Irit Rogoff

8/11/2019 Irit Rogoff

1/31

Irit Rogof: What is a Theorist ?Submitted by irit on Sat, 2006-04-08 11:51

undone

A theorist is one who has been undone by theory.Rather than the accumuation o! theoretica toos and materias, modes o!anaysis, "ers"ecti#es and "ositions, the wor$ o! theory is to unra#e the #ery%round on which it stands. &o introduce 'uestions and uncertainties in those"aces where !ormery there was some seemin% consensus about what one didand how one went about it.

(n the conte)t o! a 'uestion re%ardin% what an artist mi%ht be, ( woud want toraise the 'uestion o! what a theorist mi%ht be, to si%na how ine)tricaby in$edthese e)istences and "ractices mi%ht be. &he od boundaries between ma$in%and theorisin%, historici*in% and dis"ayin%, criticisin% and a+rmin% ha#e on%been eroded.

Artistic "ractice is bein% ac$nowed%ed as the "roduction o! $nowed%e andtheoretica and curatoria endea#ours ha#e ta$en on a !ar more e)"erimentaand in#enti#e dimension, both e)istin% in the ream o! "otentiaity and"ossibiity rather than that o! e)cusi#ey materia "roduction.

&he !ormer "ra%matic in$s in which one area ser#iced/ another ha#e%i#en way to an understandin% that we !ace cutura issues in common and"roduce cutura insi%hts in common. (nstead o! criticism/ bein% an acto! ud%ement addressed to a cear cut obect o! criticism, we now reco%nise not

ust our own imbrication in the obect or the cutura moment but aso the"er!ormati#e nature o! any action or stance we mi%ht be ta$in% in reation to it.ow we thin$ o! a o! these "ractices as in$ed in a com"e) "rocess o!$nowed%e "roduction instead o! the earier se"aration into to creati#ity andcriticism, "roduction and a""ication. (! one shares this set o! "ers"ecti#es thanone cannot as$ the 'uestion o! what is an artist/ without as$in%what is a theorist/.

&he narrati#e o! theoretica unra#ein%, o! bein% undone is a ourney o! "hasesin which the thou%ht we are immersed in is in#aidated. &hose moment o! siente"i"hany in which we ha#e reaised that thin%s mi%ht not necessariy be so,that there mi%ht be a whoe other way to thin$ them, moments in which the"aradi%ms we inhabit cease to be se! e%itimatin% and in a 3ash are re#eaedto be nothin% more than what they are, "aradi%ms. (n my own "articuar casethis was a ourney !rom a disci"ine caed art history, #ia %reat roads o! critica,theoretica study to some other and ess disci"ined "ace which !or themoment and #ery "ro#isionay we mi%ht ca isua uture.

urthermore, ( come to the !ormations o! isua uture !rom a si%hty di7erent"ers"ecti#e o! cutura di7erence, and it is one o! the "ri#ie%es o! the cuturaydis"aced that their #iew is aways aw$ward and as$ance, ne#er !rontay"ositioned and o!ten e)ists in an uneasy reation to dominant "aradi%ms.(nitiay ( came !rom a on%, con#entiona and #ery anti inteectua trainin% in

art history which e!t me at its end at a com"ete oss on how to na#i%ate theinterstices between who ( was, what ( did and the word that ( inhabited.


2/31

(n my own "articuar case the distance between these three was such, that!airy acce"tabe e)ercises in stretchin% and e)"andin% a "ro!essiona "racticeto ma$e it accommodate ones concerns seem in retros"ect to ha#e not beenabe to brid%e the %a"s. &here!ore in the 9rst instance my attention was cau%htby what "ossibiities there mi%ht be !or !ormuatin% a "roect not out o! a set o!%i#en materias or e)istent cate%ories, but out o! what seemed at each

historica moment, a set o! ur%ent concerns.Rou%hy s"ea$in% these emer%ed !or me as in the 1;80s a concern with%ender and se)ua di7erence which resuted in an e)"oration o! !eministe"istemoo%ies. (n the 1;;0s a concern with race and cutura di7erence whichresuted in tryin% to ta$e on the authority o! %eo%ra"hy as a body o!$nowed%e with "oitica im"ications and currenty a concern with 'uestions o!democracy and o! what modes "ariamentarian and "er!ormati#e, mi%ht beo"en to us to ta$e "art in it , which ( am currenty thin$in% about as ane)"oration o! "artici"ation and o! what does it mean to ta$e "art in #isuacuture beyond the roes it aots us as #iewers or isteners.


3/31

in$ed s"heres o! se)ua di7erence and "ost cooniaism, has ser#ed as ane)traordinary e)amination o! a o! the assum"tions and naturaised #aues andthou%ht structures that ha#e sustained the inherited truth caims o! $nowed%e.

riti'ue, in a o! its myriad com"e)ities has aowed us to un#ei, unco#er andcriticay re-e)amine the con#incin% o%ics and o"erations o! such truth caims.@owe#er, !or a o! its mi%hty critica a""aratus and its immense and continuin%#aue, criti'ue has sustained a certain e)terna $nowin%ness, a certain abiity tooo$ in !rom the outside and unra#e and e)amine and e)"ose that which hadseemin%y ay hidden within the !ods o! structured $nowed%e. &he e#erincreasin% em"hasis on aocatin% bames and "ointin% out eisions andinustices has created aiances between criti'ue and such "oitica "roects asidentity "oitics/ and diminished the com"e) "otentiaity o! occu"yin%cuture throu%h a set o! "roducti#e duaities and ambi%uities.


4/31

on%er e'ua to the tas$ o! tryin% to thin$ throu%h intercutura reations on a%oba scae. Suddeny we were !aced with what ( ha#e caed esewhereD%eo%ra"hy in rea timeD. Rea time is the moment in which some nebuous ha!ac$nowed%ed entity, "re#iousy no more than a #a%ue unease or a "artiaya#owed reco%nition, crashes into our own reaity by becomin% a reaity itse!.

