and contemporary forms. The artist the exercise importance of historical narratives and prompts readings. More of reviewing these by offering multiple possible Prlja encourages us to revisit notions of idealism specifically, of the postulates and ideology through a de/reconstruction to explore their of leftist thought and Marxist theory in order Researching and examining society. compatibility with today’s the artist asks political, societal and artistic forms of the past, to the legitimacy of whether it is possible to extrapolate them dis- present. This in the forms ideological corresponding their a body of work course takes shape in the exhibition through photographs, a consisting of a series of paintings, sculptures, video performance and a live art event. spaces in the Palazzo Rota Ivancich, share the title erence is likewise significant, as it played a crucial role in Nada THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 130 Blanca delaTorre: Relocating RedNarratives public mural of restoration(repainting)byPrlja ofthenolongerexisting what she wants, Untitled I Untitled wants, she what particular linkbetween,forexample, from theMoCASkopjecollectionbecomeone.Whatis being amalgamated, where Prlja’s new works and the works and thepresent,ithighlightswayspastpresentare ing ofthepastforabetterfuture. contemporary artworld,lookinginsteadtoapossiblereshap- temporary trendsthathascometobeexpectedwithinthe in the 1960s, Prlja opposes the worldof novelty, invention and silience oftheselectedartistswhowereworkinginregion the conceptofSolidarity, buildingontheindividualityandre- cialist-era Yugoslavia. Withthis‘lookingback’andrevisiting their work,inconditionsenabledbytheparticularitiesofso- expected in an environment which supported and respected vation and Restoration and vation Untitled II II Untitled ably thegroupofpaintingsentitled this figuralism. works whilereflectingontheartisticconflictrepresentedby ing someofhis previous sculptures as a way ofcreating new of cuttingtheprints,PrljareferstoNikoloski´smethodreus- modernity duringthelatterpartofhiscareer. Withthegesture to realisticsculpturepromptedbytheartist’s loss of beliefin refers tothefragilityofculturalheritageincity. ing knownastheCityofSolidarity. Thesculpturetherebyalso following thedevastatingearthquakeof1963ledtoitbecom- provided fortheimmense project ofreconstructingSkopje ban guidelinesdesignedbyKenzoTange). Theglobalsupport towers oftheCityWall buildingcomplex(builtaccording tour tion ofSkopje,theexpressivestructuralframehousing of onethekeybuildingspost-earthquakereconstruc- ching formofthesculptureisalsoassociatedwithshape hand andchaotic and unregulatedontheother. The overar the dualityofthaturbanlandscape:modernistonone concrete andsteelaselementsofurbandebris,referringto industry ofthe60s.Prljasimilarlyincorporatesfragments celebrating thematerialscharacteristicofconstruction its inclusionofnon-artistic“lumps”material,foundobjects Biennale). ForPrlja,animportantaspectofJevric’s workis participation intheYugoslav pavilionduringthe29thVenice has likewisereceivedinternationalattention,withJevric’s work fromthe60s,bywhichPrljaisinspired(work its to work relatestoPrlja’s childhoodexperienceoffrequentvis- Nikoloski´s sculpture by triangular base are piled up fragments of offset prints of forms placedonametalplinth.Ontheplinthofanothernear asymmetric sculptures-tocreateaseriesofconcretebook artist BorisNikoloski-combininggeometricformsthatcreate Through interweaving conceptual threadsfrom the past The mostpersonaloftheworksinexhibitionisprob- In the case of the the Main Post Office inSkopje, encounteringin itsmain (2019), Prljaappliestheworkingmethodusedby Epic for Freedom for Epic The Collection: She does what she wants, wants, she what does She Collection: The Device 2 2 Device (2015-ongoing),aselfinitiatedaction (2019)byPrlja,and (1967), reflecting onthe return (1981)by The Collection: She does does She Collection: The Department for Conser for Department Borko Lazeski. Borko Olga Jevric Olga The ´s - - - - works in the cityorsocietyisanintentionthatgoesthroughallofPrlja’s their city. Consideringhowtheartistcantruly‘giveback’ to strengthening thesenseofsolidaritybetweencitizensand of thepast,whilequestioninghowartistscanplayapartin the fragility of memory and its importance in the reformulation sion ofLazevski’s