Symposien, Vorträge, Lesungen, Konzerte, Performances: die Spanne an Veranstaltungen im ZKM ist breit! Thematisch bewegen wir uns zwischen Kunst und Philosophie, Wissenschaft und Technologie sowie Wirtschaft und Politik. Gemeinsam mit unseren ReferentInnen, KünstlerInnen, PerformerInnen und MusikerInnen aus verschiedensten Kulturkreisen und Disziplinen hinterfragen und diskutieren wir die Auswirkungen von Medialisierung, Digitalisierung und Globalisierung auf unsere Gesellschaft. /// Symposia, lectures, readings, concerts, performances: the range of events offered at the ZKM is broad! Thematically we move between art and philosophy, science and technology as well as economy and politics. Together with our speakers, artists, performers and musicians from various cultures and disciplines, we question and discuss the effects of medialization, digitization and globalization on our society.
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Joey Skaggs: Pataphysics: The Science of Imaginary Solutions
What was Old is New Again. A Meeting of Art and Scholarship | Conference
Fri, 21.11.2008 – Sun, 23.11.2008
What lies beyond metaphysics? A great deal for Alfred Jarry (1873-1909), a playwright and culture jammer who coined the term Pataphysics. It is a philosophy that takes in everything written and everything sung and everything done, and like metaphysics has the virtue of meaning whatever you want it to mean.
Pataphysics offers a voyage of discovery and adventure into realms where philosophers seldom venture, including art, activism, and onto the street. Dada, Futurism, Surrealism acknowledged the influence of Pataphysics, and nowadays the tradition is carried on by US-based ensembles Act-up/New York, Billboard Liberation Front, Yes Men, Cacophony Society, Negativeland, Improv Everywhere, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. The biting satire of their parodies and absurd theater make effective social commentary.
Every religion, political ideology, philosophy, and scientific theory embodies a set of structured beliefs. These belief systems maintain a symbiotic liaison with the arts. Throughout history, communal beliefs have relied on music, theater, painting, and dance in order to propagate accepted doctrines, and the arts in turn have shaped the articles of faith.
The conference brings together artists and scholars in an unusual forum. The arts addressed deal primarily with media, the major art form that has only come to the fore in recent decades. The scholarship concerns antique matters, such as Sumerian music, early Egyptian medicine, and the omens, codes of law, and creation myths of Mesopotamia. The divergent perspectives of the participants augur well for innovative ideas emerging from this close encounter between scholarship, the arts, and the belief systems of early and modern times.