&he e#ents o! Se"tember the 11th were an instance o! suddeny bein% !orced

to i#e in rea time. =ut with hindsi%ht, many o! us wi con!ess to ha#in% beenuneasy !or o#er a year now E8 summit meetin%s in Seatte, Eothenbur% andEenoa disru"ted by increasin%y #ioent "rotests, the (nti!ada in ?aestine and(sraei res"onse s"irain% out o! contro, e#ermore e)as"erated s"o$es"ersons!or internationa aid a%encies tryin% to warn o! im"endin% disaster, ities inwhich E


5/31

on%er re3ects the conditions and reaities o! their current e)istence. &he>eue*e ins"ired re"acement o! wor$in% with a mode o! a cuture o!sin%uarity sin%uar to a o%ic o! its own or%anisationB rather than one o!s"eci9city s"eci9c to one "articuar ocationB has been o! %reat im"ortance tothis discussion.

- ertainy the security o! a disci"ine and with it a the com!orts o! a coherentidentity, o! ha#in% cear sources !or !undin% a""ications, o! $nowin% whichsubect "ane your wor$ shoud be sent to !or assessment. H#en the sim"e'uestion o! $nowin% what to answer when you are as$ed at a "arty DAnd whatdo you doD which aways eicits "anic stric$en siences and "articuary ameanswers. ow ( am boder and more con9dent and oo$ them strai%ht in the eyeand say Disua utureD and wait !or them to oo$ away in embarrassment,when they ceary ha#e not a cue what ( am ta$in% about. (n the recentIFani!esta e)hibition in Jubana there was a "iece by Jithuanian artistArturo Raia caed I&he Eir is (nnocent which sim"y trac$ed on #ideo a%rou" o! "ro!essors at the inius Art Academy doin% end o! the year critics o!

the students/ wor$ and assi%nin% 9na %rades. (n the sim"est !orm this"iece rehearsed the ways in which aesthetics and ideoo%ies are in$ed atmoments o! crisis and demise to a "oint that none o! the "artici"ants, who hadmade their name in a "re#ious era, had any "rinci"es by which to na#i%ate thecurrent moment.

&hey s"o$e o! their oss, insecurity, con!usion K one bearded midde a%ed"ro!essor said in a sorrow cho$ed #oice Iand now we cant e#en s"ea$ o!beautyD. &he "iece did not assi%n "ro%ressi#e or retro%rade "ositions to the"rota%onists, did not rehearse a the ob#ious "oitica ar%uments aroundcommunism #s. democracy, but sim"y sta%ed the con!usion inherent around

teachin%, ud%in% and ocatin% art within dramaticay rede9ned "aradi%ms.Chat ese has been %i#en u" Fore "robematic to %i#e u" has been the #erynotion o! a methodoo%y, o! the certainty o! an a""roach, o! a "robematic, o! aset o! anaytica !rames which we can use to tac$e whate#er issue o!"robematic we are "reoccu"ied with. (t was reati#ey easy to %i#e u" notionso! history or notions o! disci"ines because we had inherited them and had toeither acce"t or a%itate to ma$e chan%es within them, but methodoo%y wassomethin% we stru%%ed !or and in#ested in its o"erations a o! our ho"es !or"roducin% an inteectuay broader, a "oiticay more incusi#e and asubecti#ey more ima%inati#e 9ed o! acti#ity. ( ha#e !or some time beeninterested in s"ace and s"atiai*ation and ha#e been #ery e)cited about what iscommony caed the discourse on s"ace and "articuary in those discussionswhich seemed abe to unra#e some ess !amiiar mani!estations o! both se)uaand cutura di7erence. @owe#er recenty and to my sur"rise ( understood thatit is not s"ace as such that interests me but rather what it has aowed me to"ercei#e about the dynamics and "er!ormances o! ambi#aence and o!disa#owa in "ubic s"here cuture.

Chich eads me to understand that "erha"s the thorniest o! the !orsa$eneements has been the notion o! the subect o! the wor$ one is doin%.(ncreasin%y ( ha#e become wary o! occu"yin% areas which ha#e an a%reedu"on and sanctioned subect !or their acti#ities. (n the wa$e o! a the "osts we

ha#e read and internaised, ( understand that both the consensus around asubect !or e)am"e that we a understand each other "er!ecty when we say D( am wor$in% on the re"resentation o! !emae subecti#ity in domestic interior


6/31

"aintin%s at the turn o! the centuryD or the ways in which e#eryone hummedreassurin%y when some one said they were wor$in% on the D&he =odyD.B andsecondy the assum"tions and systems and boundaries that sustain its #erye)istence in the word as a subect.

(nstead ( thin$ we are in that "hase when a o! the wor$ %oes into theconstitution o! a subect !or the wor$. Ce ha#e a set o! concerns, o! issues andwe ha#e a set o! na%%in% doubts about what ies behind the mani!est, and weha#e a certain in#esti%ati#e !reedom and we set those to wor$ and wait to seewhat comes u". So many o! our ?.@.> su"er#isions now dance around theincon#enience o! what the dissertation is about, o! what its subect is, o! whatwe mi%ht name it when it 9nay comes into the !u e)"oration o! its concerns.(ncreasin%y we seem to inter#iew "otentia research students !or themoti#ation that underies their "roect and not !or what they want to do. &heess they seem certain o! what "recisey their "roect is, the more we seem toi$e them, but the ess i$ey they are to recei#e A@R= !undin% uness we canray to re"ac$a%e a o! that uncertainty into a set o! "ausibe 'uestions,

methods and assertions and "erha"s the wor$ is reay in this transationbetween the twin "oes o! doubt and certainty.

So what then, where is the wor$ ocated ?erha"s that is the wron% 'uestion,"erha"s a where intimates a 9)ed and $nown ocation where we mi%htconcei#aby and %o and oo$ !or the wor$ and actuay 9nd. ?erha"s better isthe notion o! how does the wor$ !unction and what does it "roduce, o! whate7ects it has in the word rather than o! what e)istin% meanin%s it unco#ers.A%ain and a%ain in recent years ( ha#e !ound myse! deain% with a "articuar'uestion, criticay anay*in% the conte)ts and conditions o! its emer%ence, theassum"tions on which it mi%ht rest and the an%ua%es in which its is

articuated.=ut ha#in% %one throu%h a o! these anaytica ste"s ( woud 9nd myse! at aoss to ima%ine the ne)t ste": the one that woud %o beyond critica anaysisinto the "ossibe ima%inin% o! an aternati#e !ormuation, an actua si%ni9cationo! that disru"ted-throu%h-anaysis cutura "henomenon.