muralpaintingasawayofreflectingupon works inthisexhibition,shecreatesafreelyinterpretedver cal/complete restorationofLazeski’s works.Aswithherother out throughtheirfragmentationtheimpossibilityofanidenti- and mannerof representation of the subject matter, pointing rals tocreateaseriesofpaintings,changingboththescale ing inasite-specificmannerwithinhistoricbuilding. which isnoteasilyachievedinthistypeof“scenario”work- the coherenceofdiscourseandcontent,something trasts withtheartist’s worksinstalledwithinthem,enhancing decadence, characteristicofthe17thcenturypalazzo,con- in changingtheperceptionofviewer. Acertaintoneof appears tobedoomed andapproachinganapocalyptic end? too? Canweputforwardthisquestion intoday’s world,which whether there may be any hope for an ideological restoration, is proposing.Nevertheless,what alsoneedstobeaskedis the past,sonecessaryforrestoration operationthatshe ing howthistemporarydistance affectstheunderstandingof and thepresenttimeinwhichshereinterpretsthem,indicat- time ofrealizationtheworkstowhichsherefers,1960s, that theartistusesistime,identifyinggapbetween view thosefromthepast.Inordertodothis,oneoffactors for newformulaweshouldfirstproperlyunderstandandre- courses? Perhapsbeforeembarkingonanobsessivesearch Biennale diVenezia Courtesy ofCalvert22FoundationandNadaPrljaPhoto©AndreaAvezzù /La Video, singlescreen,5min.,loop. Red-iness: Robespierre,2013,Video Venetian observed inthewaywhichsheconfiguresspaceof by themuralsandsilence of thevast space, canalsobe the monumentalityofbuilding’s mainhall,accomplished hall themuralbyLazevski.Herfascinationwithruptureof Prlja´s strategyhereisoneofappropriatingLazeski´smu- Is thereanyrealspacefornoveltyinartisticformsanddis- Palazzo Rota Ivancich Rota Palazzo Subversion to Red to Subversion . , playingwiththepowerofart - THE LARGE GLASS No. 27 / 28, 2019 Blanca de la Torre: Relocating Red Narratives 131 Blanca de la Torre: Humane Communism, 2016 20 Photographs. documentation, Workshop Tirana by TAL Albania. Organised Held at the National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, Art Lab. and Nada Prlja Photo © Daniel Serafimovski Courtesy of TAL Humane Communism, 2016 documentation, 20 Photographs. Workshop Tirana Albania. Organised by TAL of Arts, Tirana, Held at the National Gallery Art Lab. Nada Prlja Photo © Raul Betti and Courtesy of TAL - - - - - Red Discus Red Discus the North Macedonian , and by inciting a revival st and the 21 th □ , I concluded that the time for the symbolic, metaphor . Perhaps this is the only way to reclaim these ideals . Perhaps this is the only way to reclaim these performed during the opening event of the Pavilion and and Pavilion of the event opening performed during the Prlja wonders about the potential activation of critical Prlja wonders about The collaborative character of the whole exhibition and exhibition of the whole character The collaborative Then inevitably, questions arise: What are the alterna- Then inevitably, possible and present past, between line critical a Drawing Nada Prlja rebuilds older forms in order to reconstruct Nada Prlja rebuilds older forms in order to ticular discourse which has never been fully surpassed, a dis- ticular discourse which has never been fully and in world course that marked a ‘before and after’ in Europe that establishes politics. She does this through a work of art policies a comparative counterpoint between the ideological of two centuries, the 20 subsequently documented with a video of the same name. a video of the same documented with subsequently of the work is likewise or communal aspect This collaborative proj- imbues the entire by the colour red, which accentuated theatrical setting of this performative ect and in particular the table, the surface of which is covered event with a red painted during the performative discussion, with phrases noted down hegemonic order’, ‘We need time’, ‘Contest including ‘We ‘Revolution’ the situation’, understand need the capacity to The words and phrases written onto be-in-common’… and ‘To are ‘offerings’ for a better future, the table by Vlad Morariu theoreticians and curators established by the participating Chantal Mouffe, Laura Ra- Lazzarato, Charles Esche, Maurizio icovich and Artan Sadiku. dominates every- practices at a time when electoral marketing as a simple thing and post-truth