O anestetizirajočih praksah sodobne umetnosti

The initial concept for my contribution is the growing aestheticisation of everyday life. This process particularly concerns the urban setting, which in contemporary Western societies is becoming hyper-aesthetic and at the same time an aestheticising scenario. However, critics bring attention to the fact that the overabundance of aesthetic irritants leads to an indifference and suppression of other aspects of life. A perceptible part of contemporary art is ascribed to aestheticising processes and affirmative aesthetics is subordinate to conforming to the environment. This concerns primarily what is (quite awkwardly) termed public art. Yet artistic moves are appearing that are critical towards the aestheticisation of everyday life. Wolfgang Welsch labels them non-aestheticising. They again confirm Adorno's comment that “gerade den ästhetisch avancierten Nerven ist das selbstgerecht Ästhetische underträglich geworden.” These measures demand special attention of aestheticians especially at a time when they are attempting to develop further the critical potential of their field.Izhodišče mojega prispevka je naraščajoča estetizacija vsakdanjika. Postopek še posebej zadeva mestni prostor, ki v sodobnih zahodnih družbah postaja hiperestetska in obenem estetizirajoča scenerija. Vendar pa kritiki opozarjajo na to, da preobilica estetskih dražljajev vodi v ravnodušnost in v potlačitev ostalih življenjskih dimenzij. Opazen del sodobne umetnosti se vpisuje v estetizirajoče procese in afirmativno estetiko podreja ustrezanju okolju. To zadeva predvsem tako (precej nerodno) imenovano javno umetnost. Vendar pa se pojavljajo tudi umetniški ukrepi, ki so do estetizacije vsakdanjika kritični. Wolfgang Welsch jih označuje za neestetizirajoče. Znova potrjujejo Adornovo pripombo, da so “gerade den ästhetisch avancierten Nerven ist das selbstgerecht Ästhetische underträglich geworden.” Ti ukrepi zahtevajo posebno pozornost estetikov in sicer še posebej tedaj, ko skušajo nadalje razviti kritični potencial svojega področja

Wspomnienie

Aldona Jawłowska (8 XII  1934–15 V 2010

After retrotopia? The future of organizing and the thought of Zygmunt Bauman

The main body of work of Zygmunt Bauman concerns his home discipline of sociology, but his insights have been influential also in the field of organization studies. In this text, we provide an overview of the extent of this influence, providing some additional context for positioning the other contributions to this special section. Afterwards, we explore in more detail two notions central for Bauman’s late thought: that of liquidity and retrotopia. The former constitutes the root metaphor for theorizing the current global predicament. In this text, we analyse how two modes of interpreting it, using the assumptions behind Kurt Lewin’s CATS model and the alchemical tradition underpinning Carl Gustav Jung’s conception of archetypes respectively, can help us theorize the alternative modes of organizing and managing encountered in a study of contemporary alternative organizations. These insights form the starting point for our second goal: to explore Bauman’s notion of retrotopia as a potentially fruitful starting point for discussing both the deficiencies of current visions of our future society, and the possibilities and vicissitudes of developing new forms of organizing and managing. Such new forms, both as practice and as theoretical constructs, are urgently needed if we are to face the numerous, and potentially catastrophic global challenges facing our society today

Wspomnienie

Aldona Jawłowska (8 XII  1934–15 V 2010

Aesthetics and ecology in the post-modern perspective

The analysis sets out from the exhibition entitled Ressource Kunst. Die Elemente Neu Gesehen. The author attempts to outline an area which emerges from the encounter of ecology (as a domain of reflection about the human surroundings) and aesthetics (as a discipline concerned with sensory experience) from the standpoint of post-modernism. The inquiry thus focuses on the moment in which contemporary artistic practices “internalize” ecological issues. Aesthetics becomes a branch of ecology, but at the same time ecology becomes a domain within aesthetics. According to the author, post-modernism has offered advantageous perspectives for pursuing ecological postulations

Some remarks on plant art

The author analyzes artistic practices associated with the natural world, “from land art to garden art”. In an overview of historical currents in art (since the 1960s), plant art is highlighted as an instrument of critique of land art, and a self-standing current which, among other things, addresses social issues and ecological threats. The author also analyzes specific examples of garden-related artistic practices within the cityscape, considering the criteria under which certain projects can be seen as successful (models to emulate). The text concludes with open-ended questions about the place of plant art in present-day critical discourses, i.e. with respect to landscape architecture, bioart, and technonature

“Green” and “grey” ecologies as a notional context of contemporary artistic practices

The author highlights the need for the societies to become aware of the ecologically motivated ethics of responsibility. She discusses the division of ecological practices into “green” (e.g. establishments of reserves, protection of endangered species) and “grey” ones, which have been analyzed by P. Virilio, who defined them as “no longer an ecology of substance, but an […] ecology of the shrinking world.” According to the author, ecologically committed art contributes to propagating responsible attitudes, by drawing for instance on the tradition of avant-garde commitment. It is manifested in all currents which expose the dangers of the advancing technology and look for means of overcoming such threats (grey ecology)