Multiform institute for fine art and design

 

mladen dolar

The Limits of Hegel
On Sunday 4 November at 15:00 the Hegel Seminar will look into the chapter ‘The Limits of Hegel’ of Slavoj Zizek’s last book, Less Than Nothing. Mladen Dolar, initiator of the seminar, will address some of the issues of this text, in particular around the Hegelian notion of science in its relation to the Galilean science, his take on contingency and the problems around the Hegelian notion of negation in relation to the Freudian take on negativity. Jack Kelsey Wood will make an intervention.

Snejanka Mihaylova, Practical Training in Thinking, designed by Philip Baber, published by The Last Books, Photo: Jeff Weber Beyond Imagination23.09 — 11.11.12Celebrating the return of the Stedelijk Museum as the focal point of Amsterdam’s contemporary art scene, Beyond Imagination, the first temporary exhibition at the new Stedelijk, is a tribute to the art that is made in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. In the tradition of the “Municipal Art Acquisitions”, this exhibition gives an international perspective on Dutch art today. Beyond Imagination will include new projects and commissioned works by 20 artists, Dutch nationals as well as those born elsewhere, all of who are active today in the Netherlands. Snejanka Mihaylova (Fine Art researcher) and Mladen Dolar (advising researcher Theory) participate in it, as well as former researchers Andros Zins-Browne, Suchan Kinoshita and Falke Pisano. A series of performances is part of the exhibition.

Snejanka Mihaylova, Practical Training in Thinking, designed by Philip Baber, published by The Last Books, Photo: Jeff Weber

Beyond Imagination
23.09 — 11.11.12
Celebrating the return of the Stedelijk Museum as the focal point of Amsterdam’s contemporary art scene, Beyond Imagination, the first temporary exhibition at the new Stedelijk, is a tribute to the art that is made in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. In the tradition of the “Municipal Art Acquisitions”, this exhibition gives an international perspective on Dutch art today. Beyond Imagination will include new projects and commissioned works by 20 artists, Dutch nationals as well as those born elsewhere, all of who are active today in the Netherlands. Snejanka Mihaylova (Fine Art researcher) and Mladen Dolar (advising researcher Theory) participate in it, as well as former researchers Andros Zins-Browne, Suchan Kinoshita and Falke Pisano. A series of performances is part of the exhibition.

Formalization and DialecticsIf dialectics is to be reanimated, today, we must cross it at is point of greatest resistance, a blind spot formed by a resistance to mathematics: the idea, which Hegel resisted furiously despite the embryonic status in which his time retained it, of logical calculation. It was through this idea that history would give birth to another that is ultimately more profound: the idea of logico-mathematical formalisation, an idea that would liberate mathematical thought from the contingency of its objects, through an act of reflection that would make it itself a mathematical object — but a reflection subject to the essentially dialectical drama of escaping away from itself just when it tries to grasp itself as such, a refractory reflection that would generate antinomies, incompletions and subversions of meaning. Through a struggle to apprehend itself as such, mathematical logic would, quietly, and without attracting the attention of either of the two traditions that the nineteenth century began, rebuild the dialectic from the calculi Hegel rejected.  The purpose of this conference is, first and foremost, to draw philosophy’s attention to this reanimation of the dialectic from the ‘dead bones’ of calculus, to accelerate this reanimation through careful experiments in formalisation, and interrupt the servitude to ‘the understanding’ to which philosophers have, for the last century, indentured mathematical logic. If philosophy wishes to find in logic something other than a regimentation of the understanding’s prejudices, then the task of tapping the underground current of the dialectic in mathematical logic is one we can no longer ignore.  

Formalization and Dialectics
If dialectics is to be reanimated, today, we must cross it at is point of greatest resistance, a blind spot formed by a resistance to mathematics: the idea, which Hegel resisted furiously despite the embryonic status in which his time retained it, of logical calculation. It was through this idea that history would give birth to another that is ultimately more profound: the idea of logico-mathematical formalisation, an idea that would liberate mathematical thought from the contingency of its objects, through an act of reflection that would make it itself a mathematical object — but a reflection subject to the essentially dialectical drama of escaping away from itself just when it tries to grasp itself as such, a refractory reflection that would generate antinomies, incompletions and subversions of meaning. Through a struggle to apprehend itself as such, mathematical logic would, quietly, and without attracting the attention of either of the two traditions that the nineteenth century began, rebuild the dialectic from the calculi Hegel rejected. 

The purpose of this conference is, first and foremost, to draw philosophy’s attention to this reanimation of the dialectic from the ‘dead bones’ of calculus, to accelerate this reanimation through careful experiments in formalisation, and interrupt the servitude to ‘the understanding’ to which philosophers have, for the last century, indentured mathematical logic. If philosophy wishes to find in logic something other than a regimentation of the understanding’s prejudices, then the task of tapping the underground current of the dialectic in mathematical logic is one we can no longer ignore.  