seems to have been assumed par new, a table’ the on ‘places artist The resource. electoral of the concept of revolution itself. To accomplish the promises accomplish of the concept of revolution itself. To deliberately a in repositioned be to need these left, old the of as is intended, for example, with awkward way, sion 2 sion 2 ical, fine-art-object is over. I was reassured that there are art- ical, fine-art-object is over. ists working today who are attempting through their engaged work to respond to the current crises and the most pressing issues of our age in a direct manner and with an appropriate sense of urgency. project comes to the fore with the live art event to the fore with the project comes Pavilion rent politics, appealing for a call to action through the Arts. rent politics, appealing for a call to action through tives? How to position oneself against corporate imperialism and other similar phenomena of present-day reality? Can we still genuinely formulate new forms of social organization or are we simply reinterpreting old ones? futures, Prlja invites us to re-think these issues at a time when a at and present ever is crisis climate global multifactorial a time when human solidarity and empathy is needed more than ever before. Therefore, after visiting and return them to their proper position, reviewing them from and return them to their proper position, reviewing angles that are still pending and still unresolved. and with them their narratives. She re- collective memory, we could call the frames them in the present, within what analysis and “political present”, combining them with a subtle she manages to subversive criticism of capitalism. Somehow and of cur point out the inaction characteristic of the present The MoCA’s exhibition

Skopje Resurgent: Internationalism, Art, and Solidarity, 1963 - 1980

Skopje Resurgent chronicles the genesis of the Museum of Contemporary Art - Skopje collection in the aftermath of a cataclysmic earthquake that leveled the city in July 1963. The crisis triggered a cultural efflorescence that saw international art community help to rebuild the Macedonian capital, a feat of collective good will that has been thus far excluded from canonical narratives of contemporary art history.

In parallel with a global reconstruction campaign organized by the United Nations for Skopje, the In- ternational Association of Plastic Arts issued a call in October 1963 for artists to join the solidarity effort. As a result, Skopje is now home to a singular collection of contemporary art, exceptional not least because much of it was gifted by leading protagonists of global contemporary art in the two decades after the city was levelled - a phenomenon that occasioned the creation of the Museum of Contemporary Art in 1964 to display the bequest. Alexander Calder, Minna Citron, Sheila Hicks, Alex Katz, Ion Grigorescu, Sol LeWitt, Wifredo Lam, and many others from across the Cold War divide and the Non-Aligned world donated their artworks to Skopje, while the Polish government commissioned a team of progressive young architects to build a permanent home for the museum that opened in 1970.

Amid an atmosphere of transnational collaboration and optimistic enthusiasm, encapsulated in the 1966 U.N. report titled “Skopje Resurgent,” the Museum of Contemporary Art mounted a diverse program of exhibitions. Under the tutelage of founding director Boris Petkovski, followed by Sonja Abadžieva, the Museum organized solo shows of emerging American artists, among them Sarai Sherman, Sheila Hicks, and T.C. Cannon, and surveys of Brazilian, Polish, French, Yugoslav, and Soviet gifts to the collection. A prize awarded by the Museum at the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts brought several significant new works into the MoCA Skopje collection. Won consecutively by Jasper Johns (1965), Metka Krašovec (1972), Leonhard Lapin (1973) and Tonis Vint (1974), the award reflects a multinodal, globalized art world in which the artists were peers and Skopje was one of many interconnected cultural centers. By fostering such adjacencies, the MoCA Skopje collection testifies to a radically cosmopolitan, multicultural legacy for socialist South Eastern Europe and suggests an alternative cosmology to inherited post-war hierarchies of Western center and post-colonial periphery.