7/31

s"ea$in% in the conte)t o! the Lnited States, where ( was wor$in% at the time,was a reco%nition shared by many o! us that it was sim"y no on%er "roducti#eto continue a batte with the strictures o! art history as a disci"ine and with athe e7orts to !orce it to e)"and its boundaries. =oundaries, sma or ar%e,imited or e)"anded are in the end ust that, settin% the imits o! the "ossibe.

Chat was re'uired instead woud be an o"en and 3uid s"ace in whichnumerous !orms o! e)"erimenta conunctions between ideas, "oitics, ima%esand e7ects mi%ht ta$e "ace. urthermore in this s"ace neither materias normethodoo%ies woud dominate and the endess ta)onomy o! constituti#ecom"onents which characteri*es so caed interdisci"inarity coud besus"ended with. >e"endin% on the "robematic one was in#esti%atin% orthin$in% throu%h one woud brin% into the discussion anythin% that seemedim"ortant or iuminatin% without ha#in% to ai%n it with the histories o! thedisci"ines it mi%ht ha#e been cued !rom. @ere we return to the ar%ument o!sin%uarity #ersus s"eci9city ( mentioned earier and to the >eeu*ian #iew o!matter as bein% se! or%ani*in% rather than 9in% u" "re#iousy structured

or%ani*in% "rinci"es.Since then a certain amount o! institutionai*ation has ine#itaby ta$en "ace inthe 9ed de"artments and "ro%rams, readers and mono%ra"hs, ournas andteachin% curricuums are "roi!eratin%. air enou%h and since ( am at the hearto! a this and $now !u we that no one actuay $nows what isua uture is inthat sim"e !orm o! de9nition, what we were e)"eriencin% was "erha"s asi%hty more or%ani*ed !orm o! that same ho"ed !or 3uidity. @owe#er morerecenty ( ha#e been hearin% about a certain $ind o! "oicin% o! what .. is -a""arenty it is this not that, can be de9ned in this manner not that one, can bes"o$en by these but not by those, (n short the "rocesses o! territoriaistion

ha#e be%un and in their wa$e wi "robaby trai the entire %amut o! subect9)in% and method #aori*in%, o! incusions and e)cusions which we had tried toesca"e !rom a !ew years a%o in the aim o! 9)in% our attention on what needs tobe thou%ht rather than on ar%uin% with what had aready been thou%ht.

( woud ha#e wanted to reiterate my beie! that the wor$ o! un9ttin% ourse#esis as com"e), as ri%orous and as im"ortant as the wor$ that %oes into 9ttin%within a disci"inary "aradi%m or that o! e)"andin% it in order to accommodateour concerns. &hat it shares much with >erridean >econstruction thou%h its is"erha"s ess "reoccu"ied with shi!tin% consciousness and is more !ocused onenactments and cutura e7ects. Fost recenty we ha#e a , in our di7erentcountries and institutions and "ractices, had to thin$ about theinstitutionaisation o! what we do. About the newy emer%ent names and titesand so caed 9eds/ which we inhabit and o! how they mi%ht inter!aceboth with each other as we as with !undin% structures and ob descri"tions, aswitnessed by my !riend the artist ShuJea han% who has now be%un to caherse! a conce"tuaiser/ to the %reat en#y o! a o! us.

&hese thou%hts are !or me an unwecome di#ersion, thou%h ob#iousy anecessary one in the circumstances, !or what ( had reay wanted to thin$ abouthere was -- M years on !rom writin% te)ts that had tried to characteri*e thestudy o! #isua cuture -- what it was i$e to actuay be in isua uture,wor$in% in it and i#in% it out rather than to ta$ about its comin% into bein%.

&o me the most sur"risin% thin% that has ha""ened recenty has been a shi!t inthe direction ( am !acin%. At the be%innin%s ( had described earier ( was 9rmy


8/31

!acin% the academy and inteectua wor$, they were the !rames o! re!erencesthrou%h which ( arri#ed at art wor$s and they were the arenas in which thewor$ circuated, abeit with many hiccu"s, and with which it was in diao%ue.Suddeny ( 9nd myse! !acin% the art word, by which ( mean not sim"y thatthis is where the wor$ is %ainin% res"onse but is s"urrin% somethin% inres"onse. &he "rocess is sti much the same, a ot o! ecectic readin%, %oin% to

ta$s and e)hibitions and 9nay writin%. &he e7ects howe#er are #ery di7erent.( ha#e not had enou%h time to !uy understand or thin$ about the im"icationso! this shi!t but it does seem to me to ha#e somethin% to do with the shi!t to a"er!ormati#e "hase o! cutura wor$ in which meanin% ta$es "ace, ta$es "acein the "resent rather than is e)ca#ated !or. Chere its o"erations are notthrou%h si%ni!yin% "rocesses or throu%h enterin% a symboic order, which (su""ose are the ha mar$s o! academic inteectua wor$, but throu%h !orms o!enactment. &hrou%h an%ua%es and modes o! writin% that !ocus on addressrather than on what =arthes caed the 9ia o"erations o! te)ts. As ?e%%y?hean says D( am aso interested in the ways in which the "er!ormati#e

ins"ires new terms ( thin$ that/s one o! the "er!ormances the term"er!ormati#ity enactsD. ?erha"s what ( am tryin% to say is that it is myunderstandin% o! a res"onse that has chan%ed. ?erha"s it has mo#ed !romres"onse as a+rmation o! what you ha#e said, which is what ha""ens whensomeone 'uotes your wor$, to res"onse "ercei#ed as the s"ur to ma$esomethin% as yet non e)istent.

Hntan%ed

(n cosin% ( wish to %o bac$ to that "rocess o! reco%nition o! the imitations o!"ost coonia and o! %obaisation discourses ( mentioned in reation to themoment o! Se"tember the 11th. Harier in my thin$in% ( had been interested in

the "ossibiities that isua uture mi%ht o7er as a 9ed constituted out o!se)ua or cutura di7erence, out o! "er!ormati#ity or out o! muti"icities ratherthan these becomin% the subect o! the wor$ or that they be a""ied as criticamodes o! anaysis to #arious materias. &hat these woud "roduce 'uestionsrather than characterise conditions and that those 'uestions coud be ta$enanywhere at a, !ar !rom their seemin%y a""ro"riate materias. Fore recenty (ha#e been wonderin% about the "ossibiities inherent in notions o! reoisationto "ro#ide more com"e) and more a""ro"riate modes o! cutura en%a%ement.

