Institutional critique. A philosophical investigation of its conditions and possibilities

'Institutional critique' is a term that refers to a range of diverse artistic practices and discourses that emerged at the end of the 1960s and that continue in the present. In spite of their differences, they all share a concern with the institutional conditioning of artists and artworks. Various historicizations of institutional critique (Alberro and Stimson, 2009; Raunig and Ray, 2009; Welchman, 2006) concur that one could distinguish two 'phases': artists of the 1960s and 1970s allegedly investigated the possibilities of an escape towards an 'outside' of the art institution, whereas those of the 1990s analysed the ways in which the artistic subject reproduced the structures of the art institution. Since the beginning of the 2000s various artists and authors have revisited the histories and legacies of institutional critique. This growing interest was triggered by the perceived intensification of a process that began at the end of the 1960s; it refers to the recuperation and neutralization of artistic types of critique by what Boltanski and Chiapello (2005) have called the 'new spirit' of capitalism. In this context, the Austrian philosopher Gerald Raunig and the members of the European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies have proposed the hypothesis that 'a new phase' of institutional critique was to emerge. However, this proposition was based less on empirical evidence, than on a 'political and theoretical necessity to be found in the logic of institutional critique' (Raunig, 2009, 3). This thesis is a response to this set of circumstances. By asking 'what are the conditions and possibilities of institutional critique?' it investigates the categories of institutional critique's logic. My main argument is that a 'phase change' of institutional critique could and should be understood through the apparatus of Derridean deconstruction. This implies a criticism of the idea that one needs to escape the art institution in order to respond to urgencies stemming from the social, economic, and political realms (Truth Is Concrete Platform, 2012). At the same time, I will also refute the idea that institutional critique is trapped in the art institution (Fraser, 2009a). Institutional critique works on the remainder and rest that necessarily escapes the instituting will and intention of defining and describing in an exhaustive manner the whatness of what (art) is (Boltanski, 2011). I show that between critique and the art institution there is an irreducible relation of symbiosis and cohabitation, and that the deconstructive logic of institutional critique allows it to be both partner and adversary, at the same time, of the art institution

Improving the performance, reliability and service life of aviation technology products based on the innovative vacuum-plasma nanotechnologies for application of avinit functional coatings

The methods of creating the advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnolo-gies of functional multicomponent coatings Avinit (mono- and multilayer, nano-structured, gradient) to improve the performance of materials, components and parts of aerotechnical purposes are considered. The vacuum-plasma nanotechnologies Avinit were developed based on the use of gas-phase and plasma-chemical processes of atomic-ionic surface modifi-cation and the formation of nanolayer coatings in the environment of nonsteady low-temperature plasma. Considerable attention is paid to the equipment for application of functio-nal multilayer composite coatings: an experimental-technological vacuum-plas-ma automated cluster Avinit, which allows to implement complex methods of coating (plasma-chemical CVD, vacuum-plasma PVD (vacuum-arched, magne-tron), processes of ionic saturation and ionic surface treatment, combined in one technological cycle. The information about the structure and service characteristics of Avinit coatings has a large place. The results of metallographic, metallophysical, tribological investigations of properties of the created coatings and linking of their characteristics with pa-rameters of sedimentation process are described. The possibilities of parameters processes regulation for the purpose of reception of functional materials with the set of physicochemical, mechanical complex and other properties are considered. The issues of development of experimental-industrial technologies Avinit and industrial implementation of the developed technological processes to increase of operational characteristics of aerotechnical products are addressed in detail. Attention is paid to the development prospects of vacuum-plasma nano-technologies Avinit and expansion of these methods applications in mechanical engineering, aviation, power-plant industry, space industry and other fields of science and technology. The book is aimed at specialists working in the field of ion-plasma surface modification of materials and functional coatings application

Vascular neurocognitive disorders and the vascular risk factors

Dementias are clinical neurodegenerative diseases characterized by permanent and progressive transformation of cognitive functions such as memory, learning capacity, attention, thinking, language, passing judgments, calculation or orientation. Dementias represent a relatively frequent pathology, encountered at about 10% of the population of 65-year olds and 20% of the population of 80-year olds. This review presents the main etiological forms of dementia, which include Alzheimer form of dementia, vascular dementia, dementia associated with alpha-synucleionopathies, and mixed forms. Regarding vascular dementia, the risk factors are similar to those for an ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident: arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, obesity, age, alcohol consumption, cerebral atherosclerosis/ arteriosclerosis. Several studies show that efficient management of the vascular risk factors can prevent the expression and/ or progression of dementia. Thus, lifestyle changes such as stress reduction, regular physical exercise, decreasing dietary fat, multivitamin supplementation, adequate control of blood pressure and serum cholesterol, and social integration and mental stimulation in the elderly population are important factors in preventing or limiting the symptoms of dementia, a disease with significant individual, social, and economic implications