Anna Kats Kumjana Novakova

132 Installation View, Skopje Resurgent, Museum of Contemporary Art - Skopje Photos: Tomislav Georgiev

133 CONTRIBUTORS

Josephine Berry is an art theorist, writer, editor and lec- published the book: Willy Moog (1888-1935): Ein Philosophenle- turer. Her monograph, ‘Art and (Bare) Life’, (Sternberg Press, ben, Freiburg, 2nd. ed. 2016. At present, she is principal investi- 2018), brings the biopolitical theory initiated by Michel Foucault gator of two collaborative research projects: MIKROBIB (2018- to bear on aesthetic theories of autonomous art in order to con- 2021), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and sider how the avant-garde ‘blurring of art and life’ intersects Research, which deals with the idea of contamination between with the modern state’s orientation to ‘life itself’. This creates a naturalism and culturalism for clarifying „cultural goods“ in col- sharp prism through which to interrogate the intense utilisation lections; and „Dilemmata of Sustainability“ (2019-2022, funded of art and creativity within late capitalism. This project grew by the Volkswagen Foundation) on the epistemology of environ- out of an earlier book project, co-authored with Anthony Iles, mental research and related policies. titled ‘No Room to Move: Radical Art and the Regenerate City’ (Mute Books, 2010), which considered the use of contemporary Igor Grubić is an artist whose work includes site-specific art within neoliberal urban regeneration. Josephine lectures on interventions in public spaces, photography and film. Since 2000 culture industry at Goldsmiths, University of London. he has also been working as a producer and author of docu- mentaries, TV reports and socially committed commercials. His STELARC experiments with alternative anatomical archi- interventions in public space, along with his video works, ex- tectures. His performances incorporate Prosthetics, Robotics, plore past and present political situations while cutting through VR and Biotechnology. He is presently surgically constructing the fabric of reality, from in-depth exploration of the fate of his- and augmenting an ear onto his arm. In 1996 he was made an torical monuments and the demise of industry to examinations Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon of the predicament of minority communities. He represented University, and in 2002 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Croatia at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 with a long-term Laws by Monash University. In 2010 he was awarded the Ars project Traces of Disappearing (In Three Acts) and a short ex- Electronica Hybrid Arts Prize. In 2015 he received the Austra- perimental documentary/animation film called How Steel Was lia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award. In 2016 he Tempered, which has received several awards. Grubić has par- was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Ionian Universi- ticipated in numerous international exhibitions, amongst which ty, Corfu. His artwork is represented by Scott Livesey Galleries, the following should be noted: the Tirana Biennial 2 (2003); Man- Melbourne. ifesta 4 (Frankfurt, 2002); Manifesta 9 (Genk, 2012); 50 October Salon (Belgrade, 2009); Gender Check, MuMOK (Vienna, 2009); Slavco Dimitrov graduated from the Department for Gen- 11 Istanbul Biennial (2009); East Side Stories, Palais de Tokyo eral and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philology at (Paris, 2012); Zero Tolerance, MOMA PS1 (New York 2014); De- the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje. He has grees of Freedom, MAMbo (Bologna, 2015); 5th Thessaloniki two master degrees: an MA in Gender Studies and Philosophy Biennial (2015); Cut / Rez, MSU (Zagreb, 2018); Heavenly Crea- (Evro-Balkan Institute) and an MA in Multidisciplinary Gender tures, MG+MSUM (Ljubljana, 2018). Studies (Cambridge University). Currently he is a PhD candidate at the Department for Multidisciplinary Studies of Contempo- Jeff Diamanti teaches Literary and Cultural Analysis at rary Arts and Media at Singidunum University in Belgrade. He the University of Amsterdam. In 2016-17 he was the McGill is one of the founders of the Research Center for Cultures, Pol- Postdoctoral Fellow in Media and the Environment where he itics and Identities (IPAK.Center) in Belgrade. He also works as co-convened the international colloquium on Climate Realism. a teaching assistant at the Department for Political Sciences His work tracks the political and media ecology of fossil fuels, and Law at FON University, Skopje. His academic and research and has appeared in the journals Radical Philosophy, Postmod- interests are focused on contemporary political philosophy and ern Culture, Mediations, Western American Literature, Krisis, aesthetics, corporeality, affect studies, critical theory, queer and Reviews in Cultural Theory, as well as the books Fueling theory and gender, Yugoslav socialist political history and sub- Culture (Fordham UP) and A Companion to Critical and Cultur- cultural practices, cultural studies, performance studies and al Studies (Wiley-Blackwell). Diamanti has edited a number of social choreography. book and journal collections including Contemporary Marxist Theory (Bloomsbury 2014), Materialism and the Critique of En- Nicole C. Karafyllis was trained in