Conderin% whether within notions o! creoisation we mi%ht enabe to %et away!rom binaries o! coonisers and coonised as we as !rom ater notions o!

hybridity in which this and that came to%ether into somethin% ese, somenewer and more contem"orary cutura !ormation. (n "articuar ( ha#e beentryin% to thin$ o! what the creoised museum mi%ht seem i$e as a !orm o!encounter between the structure o! the museum and issues o! cuturadi7erence. At the >ocumenta ?at!orm o! reoite which too$ "ace on St. Juciaast month a mode be%an to emer%e which does seem to ha#e "otentia as anaternati#e to some o! the "ost coonia, "ost !euda "aradi%ms. (n thisunderstandin%, as articuated by Stuart @a, Eerardo Fos'ueras, >ere$ Cacottand many other "artici"ants, reoisation is a "rocess o! cutura mi)in%s, anentan%emnt o! cutures in the resut o! sa#ery, cooniaism and ?antationcuture.

(ts com"onents are hi%hy si""ery si%ni9ers since the ori%inas reoes areChites who throu%h on% e)"osure ha#e ost their ori%inary identity. Chite


9/31

setters who ha#e become indi%inised, !acin% bac$ sa#es, A!ricans born in theocation o! their ensa#ement. reoite is the construction o! a "roect out o!these entan%ed mi)in%s. &he e)istence o! a cuture as a !orm o!entan%ements which ha#e ost their ori%ins and e)ist as mutua interocutionsrather than as, !or e)am"e, hybridised outcomes seems #ery intri%uin%. Chiethin$in% o! it ( was aso watchin% hours o! #ideo wor$ by Nutu% Ataman, tryin%

to write the catao%ue !or his e)hibition in at the =ACAE oundation in ienna.(n one o! the wor$s Comen Cho Cear Ci%s which was shown at the enice=iennae and in Jondon at the JLO ast year, we meet 4 &ur$ish women whowear wi%s !or #arious reasons one is a "oitica acti#ist who has been on therun !or P0 years and who uses wi%s as "art o! her dis%uises, one is aso"histicated ournaist who has breast cancer and has ost her hair throu%hchemothera"y. She wears a wi% to re"roduce the u)uriant hair she has ost ando! which she was so "roud. emet >emir,

transse)ua, "rostitute, "oitica acti#ist !or e!t win% youth associations, humanri%hts, ,the en#ironment, !eminism, e)"erimenter with Jesbian reationshi"s,ironic raconteur o! "ersona meodramas, teer o! hair raisin% taes o! "oicebrutaity which incuded re"eated harassment, beatin%s and the sha#in% o! herhead. ideo Stis.

>emet >emir became a student in 1;82 immedaiety !oowin% the miitarycou" in &ur$ey by oinin% a ni%ht schoo where she or%anised a meetin% to mar$the 1st o! Fay, and was utimatey e)"eed !rom the Je!t win% youthAssociation !or @omose)uaity. She was the 9rst trans#estite to become amember o! the @uman Ri%hts association, had an eary se) chan%e o"eration,

educated herse! to become she says a !eminist and an en#ironmentaist, has!ou%ht on% e%a battes with the "oice. A this side by side with ruminationsabout cients who are disa""ointed to 9nd out that she doesn/t ha#e both a"enis and a #a%ina !or these days, she says, one needs both. A o! these arenot contradictions, they are entan%ements and mi)in%s that "roduce a rich9ed o! "ossibiities. (n this wor$ Ataman has "roduced a new subect in theword, a creoised subect in which somethin% caed CCCC un!rames a thetedious narrati#es about women and (sam, women and the Fusim state tod inthe Cest about the Hast, and "roduces instead a heady mi) o! women andse)uaity and (sam and "atriarchy and the state and #anity and desire andrebeion and meodramatic sentiment -- a connected throu%h wi%s and

e)ceedin% the boundaries o! anythin% that mi%ht actuay circuate under theae%is o! the "ro"er name o! woman.

(n a sense that is what ( wish !or us in isua uture, that we become a 9ed o!com"e) and %rowin% entan%ements that can ne#er be transated bac$ toori%inary or constituti#e com"onents. &hat we ne#er be abe to hod on to thedi#isions that ha#e se"arated artist !rom theorist, since i$e the Chite settersand the =ac$ Sa#es o! aribbean uture in the 18th century we endessymimic one another. &hat we "roduce new subects in the word out o! thatentan%ement and that we ha#e the wisdom and coura%e to ar%ue !or theire%itimacy whie a#oidin% the tem"tation to transate them, or a""y them or

se"arate them.(R(& R


10/31

Irit Rogof: Engendering Terror

Submitted by irit on Sat, 2006-04-08 11:5;Jo%ics o! Hnmity

&his uneasy moment, this moment o! &he Car A%ainst &errorism, hardy seemsan aus"icious one to wade into the attem"t at an ima%inati#e discussion o! thetheoretica "otentiaity that counters the "oarity o! the state #s. terror. H#eness so !or an ar%ument which woud i$e to base its "ractice on an aternati#ereadin% strate%y o! terror and woud i$e to try and thin$ it as an aternati#e%eo%ra"hy, as a counter carto%ra"hy o! sub#ersion.


