Course 7: Out of Synchronization: Modern, Post-Modern, Neo-Feudal
by Boris Buden
2 – 7 August 2021
2 ECTS
Application deadline: July 16, 2021.
Course Description
What time is this that contemporary art is contemporary with? Is this simply our present pretending to be “modern”, as most believe? And if so, does this present have a clear idea of what is behind its back and what is ahead? Are we still able to clearly distinguish three dimensions of time: past, present, and future? Or, does being contemporary today means precisely the opposite—to no longer be able to orientate in (post)historical time.
The experience of temporal disjunction has become all-pervasive. Its manifold symptoms range from those art practices which are obsessively focused on the past and a revival of archaic political conflicts to the economic and social relations that resemble pre-capitalist and pre-modern historical formations. We no longer share one single homogenous time, but rather live in different, often clashing temporalities. What was once held for a distant past is reappearing today in the midst of the present reality, or is even promised as a desirable future.
The course will focus on one aspect of this transformation, which has recently been attracting more and more attention—the emergence of so-called neo-feudalism. Detecting its traces in contemporary cultural and art production and discussing its actual social and political manifestations will be the main task of the workshop.
Biography
Boris Buden is a writer, cultural critic and translator. He studied philosophy in Zagreb and received his Ph.D. in Cultural Theory from Humboldt University, Berlin. In the 1990s he was founder and editor of the Zagreb-based magazine and publishing house Arkzin. His essays and articles cover topics related to philosophy, politics, culture and art criticism. Among his Croatian translations are some of the most important works of Sigmund Freud. He has co-edited several books and is author of Der Schacht von Babel: Ist Kultur übersetzbar? [The Pit of Babel: Is Culture Translatable?] (2004); Übersetzung: Das Versprechen eines Begriffs [Translation: Promises of a Concept] (2008) (with Stefan Nowotny); Zone des Übergangs: Vom Ende des Postkommunismus [Zone of Transition: On the End of Post-communism] (2009); among others. Buden is a permanent fellow at the European Institute of Progressive Cultural Policies, Vienna. He lives and works in Berlin.
Participation
10 participants will be selected to participate in this course. Eligible participants must read the Terms, fill out the application form, upload the required documents and submit the application form. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Scholarships are available for participants from Kosovo.
A limited number of scholarships, that cover the participation fee, are available for international participants.