biology and philosophy ergy (MCM’ Press 2018), Energy Culture (West Virginia Univer- at the universities in Erlangen, Stirling (UK), Tübingen (PhD 1999) sity Press 2019) and Bloomsbury Companion to Marx (2018), as and Frankfurt am Main. Since 2010, she obtains the Chair in Phi- well as a special issue of Reviews in Cultural Theory on “Energy losophy at Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany. Humanities” and a double issue of Resilience: A Journal of the Her areas of competence are philosophy of science, techno- Environmental Humanities on “Climate Realism.” He is working logy and the environment, phenomenology, and history of phi- on a book called Terminal Landscapes: Climate, Energy Culture losophy. Historically, she is specialized on early 20th century and the Infrastructures of Postindustrial Capital. philosophy, including philosophy during fascism, on which she Susanna Hertrich is an interdisciplinary artist working at of the Hexagram network, Director of the Hexagram Concordia the intersection of art, technology, and science in Berlin. She Centre for Research and Creation in Media Art and Technol- combines a range of different media, including devices, sculp- ogy, Associate Director, Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and ture, photography, video, and graphics to stage narrations that Technology and Professor, Computation Arts in the Depart- often focus on overlooked and uncanny dimensions within ment of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University, technological environments. Her works are exhibited interna- Montreal. His immersive and physically experiential works are tionally and she has a number of publications to her name. Su- informed by theater, architecture, visual art, computer music, sanna has been working with various research labs in the past, perceptual psychology, cultural theory and engineering and are among them Meta Perception research group at the University developed in collaboration with anthropologists, historians, phi- of Tokyo, the Design Research Lab at UdK, Berlin and TASML in losophers, engineers, artists and designers. His work has been Beijing. Between 2016–2019, she co-conducted the SNF-funded seen at major international exhibitions and festivals all over the research project “Sensorium of Animals” at the Critical Media world such as the Venice Biennale (architecture), Wiener Fest- Lab at Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Basel, Switzerland. wochen (Vienna), Berliner Festspiele/Martin Gropius Bau (Ber- Since 1999, she frequently visits Japan on various occasions as lin), Musée d’art Contemporain (Montreal), Chronus Art Center artist-in-residence, researcher or visiting professor. (Shanghai), BIAN 2014 (Montreal), CTM Berlin (Berlin), National Art Museum of China (Beijing), Ars Electronica (Linz), Todays Amanda Boetzkes is Professor of Contemporary Art History Art (The Hague), EXIT Festival (Maison des Arts, Creteil-Paris), and Theory at the University of Guelph. Her research focus- among many others. He is the author of Entangled: Technology es on the aesthetics and ethics of art as these intersect with and the Transformation of Performance (MIT Press, 2010) and ecology and visual technologies of the late 20th and early 21st Alien Agency: Experimental Encounters with Art in the Making centuries. She is the author of Plastic Capitalism: Contempo- (MIT Press, 2015). He is currently working on a book focused rary Art and the Drive to Waste (MIT Press, 2019), The Ethics of on how we make sense in an age of sensors, algorithms and Earth Art (University of Minnesota Press, 2010), and co-editor quantification. of Heidegger and the Work of Art History (Ashgate, 2014). She has published in the journals Postmodern Culture; Art Jour- Amanda du Preez is a Professor in the School of the Arts nal; Art History; e-flux; Weber-The Contemporary West; Re- at the University of Pretoria, where she teaches Visual Culture construction: Studies in Contemporary Culture; and Antennae: Studies and Digital Culture and Media. She obtained a DPhil The Journal of Nature and Visual Culture,among others. Re- in English from the University of South Africa on the topic of cent book chapters appear in Materialism and the Critique of cyberfeminism and embodiment in 2003. She has co-edit- Energy (MCM, 2018); Petrocultures: Oil, Energy, Culture (Mc- ed South African Visual Culture (2005), edited Taking a Hard Gill-Queen’s Press, 2017); Fueling Culture: 101 Words for En- Look: Gender and Visual Culture (2009), and authored Gendered ergy and Environment (Fordham University Press, 2016); The Bodies and New Technologies: Rethinking Embodiment in a Cy- Edinburgh Companion for Animal Studies (Edinburgh University ber-era (2009). Her latest edited volume is entitled Voices from Press, 2017); and Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among the South: Digital Arts and Humanities (2018). She served as Politics, Aesthetics, Environments and Epistemologies (Open assistant editor of two accredited journals, Image & Text and Humanities Press, 2015). Her current project, Ecologicity, Vision De Arte. Currently, she serves on the Advisory Board of the in- and Art for a World to Come, considers modes of visualizing en- ternational journal Persona Studies. She is also a member of vironments with a special focus on Arctic landscapes. the