11/31

interacted with. @er tone is rue!u, sad, comic and "roud and whie shementions the totaisin% "oitics that moti#ated her and assures her istenersthat the "oor "easants who hid her and her !riends were aware that they werecommitted to ma$in% a better word, she aso reco%nises that she was sha"edby these e#ents rather than sha"in% them. Chie it is cear that P0 years on therun between &ur$ey, Syria, ?aestine and Huro"e, unti the e#entua amnesty !or

&ur$ish "oitica outaws, in3icted much su7erin% on her and the oss andarrests o! many others, much o! the narrati#e is aso #ery !unny the ridicuousdis%uises, the con#ersations with "rostitutes in 3ea "it hote bathrooms, theoutandish "ots and si%nas arran%ed between cons"irators, the une)"ected$indness o! stran%ers, the e#er deterioratin% aw!u bonde wi%. H#en thebrutaities o! the &ur$ish "oice o! those days are described with a sembance o!irony. An ob#iousy committed "oitica acti#ist, a so-caed terrorist on the run,La%ay/s s"eech is not a discourse o! enmity - in Ataman/s #ideo, and%uided by his desire to ha#e the "ersona turn the "oitica into hi%hmeodrama, as she tries on wi%s and describes her ad#entures, she 3eshes outan e)ce"tionay im"ortant "iece o! history in which not ony "oitica but asosocia and cutura %ains were made. &hese historica moments, in Huro"e andesewhere ha#e been re-written as !aied instances o! re#outionary nihiismand the current mani!estations o! urban terror ha#e been di#orced !rom them.(nstead they are bein% "roduced as the horri9c !ace o! the so caed Icasho! cutures , a "ros"ect so dan%erous that nothin% short o! %oba war!arewi do to secure the Cest !rom its enmity.

Chie ( woud wish !or a chan%e o! #oices its not actuay "ossibe to by"ass ao! the "oarities o! enmity without understandin% how they ha#e come to sodominate the discourse o! terrorism/.

=e!ore ( can try and 9nd other an%ua%es ( need to try and understand e)actyhow this mora consensus around enmity, otherness and ata#ism hasconsoidated and why it has created a cimate in which we ha#e been soo#erta$en by notions o! de!ence and security.

As An%eia Feans says IA!ter Se"tember 11, a mora consensus hasIemer%ed in the LSB that cuts across the boundaries o! cutura and"oitica di#ersity: terrorists are the enemy. Ji$e "irates in the ineteenthcentury, terrorists are hostes humani %eneris. (n this conte)t the torn 3a% o!the Lnited States, has become a "oy#aent symbo, si%ni!yin% both a "articuarnation and a uni#ersa idea. ot ust amon%st us, but amon%st aIci#iised "eo"e, the "ractice o! "oitica #ioence a%ainst "ri#ate"ersons is denounced as an ata#istic remnant. Ln!ortunatey the consensusthat terrorists are hostes !ais to %ra""e with the true nature o! Iata#isticremainders in#o$ed by the ima%e o! the terrorist 1

or An%eia Feans , a LS "oitica theorists, there are P main 'uestions thatmust be "osed to the o#erarchin% homo%enisin% o! terrorism/. &he 9rsthas to do with interro%atin% the cu"abiity o! the obect o! terrorist #ioenceI(! a democratic "ubic is com"icitous in terrorism a%ainst those who aree)cuded !rom its "ubic, does the !act that it is a democracy ma$e it ae%itimate obect o! the


12/31

"oitica #ioence can ta$e the !orm o! a more di7use cutura #ioence thatreies u"on and re"roduces se!Gother dichotomies. &here!ore what @abermascas the democratic "roect o! incudin%


13/31

se)ua is the a%ent o! !ra%mentation and thus has been outawed !rom adiscussion that re'uires the coherence and consensus that An%eia Feans andEior%io A%amben ha#e in#o$ed in criticism.

(n this essay ( am tryin% to thin$ terror/ throu%h another set o!"arameters. ( am tryin% to thin$ it in reation to contem"orary art and #isuacuture but not in a descri"ti#e manner, neither throu%h art wor$s and ima%esthat re!erence or iustrate terror nor throu%h ones that try to %et to the heart o!its "oitica or cutura truths. (nstead ( wish to address a series o! 'uestions tosomethin% caed terror/ and the ways in which it brushes u" a%ainst#isua cuture, the ways it wea#es in and out o! its narrati#es, the ways in which( ha#e seen it momentariy i%ht u" the 9ed with a %immer o! some aternati#e"ossibiity o! $nowin% that has intri%ued me !or a whie now. or that is ( beie#ethe contem"orary reation between art "ractices and critica theory. (n thiscontem"orary reationshi" we no on%er thin$ o! art as a""yin% e)istin%$nowed%e throu%h other means, no on%er iustratin% or anaysin% ortransatin%. Rather we thin$ that it is both a research mode and a means o!

$nowed%e "roduction in and o! itse!. &here!ore art and #isua cuture are abeto "roduce both new $nowed%e as we as new modes o! $nowin% which ha#ethe "otentia to un!rame some serious issue, such as terror/ in thisinstance, away !rom the moraisin% discourses that im"rison it at a e#e thatre'uires res"onse. &his e#e maintains that there is terror/ out thereand we need to "roduce a whoe set o! res"onses to it we need to earn toread it and !oresee it and "rotect a%ainst it and a#en%e and "unish it. Chat (am wonderin% instead, is whether we can earn somethin% about ourse#es andour cuture in the encounter with terror/, whether it "roduces anotherstructure o! $nowin% the word we inhabit ( aso wonder i! #isua cuture is not"erha"s the arena in which such a trans!ormation in the status o! terror/

mi%ht ta$e "ace. (n a >eeu*ian #ein then this is a shi!t !rom the s"eci9c to thesin%uar the s"eci9c to a o%ic o! its conte)ts anchors terror/ in ananta%onistic %eo-"oitics and in #arious cutura cashes whie the sin%uar to ao%ic o! its own se! or%anisation reco%nises that it mi%ht be "roducin%somethin% new in the word outside o! those materiay s"eci9c conditions.

(n this #ein ( woud i$e to as$ such 'uestions as whether we mi%ht be abe tothin$ o! terror/ as a !orm o! %eo%ra"hy, an emer%ent and aternati#e%eo%ra"hy. H'uay is this aternati#e %eo%ra"hy a !orm o! $nowed%e"roduction rather than the e"istemoo%ica re"roduction and mirrorin% o!coonia and im"eria word "ositions Fi%ht it "erha"s "roduce somethin%

which may be described as reationa %eo%ra"hy, in the ways in which so mucho! contem"orary #isua cuture is "roducin% !or us !orms o! reationa aesthetics inay ( want to try and set u" an interru"tion o! terrorism/ throu%hthe o%ics o! %ender and se)ua di7erence and see to what e)tent this mi%htbrea$ u" both its su""osedy monoithic homo%eneity as we as its re"ortedyinterna ideoo%ica coherences.

