Emmanuel Levinas defines obliteration as a central concept with which to think about art. The interview with Françoise Armengaud is one of Levinas› rare statements focusing on the fine arts. Levinas has become influential in various disciplines through his ethics, which he thinks decisively from the face of the other. Yet his reflections on aesthetics are rarely engaged with, and when questions are asked about the face in art-and thus about the interrelationship of ethics and aesthetics-the main focus has been on his comments on literature. In this interview Levinas talks about the work of the French sculptor Sacha Sosno, and the complex relationship between ethics and aesthetics becomes no longer aligned with the face and language, but with iconic thinking and artistic operations and practices. The interview is supplemented by photographs by André Villers of Sosno’s works, a foreword by Johannes Bennke and an epilogue by Dieter Mersch.
Levinas understands obliteration as an ‹unavailable,› an uncanny, disruptive concept. In doing so, he turns away from the «ease and lighthearted casualness of the beautiful» and to the processes of material wear and tear and the traces of their repair. He affirms these for their creative potential in developing a uniqueness of presence.
Translated by Richard Cohen, with a foreword by Johannes Bennke, with an epilogue by Dieter Mersch
ZHdK: Institut für Theorie / Institute for Critical Theory (ITH)
Emmanuel Levinas defines obliteration as a central concept with which to think about art. The interview with Françoise Armengaud is one of Levinas› rare statements focusing on the fine arts. Levinas has become influential in various disciplines through his ethics, which he thinks decisively from the face of the other. Yet his reflections on aesthetics are rarely engaged with, and when questions are asked about the face in art-and thus about the interrelationship of ethics and aesthetics-the main focus has been on his comments on literature. In this interview Levinas talks about the work of the French sculptor Sacha Sosno, and the complex relationship between ethics and aesthetics becomes no longer aligned with the face and language, but with iconic thinking and artistic operations and practices. The interview is supplemented by photographs by André Villers of Sosno’s works, a foreword by Johannes Bennke and an epilogue by Dieter Mersch.
Emmanuel Levinas sieht in der Obliteration ein zentrales Konzept, um Kunst zu denken. Das Interview mit Françoise Armengaud ist eines der wenigen Äußerungen von Levinas zur bildenden Kunst. Levinas wurde in verschiedenen Disziplinen durch seine Ethik einflussreich, die er im Wesentlichen vom Gesicht des Anderen her denkt. Bisher sind seine Überlegungen zur Ästhetik eher selten behandelt worden, und wenn Fragen nach dem Gesicht in der Kunst gestellt wurden – und damit nach der Beziehung von Ethik und Ästhetik – lag der Fokus zumeist auf seinen Kommentaren zur Literatur. In dem vorliegenden Interview spricht Levinas über die Arbeit des französischen Bildhauers Sacha Sosno. Der Gesprächstext wird ergänzt durch André Villers’ Photographien von Sosnos Werken, ein Vorwort von Johannes Bennke und ein Nachwort von Dieter Mersch.
Emmanuel Levinas sieht in der Obliteration ein zentrales Konzept, um Kunst zu denken. Das Interview mit Françoise Armengaud ist eines der wenigen Äußerungen von Levinas zur bildenden Kunst. Levinas wurde in verschiedenen Disziplinen durch seine Ethik einflussreich, die er im Wesentlichen vom Gesicht des Anderen her denkt. Bisher sind seine Überlegungen zur Ästhetik eher selten behandelt worden, und wenn Fragen nach dem Gesicht in der Kunst gestellt wurden – und damit nach der Beziehung von Ethik und Ästhetik – lag der Fokus zumeist auf seinen Kommentaren zur Literatur. In dem vorliegenden Interview spricht Levinas über die Arbeit des französischen Bildhauers Sacha Sosno. Der Gesprächstext wird ergänzt durch André Villers’ Photographien von Sosnos Werken, ein Vorwort von Johannes Bennke und ein Nachwort von Dieter Mersch.
The Changing Face of Alterity | David J. Gunkel, Ciro Marcondes Filho, Dieter Mersch (eds.) [Paperback]
CHF 91.20
The figure of the ‹other› is fundamental to the concept of communication. Online or offline, communication, which is commonly defined as the act of sending or imparting information to others, is only possible in the face of others. In fact, the reason we communicate is to interact with others—to talk to another, to share our thoughts and insights with them, or to respond to their needs and requests. No matter how it is structured or conceptualized, communication is involved with addressing the other and dealing with the ontological, epistemological, and ethical questions of otherness or alterity. But who or what can be other? Who or what can be the subject of communication? Is the other always and only another human? Or can the other in these communicative interactions be otherwise? This book is about others (and other kinds of others). It concerns the current position and status of the other in the face of technological innovations that can, in one way or another distort, mask, or even deface the other. Ten innovative essays, written by an international team of experts, individually and in collaboration with each other, seek to diagnose the current situation with otherness, devise innovative solutions to the questions of alterity, and provide insight for students, teachers and researchers trying to make sense of the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century.
238 pages, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016
ISBN 978-1-78348-870-4
The Changing Face of Alterity | David J. Gunkel, Ciro Marcondes Filho, Dieter Mersch (eds.) [Gebundene Ausgabe]
CHF 226.80
The figure of the ‹other› is fundamental to the concept of communication. Online or offline, communication, which is commonly defined as the act of sending or imparting information to others, is only possible in the face of others. In fact, the reason we communicate is to interact with others—to talk to another, to share our thoughts and insights with them, or to respond to their needs and requests. No matter how it is structured or conceptualized, communication is involved with addressing the other and dealing with the ontological, epistemological, and ethical questions of otherness or alterity. But who or what can be other? Who or what can be the subject of communication? Is the other always and only another human? Or can the other in these communicative interactions be otherwise? This book is about others (and other kinds of others). It concerns the current position and status of the other in the face of technological innovations that can, in one way or another distort, mask, or even deface the other. Ten innovative essays, written by an international team of experts, individually and in collaboration with each other, seek to diagnose the current situation with otherness, devise innovative solutions to the questions of alterity, and provide insight for students, teachers and researchers trying to make sense of the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century.
238 pages, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016
ISBN 978-1-78348-869-8
Künstlerische Forschung. Ein Handbuch | Jens Badura, Selma Dubach et al. (Hg.)
CHF 45.00
Die Debatte um »Künstlerische Forschung« hat einen hohen Grad an Differenzierung erreicht, sei es in ihrer allgemeinen, theorieorientierten Dimension, sei es auf der Ebene der Praxis des künstlerischen Forschens selbst. Alles deutet darauf hin, dass sich die Künstlerische Forschung an der Schwelle zu einer Institutionalisierung befindet. Ziel des Bandes ist es nicht nur, eine Bestandsaufnahme der unterschiedlichen Frage- und Themenstellungen zu erstellen, sondern auch jene Kontroversen abzubilden, aufgrund derer man den Prozess einer vorschnellen »Disziplinierung« der künstlerischen Forschung kritisch betrachten mag. Entlang einiger Leitfragen entwirft der Band eine Topographie des gesamten Feldes der Debatte um künstlerische Forschung.
344 Seiten, Diaphanes, 2015
ISBN 978-3-03734-880-2