Governing Board of the International Association for Visu- al Culture and serves as the Digital Humanities Association of Gligor Stefanov is an artist with an affinity for natural ma- Southern Africa’s (DHASA) representative on the Conference terials, including straw, jute, cotton, grass, hay, wood and ter- Coordinating Committee (2019) for the Alliance of Digital Hu- racotta). Stefanov’s early sculptures and installations lay within manities Organizations (ADHO). the context of the geo-ethnographic sensibility of the Macedo- nian environment. In his subsequent development stage, the Joerg Blumtritt is a creative technologist, researcher and Stefanov concentrated on questions associated with space, professor for interactive media teaching at NYU Abu Dhabi using it as a material for building unusual linear forms. He has and NYU New York. He co-founded the companies Datarella displayed his work at eighteen exhibitions in Skopje, Belgrade, and BAYDUINO, based in Munich, Germany, and Baltic Data Zagreb, Dublin, London and Venice. He has been awarded nu- Science in Gdansk, Poland. BDS delivers data science appli- merous prizes, including an award from the Skopje Museum of cations, BAYDUINO makes open source hardware, Datarella Contemporary Art. His project for the 45th Venice Biennale was builts enterprise blockchain systems. Joerg consults business- a kind of a liturgical act under the sky as a dome, in the pres- es and public institutions in technology driven transformation. ence of ‘Seraphim’ and ‘Cherubim’. As political activist and researcher, he works on projects regarding future of democratic participation and media. Joerg is Chris Salter is an artist, Concordia University Research co-author of the Slow Media Manifesto. Chair in New Media, Technology and the Senses, Co-Director Heather Dewey-Hagborg is a transdisciplinary artist and Statelessness, Images, Violence (with John Lechte) Edinburgh educator who is interested in art as research and critical prac- University Press, 2013; The Politics of Postanarchism, Edin- tice. Her controversial biopolitical art practice includes the proj- burgh University Press, 2010; Max Stirner (Critical Explorations ect Stranger Visions in which she created portrait sculptures in Contemporary Thought series) Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 from analyses of genetic material (hair, cigarette butts, chewed Unstable Universalities: Poststructuralism and Radical Politics, up gum) collected in public places. Heather has shown work Manchester University Press 2007; internationally at events and venues including the World Eco- nomic Forum, the Daejeon Biennale, the Guangzhou Triennial, Chantal Mouffe A political theorist educated at the univer- and the Shenzhen Urbanism and Architecture Biennale, the Van sities of Louvain, Paris, and Essex, Chantal Mouffe is Professor Abbemuseum, Transmediale and PS1 MOMA. Her work is held of Political Theory at the University of Westminster. She has in public collections of the Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and taught at many universities in Europe, North America and Latin Albert Museum, and the New York Historical Society, among America, and has held research positions at Harvard, Cornell, others, and has been widely discussed in the media, from the the University of California, the Institute for Advanced Study New York Times and the BBC to Art Forum and Wired. She is in Princeton, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scien- also a co-founder and co-curator of REFRESH, an inclusive and tifique in Paris. Between 1989 and 1995 she was Directrice de politically engaged collaborative platform at the intersection of Programme at the College International de Philosophie in Paris. Art, Science, and Technology. As an author, she is globally known for Hegemony and Social- ist Strategy. Towards a radicalization of democracy, which she Eduardo Kac is internationally recognized for his telepres- co-authored with Ernesto Laclau, and her critical readings of ence and bio art. A pioneer of telecommunications art in the Carl Scmitt. pre-Web ‘80s, Eduardo Kac (emerged in the early ‘90s with his radical works combining telerobotics and living organisms. Sarah Sutton leads Sustainable Museums, a consultancy His visionary integration of robotics, biology and networking helping the staff and leadership of cultural and natural resource explores the fluidity of subject positions in the post-digital organizations plan for a more sustainable future. She works with world. Kac opened a new direction for contemporary art with zoos, gardens, museums, aquariums and historic sites to identi- his “transgenic art”--first with a groundbreaking piece entitled fy and pursue greener approaches in programs, operations, and Genesis (1999), which included an “artist’s gene” he invented, building and site management. Sutton supports museum field’s and then with “GFP Bunny,” his fluorescent rabbit called Alba response to climate change. She is also co-chair of the AAS- (2000). Kac’s work has been exhibited internationally at ven- LH Task Force on Environmental Sustainability and part of the ues such as Exit Art and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York; American Alliance of Museums’ Environment and Climate Net- Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; Castello di Rivo- work. Sutton is a