Jo%ics o! Reationaity

Eeo%ra"hy has on% been !or me a ocus o! contradictory $nowed%es.

(nitiay ( wor$ed to de#eo" an in'uiry that tried to rethin$ the reations

between subects and "aces traditionay $nown as %eo%ra"hy, away !rom thedominant "owers and "ractices that ha#e the authority to name us, ocate us,determine our coecti#ities and identi9cations and estabish the ri%hts and


14/31

"ri#ie%es we do or do not ha#e. Chat seemed then at the outset o! the "roectand sti does 'uite a bit ater so "robematic was that ( wanted ananaysis in which no disci"inary or em"irica mode "re#aied so that ( woudnot end u" e)aminin% the ways in which historica, economic or cuturaconditions are re3ected in art wor$s, or read contem"orary, criticaEeo%ra"hies throu%h art wor$s. &he dan%er o! that was ob#iousy that the wor$

( was attem"tin% woud be hi%h ac$ed by some academic "aradi%m, whichwoud dictate a reation between theories, conte)ts and obects. As someonewho had her initia trainin% in the 9ed o! Art @istory, ( $new that this !orm o!$nowed%e territoriai*ation needed to be a#oided in !a#our o! some new obecto! $nowed%e in which a sembance o! "arity and reci"rocity mi%ht ta$e "acebetween the constituti#e com"onents o! the study and throu%h which a !orm o!cutura "oitics coud emer%e !rom the wor$ rather than be im"osed on itsmaterias.i

Chen ( s"ea$ o! %eo%ra"hy ( do not mean the materias we a studied at schooabout and masses and coud !ormations and cimactic *ones and 3ora and

!auna. or am ( s"ea$in% about demo%ra"hics and nationa !ormations and%eo-"oitica resources. (nstead ( am contem"atin% the "ossibiity o! rethin$in%the reations between subects and "aces way !rom the or%anisin% "rinci"es o!the aw the aw o! the state that contros "ri#ie%ed incusions and des"eratee)cusions, or the cutura aw o! naturaised and essentiaised herita%es thatassume that a "ace caed rance !or e)am"e , is inhabited by rench "eo"ewho share a an%ua%e, a historica cuture, a shared set o! assum"tions andattitudes. Chat i! a ar%e "art o! the "o"uation is ranco"hone by coercion, i!its i#es out its i!e in rance, in rench but aso in resistance and in resentment,i! its com"e) ae%iances are esewhere and its "resence in rance is a e%acyo! coonia histories and o! contem"orary economic im"erati#es. - oud the

ma" o! that internay s"it entity sti be caed by the o#ery sim"e term o!rance, sti be cooured a uni!orm "in$ or yeow o! whate#er coour it is theatas, a coour that woud o#er-ride a o! the contradictory interna di7erenceso! which it is made u"

&o s"ea$ o! Eeo%ra"hy in reation to issues o! cutura di7erence, is to steercear o! identity "oitics, to na#i%ate away !rom the interna coherence o!%rou"s with an aready estabished identity in common. (n this !orm o! "oitics$nown as identity "oitics the "reoccu"ation is to "o"uate e)istin% modes o!$nowed%e with a broader ran%e o! subects. (t is to brin% di7erence, whetherse)ua or cutura, into the e)istin% "aradi%ms and e)"and their "o"uations.

or me, a !ar more im"ortant "roect is to try and actuay thin$ di7erencedi7erent modes o! $nowin% rather than di7erent subects within $nown modes.Eeo%ra"hy thus is a way o! s"ea$in% cutura di7erence, a way o!ac$nowed%in% that a di7erence is aways e"istemoo%icay embedded andsubect to re%imes rather than sim"y subu%ated to dominant "owers. (t ismade mani!est in the word throu%h si%n systems that incude carto%ra"hy,border mar$in%, andsca"e stereoty"es, nationa cutures and many others. &heintersections between %eo%ra"hies as articuated throu%h si%n systems andarts "ractices circuatin% as #isua cuture who mi%ht ust ha#e some chance o!rewritin% these systems, is the heart o! the subect ( am tryin% to "roduce here.

Eeo%ra"hy is at one and the same time a conce"t, a si%n system and an ordero! $nowed%e estabished at the centres o! "ower. =y introducin% 'uestions o!critica e"istemoo%y, subecti#ity and s"ectatorshi" into the arena o!


15/31

%eo%ra"hy we shi!t the interro%ation !rom the centres o! "ower and $nowed%eand namin% to the mar%ins, to the site at which new and muti dimensiona$nowed%e and identities are constanty in the "rocess o! bein% !ormed.

A "ossibiity o! thin$in% an aternati#e %eo%ra"hica structure emer%ed !rom thee)hibition entited D&he Short entury - A!rican Jiberation Fo#ements 1;45-1;8;D which be%an in Eermany 2001-2, ia Stuc$, Funich and Fartin Ero"ius=au, =erin, and has continued to hica%o and ew Tor$ FA hica%o, ?S1ew Tor$B 6. &he o"enin% historica moment o! the e)hibition is mid-centuryand the inde"endence mo#ements and wars o! nationa iberation, which wereta$in%, "ace throu%hout the coonised continent o! A!rica. &he in!ormin% notiono! A!rica here is #ery wide and it incudes orth A!rica and "arts o! the SubSaharan Fidde Hast. &his means that beyond a named "ace - a continentcaed A!rica - we ha#e a word o! mutua histories and in$ed narrati#es -instead o! a coonised entity, a s"here o! %oba e)chan%e and circuation thatchaen%es both the he%emonic su"remacy o! the coonisers cuture andac$nowed%es the com"e) interna networ$ o! inter-A!rican mi%rations and

circuations and in3uences and e)chan%es. (n my readin% o! the e)hibition, ito"erates throu%h sta%in% a series o! osses to #arious !undamentaassum"tions that the Cest has about itse! and to which it has traditionayconstituted a "ace named A!rica/ as its 'uintessentia other/.

&hus in the 9rst instance one o! the !undamenta Cestern assum"tions that hasbeen ost throu%h the sta%in% o! this e)hibition is one o! the "re#aiin% modeso! Huro"eanG A!rican interocution, namey the constitution o! A!rica inresistance to Cestern coonisation.