Theorieweek juni
De eerste week van juni staat opnieuw in het teken van de theorieweek. De week gaat op dinsdag 5 juni van start met een lezing van Jodi Dean, hoogleraar politieke wetenschappen aan de Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY (US). Dean behandelt de theorie van het communistisch verlangen via een kritiek van Wendy Brown, Antonio Negri en Alain Badiou. Filippo del Lucchese (Brunel University, Londen, UK) volgt met een lezing over de symptomatische verhouding tussen wet en conflict bij Spinoza.

Meer Spinoza op woensdagochtend tijdens het After 1968-seminar over feministische interpretaties van diens werk, onder meer door Anne Lefebvre. Voor de woensdagmiddag staan seminars over Simondon en Benjamin gepland; de woensdagavond staat in het teken van CLiC. 

Op donderdag 6 en vrijdag 7 juni vindt Formalization and Dialectics plaats, een tweedaagse conferentie gewijd aan de ‘reanimatie van dialectiek’. 

De seminars After Hegel en Hegel and Abstraction vinden plaats op zaterdag 8 juni. De week wordt op zondag 10 juni afgesloten met een lezing door Eric Santner, hoofd van het German Studies Department aan de Universiteit van Chicago (US), onder de titel Toward a Political Economy of the Flesh. Meer informatie is te vinden in de agenda.  

Theory week June
The first week of June is Theory Week. On Tuesday 5 June the week begins with a lecture by Jodi Dean, professor in political science at the Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY (US). Dean will deal with the theory of communist desire via a critique of Wendy Brown, Antonio Negri and Alain Badiou. Filippo del Lucchese (Brunel University, London, UK) will follow with a lecture on the symptomatic relationship between law and conflict in Spinoza.

More Spinoza on Wednesday morning during the After 1968-seminar on feminist interpretations of Spinoza’s work by Anne Lefebvre, among others. Seminars on Simondon and Benjamin are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon; the evening is dedicated to CLiC.

On Thursday 6 and Friday 7 Formalization and Dialectics is taking place, a two-day conference dedicated to the ‘reanimation of the dialectic’. 
The seminars After Hegel and Hegel and Abstraction are planned on Saturday 8 June.

The week will closed off on Sunday 10 June with a lecture by Eric Santner, chair of the German Studies Department at the University of Chicago (US), entitled Toward a Political Economy of the Flesh. More info can be found in the agenda.

Theorieweek april
De maand april gaat van start met een nieuwe theorieweek. Op het programma dit keer leesgroepen over Benjamin en Simondon op dinsdag 3 april en de seminars Logic en  After 1968 (op woensdag), CLiC en Hegel (op donderdag). Het seminar van After 1968 is getiteld “Deleuze’s Spinoza: The underground current of the philosophy of immanence”. De bijeenkomst borduurt voort op het vorige seminar, waarin werd besproken in hoeverre Macherey - in zijn boek Hegel or Spinoza uit 1979 - Althussers lezing van Spinoza aanvult door het toevoegen van argumenten die in Althussers reconstructie van immanente causaliteit ontbreken. Deze maand onderzoekt het seminar hoe Deleuze dit probleem aanpakt door zich te richten op de vraag hoe Spinoza de omkering van het oneindige door het eindige denkt, en welke problemen zich op dit punt in Spinoza’s denken voordoen. De week wordt afgesloten met de conferentie Relocating Subalternity op 6 en 7 april. Meer informatie is te vinden in de agenda.  

April Theory Week
April kicks off with another theory week. Scheduled this time are reading groups about Benjamin and Simondon on Tuesday 3 April, and seminars Logic and After 1968 (also on Wednesday), CLiC and Hegel (on Thursday). The After 1968 seminar is entitled “Deleuze’s Spinoza: The underground current of the philosophy of immanence”. The gathering follows up the last seminar, which discussed in how far Machery - with his 1979 book Hegel or Spinoza - supplements Althusser’s reading of Spinoza by adding arguments lacking in Althusser’s reconstruction of immanent causality. This month, the seminar explores how Deleuze tackles these problems by re-examining the question of how Spinoza thinks the transversal of the infinite through the finite, and which difficulties occur right at this point in Spinoza’s thinking. Last thing on the agenda this week is the conference Relocating Subalternity on 6 and 7 April. More info can be found in the agenda.

