Date: 13 May 2011
Time: 11:30-13:00
Venue: HB 20-14

In the Modern Age, aesthetics and art have always been invested with a revolutionary, emancipatory potential. However, the mixed successes of these attempts throughout the previous century have led to a general mood of disillusionment and cynicism on this score. Recently, French philosopher Jacques Rancière has started a counter-offensive against this, what he calls, post-utopian condition within the field of aesthetics. He has manifested himself as a passionate advocate of the inherent connection between artistic and political radicalism. In this lecture, I will give a brief overview of Rancière’s project of political aesthetics and assess its viability for the establishment a radically political art today.

Matthias Pauwels is a temporary lecturer and doctoral candidate at UP’s Department of Philosophy. He is also co-director of BAVO, an independent research and activist team focused on the political dimension of art, architecture and spatial planning (see www.bavo.biz).