Secondy we encounter a com"e) networ$ o! mutuay in!ormati#e ideoo%icaarticuations and "oitica stru%%es that e)tends beyond the continent, and o!

in$s with A!rican American and A!rican Jatin American "oitica and inteectuawor$. As in hinue Achebe/s remar$abe te)t, &ribute to Qames=adwin M in which an A!rican writer brou%ht u" under the cutura "reudiceso! =ritish cooniaism, set to tra#e the word under the "ro#isions o! the(nternationa A%encies that had in#ented the conce"t o! >e#eo"ment/in which they ocated him, 9nay encounters the L.S. throu%h his "ursuit o! andmeetin% with Qames =adwin who himse! was shorty to 3ee it !or what heho"ed woud be the more wecomin% host cuture o! ?aris. Simiary in thise)hibition, com"e) networ$s o! tra#e and e)chan%e, mutuaities enactedar%ey throu%h the bac$ doors o! cuture, "oint to the !act that the Cest is "arto! a route and a "rocess but hardy the destination and that the di#isions o!

cooniaism and more recenty o! the od Car, which the Cest beie#esactuay ma" out the %obe, do not actuay do so.

&hirdy we be%in to see how these stru%%es !or iberation and inde"endence"ierced the !abric o! Huro"ean and American "oitica cuture and ru"tured the20th century in the midde the e)hibitions titeB. @ow e#ents ta$in% "ace inA!rica, did not !oow those ta$in% "ace in the Cest but "receded them andmade them "ossibe. @ow a mid-century radicaity which came out o! ointe7orts at both iberation and socia re!orm across A!rica - actuay "a#ed theway !or the e)"osion o! student mo#ements, anti iet am war mo#ementsand socia resistance mo#ements which too$ "ace in the Cest amost a decade

ater. &hus !or e)am"e, re#isitin% accounts o! the i#es o! radica Huro"eanthin$ers o! the mid century a!ter #isitin% this e)hibition se#era times, ( wasastonished to re%ister how many o! them sin%e out the A%erian (nde"endence


16/31

stru%%e, to mar$ their own "oitica awa$enin% and radicaisation. .(! thearchi#es o! Cestern radicaity mi%ht aso be ocated outside o! itse! does thismean the o""ortunity to actuay rethin$ the #ery conce"t o! radicaity and itsreation to the "rimary as we as to cease "ercei#in% o! its ocation as an inde)o! its si%ni9cance I&he Short entury "roect in ree%atin% Huro"e "erse to a hinterand o! A!rican radicaity, rewrites the dynamic described abo#e

and aows !or the enactment o! a Huro"ean oss throu%h the reco%nition o! thee%itimacy o! another entity and its caims to a com"etin% herita%e.

or myse!, because ( had on% been "reoccu"ied with conunctions o!%eo%ra"hica counter carto%ra"hies and contem"orary arts "ractices - this"roect o! thin$in% about the "ossibiities o! museums/ and e)hibitions/"otentia encounters with cutura di7erence, o"ened a %reat #ista o!aternati#e ma""in%s. amey what i! we too$ the "ri#ie%e o! ma""in% away!rom the nation state, where entwined with e"istemic structures it had"roduced one o! our most unsha$abe authorities, and handed it o#er to theresistance initiati#es that the state terms terror. &hose %rou"s which had been

the im"etus o! nationa iberation mo#ements and insur%encies o! anti-cooniaresistance. (! we attem"ted to decou"e the e)cusi#e reations between eachso caed terrorist/ %rou" and the immediate and s"eci9c state stricturesit was stru%%in% a%ainst and instead traced its numerous in$s with other%rou"s and their shared theoretica "rece"ts and mutua en%a%ements. Chatwoud we see i! RA and =ri%ada Rossa, ?J< and (RA, H&A and e)tremebrea$away %rou"s o! Ereen ?eace eco warriors were to be in$ed with si%htyoder histories o! J? Ae%ria, Fau Fau rebeion in Nenya, Fo#ement ationaon%oaise, A "oitics in South A!rica and =ac$ ?anthers in the LSA, tomention ony a #ery !ew o! the stru%%es that emer%ed in mid century8.


17/31

"ur"orted coecti#e suicides at Stammheim ?rison, but to 'uestion them woudha#e meant to breach the care!uy constructed boundary between the e%astate/ and outawed terror/ #iewed !rom within a n e)cusi#eyHuro"ean mode. &he "robem was that not many "eo"e at that moment hadthe toos and readin% strate%ies to in$ mani!estations ta$in% "ace in CesternHuro"e, the Fidde east and A!rica and Qa"an and ocate them within a mutuay

imbricated "oitics that e)tended beyond the hoow and meodramatic ar%ono! the re#outionary romance o! the moment or the e'uay hoow authoritariandiscourse o! "oiticians who saw their societies as at the ed%e o! an abyss.

&he actions and "rota%onists o! terror/ ha#e aways been "ositioned bythe state as mar%ina resistances to itse!, as murderers and destroyers o! theci#i order that the state u"hods throu%h its institutions and its aws and theirconstant and #i%iant "oicin%. =ut what i! we, !or a moment, tried to read themas a set o! %eo%ra"hica ambi#aences, as a set o! &hird S"aces, in which thenation state is un!ramed, the histories o! cooniaism are aowed to brea$ outo! their im"risonin% e%acies o! o""ression, thou%ht 3ows in numerous

directions and named s"aces are occu"ied with numerous and contradictorysubecti#ities.