Conferentie Object of ComedyWat brengt ons aan het lachen, en waarom? Welke mechanismen spelen een rol bij komedie? Kan komedie subversief zijn? Wat is de relatie tussen komedie en ideologie? Deze tweedaagse conferentie beoogt het OBJECT van komedie te vatten. En dat is geen grapje. Met bijdragen van Jamila Mascat, Gregor Moder, Alenka Zupančič, Robert Pfaller, Keston Sutherland, Evan Calder Williams, Luisa Lorenza Corna, Robert M. Ochshorn, Anca Parvulescu, Aaron Schuster, Mladen Dolar, en Tim Etchells. Voor het volledige programma, zie de agenda. Object of Comedy8 & 9 March 2012, 10:30 - 19:00Jan van Eyck Academie  Conference Object of ComedyWhat makes us laugh and why?  What kind of mechanisms are at play when it comes to comedy? Can comedy be subversive? What’s the relationship between comedy and ideology? This two-day conference aims to tackle the OBJECT of comedy. And it’s not a joke. With contributions by Jamila Mascat, Gregor Moder, Alenka Zupančič, Robert Pfaller, Keston Sutherland, Evan Calder Williams, Luisa Lorenza Corna, Robert M. Ochshorn, Anca Parvulescu, Aaron Schuster, Mladen Dolar, and Tim Etchells. For the full programme, see the agenda.  Object of Comedy8 & 9 March 2012, 10:30 - 19:00Jan van Eyck Academie 

Conferentie Object of Comedy
Wat brengt ons aan het lachen, en waarom? Welke mechanismen spelen een rol bij komedie? Kan komedie subversief zijn? Wat is de relatie tussen komedie en ideologie? Deze tweedaagse conferentie beoogt het OBJECT van komedie te vatten. En dat is geen grapje.

Met bijdragen van Jamila Mascat, Gregor Moder, Alenka Zupančič, Robert Pfaller, Keston Sutherland, Evan Calder Williams, Luisa Lorenza Corna, Robert M. Ochshorn, Anca Parvulescu, Aaron Schuster, Mladen Dolar, en Tim Etchells.

Voor het volledige programma, zie de agenda.

Object of Comedy
8 & 9 March 2012, 10:30 - 19:00
Jan van Eyck Academie 

Conference Object of Comedy
What makes us laugh and why?  What kind of mechanisms are at play when it comes to comedy? Can comedy be subversive? What’s the relationship between comedy and ideology? This two-day conference aims to tackle the OBJECT of comedy. And it’s not a joke.

With contributions by Jamila Mascat, Gregor Moder, Alenka Zupančič, Robert Pfaller, Keston Sutherland, Evan Calder Williams, Luisa Lorenza Corna, Robert M. Ochshorn, Anca Parvulescu, Aaron Schuster, Mladen Dolar, and Tim Etchells.

For the full programme, see the agenda. 

Object of Comedy
8 & 9 March 2012, 10:30 - 19:00
Jan van Eyck Academie 

16 & 17 December 2011
The Human Animal in Politics, Science and Psychoanalysis
KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (free entrance)

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In the June session of the After Hegel seminar a close reading of the Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit, paragraphs 79-84, will be continued. The basic theme will be the scrutiny of the nature of ‘natural consciousness’, being, for Hegel, the protagonist of the way to truth and hence the main hero of the book.

Lucia Pradella will present an intervention on Hegel’s philosophy of law.

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May 2011 session of the reading group on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit.

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The March session of the Hegel seminar will continue with the close reading of the Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit. The text deals with the dramatic question of how to begin in philosophy at all – what is an appropriate beginning?

Sara Farris, former Theory researcher, will make an intervention around Gillian Rose’s very important book Hegel contra sociology.

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After HegelMladen Dolar is initiatiefnemer van After Hegel, een leesgroep voor Hegel’s Fenomenologie van de Geest, één van de moeilijkste teksten in de klassieke filosofische traditie. De tekst bevindt zich op een bevoorrecht historisch kruispunt: hij representeert het einde en de culminatie van een traditie, en luidt tegelijkertijd het tijdperk in van de posthegeliaanse filosofie.  After HegelMladen Dolar has initiated After Hegel, a reading group on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, which is reputedly one of the most difficult texts in the whole classical tradition of philosophy; it stands at the privileged historical crossroads, where it presents the end and the culmination of that tradition and, at the same time, inaugurates the era of modern post-Hegelian philosophy.

After Hegel
Mladen Dolar is initiatiefnemer van After Hegel, een leesgroep voor Hegel’s Fenomenologie van de Geest, één van de moeilijkste teksten in de klassieke filosofische traditie. De tekst bevindt zich op een bevoorrecht historisch kruispunt: hij representeert het einde en de culminatie van een traditie, en luidt tegelijkertijd het tijdperk in van de posthegeliaanse filosofie. 

After Hegel
Mladen Dolar has initiated After Hegel, a reading group on Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, which is reputedly one of the most difficult texts in the whole classical tradition of philosophy; it stands at the privileged historical crossroads, where it presents the end and the culmination of that tradition and, at the same time, inaugurates the era of modern post-Hegelian philosophy.

Mladen Dolar

Adviserend onderzoeker theorie / Advising researcher Theory / After Hegel
mladendolar [at] yahoo [dot] com

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