member of the We Are Still In Executive Com- li, Turin, Italy; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Reina Sofia Museum, mittee and the sector lead for cultural institutions. She writes Madrid; Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai; and Seoul about environmental sustainability in print and online. She Museum of Art, Korea. His work is in the permanent collections is the author of Environmental Sustainability at Historic Sites of the Tate, London; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the and Museums, and The Green Nonprofit: The First 52 Weeks of Museum of Modern Art in New York; Frac Occitanie—Region- Your Green Journey. She is co-author with Elizabeth Wylie of al collections of contemporary art, Les Abattoirs—Museum of both editions of The Green Museum: A Primer on Environmen- Modern and Contemporary Art, Toulouse, France; the Museum tal Sustainability (published under the name Sarah S. Brophy). of Modern Art of Valencia, Spain; the ZKM Museum, Karlsruhe, Germany; Art Center Nabi, Seoul; and the Museum of Contem- Vlad Morariu is a researcher, curator and lecturer at porary Art of São Paulo, among others. Middlesex University London. Vlad’s work sits across various disciplines – from 20th century analytic and continental philos- Saul Newman is Professor of Political Theory. He joined ophy to sociology, anthropology, fashion and visual and mate- the Department in 2006. His work is in the area of continental rial cultures. His PhD thesis (2014, Loughborough University) political theory as applied to a study of contemporary forms of explored philosophical frameworks informing the art practices radical politics. He coined the term ‘postanarchism’ to describe of institutional critique. In 2016 he was AHRC Cultural Engage- new post-statist forms of political activism. His research has ment Fellow, with a project that revisited Scottish psychiatrist also led him to an exploration of sovereignty, political theology, R.D. Laing’s reading of phenomenology, and its importance democracy and post-secularism, autonomy and freedom, hu- within the practices of the therapeutic communities that Laing man rights and statelessness. Saul Newman is Co-director of co-established in London in the 1960s. Together with Raluca the Research Unit for Contemporary Political Theory. He is the Voinea and Judit Angel, Vlad Morariu initiated Collection Col- author of ‘Political Theology: a Critical Introduction (Polity 2018) lective, an international network of artists, curators and cul- ‘What is an Insurrection? Destituent Power and Ontological An- tural organizers, who founded in 2017 a collection of contem- archy in Agamben and Stirner’, Political Studies 2016 Postanar- porary art, collectively owned and managed by its members. chism, Polity, 2015 Agamben and the Politics of Human Rights: Blanca de la Torre, independent Curator and Art Critic from Spain. De la Torre was Head of Exhibitions at ARTIUM Muse- um, Spain (2009-2014). She has curated exhibitions worldwide, exemplified by exhibitions at: MoCAB, Museum of Contempo- rary Art Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria; EFA Elisabeth Foundation Project Space, New York, USA; Centro de las Artes Monterrey, Nuevo León; Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico city, Mexico; MACO Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Mexico; NC-Arte, Bogotá, Co- lombia; RAER, Rome, Italy; LAZNIA Contemporary Art Center, Gdansk, Poland; Alcalá 31 and CentroCentro, both in Madrid, Spain; NGMA, National Gallery of Delhi, Delhi, India and MU- SAC Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla, León, Spain where she is also a member of the museum’s advisory board.

Tihomir Topuzovski received his doctoral degree from the University of Birmingham in the UK. He also has two BAs in Philosophy and Art, and an MA in Art, and has received numerous academic achievement awards and research grants. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies in the Södertörn University in Stockholm. His research is at the intersection of philosophy, politics and the visual arts. Topuzovski currently works as a research leader in the interdisciplinary programme of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje and is editor-in-chief of the journal The Large Glass. He has published a number of papers and participated in individual and group exhibitions. He is currently writing a book chapter entitled Political protest, temporary urbanism and the deactivation of urban spaces, under contract with Springer.

Jovanka Popova is a curator and programme coordinator at the Press to Exit project space and curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje. She completed her B.A. and M.A. at the Faculty of Philosophy Institute for History of Art in Sko- pje. She has curated exhibitions in the contemporary art field in Macedonia and worked on international curatorial projects. She has also presented her work at the Humboldt University, the Central European University in Budapest, the Goethe Uni- versity in Frankfurt, the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, the Kunst Historisches Institut in Florence, the Bahcese- hir University in Istanbul, the Trondheim Academy of Fine Arts and other institutions. She is a president of the Macedonian Section of the AICA International Association of Art Critics.