300453 Art and Politics. The Aesthetics of Collective (Dis)Order (LEH) (SoSe 2025)

Art is not an illustration of politics. Nor is art simply about beauty, while politics is about power. Instead, both are interwoven through sometimes constitutive, sometimes disruptive imaginations of collectivity. Starting from these assumptions, the seminar explores the formative ways in which artistic practices and representations are intertwined with the contingencies, conflicts and (dis)ordering of societal collectives. In the Leviathan, Hobbes (1651) had already made clear that art could become the ally of political power by making visible the sovereignty and legitimacy of those who govern. Monuments and parliament buildings are supposed to confirm societal order by making evident its eternal validity. Benjamin (1935) even argued that the “logical result of fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life. […] Communism responds by politicizing art.” But art may also deeply irritate our worldviews and shatter our understanding of what should be taken for granted. Artists like Abramović, Beuys, Bacon or Horn have tested conventions of both the individual and collective body to the extreme. Inspired by science and technology, Haacke or Wurm continue to deeply provocate political constellations and even the political function of art itself. These provocations include the role of museums and galleries as spaces empowering but also limiting artistic expression and the “politics of aesthetics” (Rancière).
Taking art and artworks in their own right (and not as illustrations), the seminar sets out to discuss the relationship between art and politics from the perspectives of political theory, political sociology, comparative politics and science & technology studies. With its focus on questions of political aesthetics, epistemology and knowledge, it is also open to students of the ISOS master program. We will discuss relevant texts by Adorno, Arendt, Benjamin, Bourdieu, Danto, Du Bois, Groys, Habermas, Putnam, Rancière and others. In June 2025, we will visit Berlin to discuss selected works of art and architecture, with a specific focus on the exhibition “Extreme Tension. Art between Politics and Society” at the Neue Nationalgalerie.

Bibliography

Homepage „Extreme Tension”, NNG: www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/neue-nationalgalerie/exhibitions/detail/extreme-tension-art-between-politics-and-society/

Möller, F. Politics and Art. In Oxford Handbook Topics in Politics (online). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935307.013.13