Sylvia Sasse – författare

Theodor Adorno’s famous aesthetic theory was not merely a theory of the aesthetic; it also made a wider claim about the aesthetic implications of all theory. At the same time we have to deal with aesthetic objects and events in which an aesthetic theory is inherent, which show themselves as art. From both sides—theory and aesthetics—a link can be made to the etymological meaning of theōria, which understands the theoretical as a seeing or perspective. Featuring lucid essays by major thinkers, the book examines this link, focusing equally on the aesthetic implications of theory and the theoretical implications of aesthetic events.

The first-ever English translation of this dramatic work by Nikolai Evreinov.In the 1910s the Russian theater director and theorist Nikolai Evreinov (1879–1953) insisted on the theatricalization of life. Twenty years later, Evreinov, who had left Russia in 1924, was in exile in Paris when Stalin staged three elaborate political show trials in Moscow. Evreinov then meticulously read the transcripts of the trials in the Russian-language press, collected material on Nikolai Bukharin and the other defendants, consulted with experts, and finally wrote a play, his response to the staging of a judicial farce. With this response, he also wanted to rehabilitate his idea of the theatricalization of life. After all, the theatricalization of life does not mean performing false confessions, constructing conspiracies, fabricating facts, or casting hired witnesses. In his theatrical theory, Evreinov was careful not to make the theater of life invisible. His play is therefore not a historical reconstruction, but an imaginary look behind the scenes, in which the Stalinist perpetrators confess to the real crime in the end: the theater. Expertly translated into English for the first time by Zachary King, The Steps of Nemesis brings a fascinating play to a whole new world.

In 1920, on the third anniversary of the October Revolution, dramatist Nikolai Evreinov directed a cast of 10,000 actors, dancers, and circus performers as well as a convoy of armored cars and tanks in The Storming of the Winter Palace. The mass spectacle, presented in and around the real Winter Palace in Petrograd, was intended to recall the storming as the beginning of the October Revolution. But it was a deceptive reenactment because, in producing the events it sought to reenact, it created a new kind of theater, agit-drama, promulgating political propaganda and deliberately breaking down the distinction between performers and spectators.Nikolaj Evreinov: "The Storming of the Winter Palace" tells the fascinating story of this production. Taking readers through the relevant history, the authors describe the role of The Storming of the Winter Palace in commemorating Soviet power. With a wealth of illustrations, they also show how photographs of Evreinov's theatrical storming eventually became historical documents of the October Revolution themselves.

Spätestens seitdem ein faschistisch agierendes politisches System einen Krieg mittels »Entnazifizierung« rechtfertigt, ist klar: Verkehrungen ins Gegenteil sind eine allgegenwärtige Machttechnik. Doch nicht erst mit Putins autokratischem Regime, nicht erst durch Verschwörungstheorien oder Trumps Versuch, Fakten konsequent als Lüge zu deuten, können wir Verkehrungen beobachten. Wie Sylvia Sasse mit berückendem Blick nachweist, ist die Geschichte vielmehr voll von politischen wie medialen Strategien zur Erschaffung verkehrter Welten – und die Verkehrung ins Gegenteil ein direkter Angriff auf Differenz und Demokratie.

Every month, the art association HMKV presents the latest videos by international artists in its series “HMKV Video of the Month” which has been ongoing since March 2014. The idea for the series came from the desire to show the newest artistic productions in rapid succession, changing works at a faster pace than in the exhibitions of the HMKV.For the first time, this publication unites all 78 works that have been exhibited since 2014. The videos address a variety of different topics and stories, ranging from labour conditions, structural changes, speculative technologies, or posthuman machines to technology (and its history) as well as artificial intelligence. A wide array of works is devoted to the old ‘new’ right-wingers and the alt-right. The book not only shows stills of all videos, but each work is also accompanied by an introductory text to provide a comprehensive overview.Text in English and German.

«Mit leerer Mappe kehre ich nicht in die Metropole der schreibenden Wahnsinnigen zurück», schreibt Juliusz Słowacki (1809–49) 1838 noch aus Florenz an seine Mutter. Als anerkannter Dichter will er im Paris der polnischen Emigration ankommen, das er Ende 1832 verlassen hat. Entsprechend sorgfältig bereitet er diesen Schritt während einer ungemein produktiven Schaffensphase mit der Publikation der fünf Florentiner Poeme vor. Bis dahin hat Słowacki sich in der Öffentlichkeit vor allem mit Verserzählungen und Poemen profiliert, von denen die meisten in Bänden zwischen 1832–39 erschienen sind und mit denen sich die Słowacki-Forschung bis heute vergleichsweise wenig beschäftigt hat. In der vorliegenden Arbeit untersucht die Autorin detailliert den Aufbau jedes dieser versepischen Werke und betrachtet sodann auch den Band als vom Dichter bewusst komponierte Einheit, wodurch sich für das Einzelwerk neue, textübergreifende Interpretationsmöglichkeiten erschliessen und sich aus den Untersuchungsergebnissen auch Rückschlüsse auf Słowackis dichterisches Selbstverständnis ableiten lassen, das die bedeutenden letzten zehn Jahre seines Schaffens in Paris vorbereitet.