?erha"s what we mi%ht 9nd here then is a !orm o! reationa %eo%ra"hy. &hereationaity o! this mode o! %eo%ra"hy ies in two im"ortant transitions. &he9rst is that it is no on%er anchored in the coherin% im"erati#e o! the nationstate. (t is not the state with its iusions o! bein% seamessy bound !rom theoutside and soidy coherent !rom the inside, that ma$es u" the sin%e unitcom"onents o! the %eo%ra"hica ma". At the same time, there is no "araeiusion that this conunction o! terror/ mo#ements and their in$s withearier mo#ements, ha#e a uni9ed and mutua ideoo%ica core, a shared

re#outionary a%enda. (nstead we ha#e a ma" that is com"osed o! a%%re%ateso! intensities, o! insur%encies that in$ and em"athi*e and s"ar$ o7 each other,o! %enerationa oyaties that cross boundaries, histories and an%ua%es. &hisreationa %eo%ra"hy does not o"erate, as does cassica %eo%ra"hy, out o! asin%e "rinci"e that ma"s e#erythin% in an outward bound motion with itse! atthe centre. (nstead it is cumuati#e, it urches sideways, it is constructed out o!chance meetin%s in ca!es, o! shared readin% %rou"s at uni#ersities, o!chidhood de"ri#ations that coud s"ea$ to one another, o! snatches o! musicon transistor radios, o! intense ra%es, o! %immers o! ho"e o7ered by ideas thatenabed ima%inin% a better word. A wor$ made by =enin artist Eeor%esA/dea%bo !or the Jyon =iennae o! 2000 and entited I>eath and

Ressurection o"erated in the mode o! such a %eo%ra"hica circuation;. (ttoo$ u" the moment o! the artist/s soourn as a student in ?aris in the1;60s and his abru"t return to =enin in the midde in the midde o! thosestudies, to he" out his !amiy. &he wor$ uses his archi#e o! accumuatedmaterias and ima%es o! the "eriod as its #isuaGte)tua resources. Fomentaryencounters whie in ?aris, odd mirrorin%s o! his own !orei%nness, an une)"ectedsym"athy and identi9cation with Faria aas whose "hoto%ra"hs andtra%edies were in e#ery iustrated ournas o! the day K a these accumuateto an oddy =enaminian set o! interactions with a ?aris that is "roduced out o!ine)"icit distances and di7erences and dissonances . &he wor$ does not re3ectthe e)cited disco#ery o! a on%ed !or and #aorised word, it does not rehearsethat we worn %round o! the coonia "re-dis"osed to !a in o#e with the citythat had so on% inhabited in his ima%ination throu%h iterary and #isuaima%es. or does it !oow that other !amiiar tro"e in which the #isitin% A!rican


18/31

sees a mi%rant "o"uation !rom !ormery coonised nations re-writin% the !ormercoonia centre with its im"orted habits and an%ua%es and !orms o! e)"ression.(nstead he himse! is re3ected !rom seemin%y ina""ro"riate sur!aces marbeste"s and o"eratic di#as, worn dress shoes, record see#es and "oice re"orts o!"etty crimes in oca news"a"ers. &his is a to"o%ra"hy #iewed neither !rom?aris nor !rom =enin, but a reationa s"ace stretchin% out between them which

coud and does in !uture wor$s by A/dea%boB be swayed by some chanceencounter to s"read to some #ery di7erent ocaity, not necessariy bound to itsa)es by any s"eci9c word histories. And yet, !or a its seemin% ha"ha*ardness,it is intensey critica in a way that we do not yet $now how to readtheoreticay or ideoo%icay, "erha"s sim"y turnin% an idiosyncraticanthro"oo%ica counter %a*e on those usuay "ri#ie%ed with oo$in% anddocumentin%.


19/31

!antasies o! e)otic tra#e and ad#enturous esca"e, o! mar$ets to be disco#eredand con'uered, o! in3uence to be "edded and in!ormation e)chan%ed and o!course o! an incredibe o""ortunity to ca"itaise on a these e)citabe ho"esand ma$e one/s "oitica case heard at a "re#iousy unima%ined"rominence. &his combined ream o! "easure and terror woud wor$ toterrorise not ony those on the "ane and those who ha#e "oitica and

commercia res"onsibiity to "rotect them, but aso a those at homeentertainin% the same !antasies that "ro"eed the tra#eers onto their "anesin the 9rst "ace, an attac$ on both "oitica and !antasmatic terrains.

At a certain e#e, the seemin%y endess !ascination with women terrorists,such as Lri$e Feinho! and Eudrun Hnssin o! the RA and Jeia Nhaed o! the?J?, some o! the eary heroines o! the urban insur%encies o! the 1;60s and1;M0s coud be said to be o"eratin% at a simiar e#e. H#eryone rememberstheir names, certain ima%es o! them Nahed wra""ed in a $e9ye and totin% asub machine %un, Feinho! in the courtyard o! Stammheim "rison, hair s"i$edand arms abo#e her head, Hnssin dead on the 3oor o! her ce, ha#e circuated

!ar beyond the discussions o! the "articuar e#ents and moments to which theyser#e as testimony. &hese ima%es circuate as both the utimate trans%ressionand the utimate tra%edy. (t is as such that Eudrun Hnssin became the main9%ure in Eerhard Richter/s meanchoy series o! "aintin%s o! the 9na RAsuicides at Stammheim "rison. ?ainted neary 10 years a!ter the e#entsthemse#es, e)ecuted in sober monochrome %reys that mimic news"rint"hotos, medin% the 9%ures into the concrete surroundin%s o! theirim"risonment, they ser#e Richter as a ea#e ta$in% and a distancin% !rom anim"ossibe im"asse.

&raditiona understandin%s o! !emininity and o! terrorism it coud be said, woud

ma$e both inconcei#abe to thin$ o! as inhabitin% the same subect. &husterrorism became not ust a "oitica abect but aso one o! the natura order o!nurturin% women and the domestic re%uation o! the !amiy, a doubeabhorrence. (n the same #ein this unima%inabe duaity woud be used to ma$ethem, the women, monstrous and unthin$abe. Coman, the o#er determinedand o#er in#ested si%n o! !emininity becomes in the instance o! this "o"uarrece"tion o! numerous "oitica mo#ements, both the mar$er o! its utimaterebeion and o! its %reatest tra%ic oss the submission to a "atriarcha order o!both state and !amiy. H'uay it is the mar$er o! the most e)treme !orm o!iberation, a itera smashin% o! those constraints.

&he iterature on the !amous women who too$ "art in terrorist acti#ities isunhe"!u in tryin% to "u**e out this continuin% !ascination with them, it doesitte more than rehearse the incom"rehension o! the duaity o! woman/and terrorist/ or it tries to humanise their stories with sa%as o! unha""ychidhoods and adoescences constrained by authority.10 areen Abu Aesha both e)"oded

themse#es as suicide bombers in (srae and the radica A A'usa Fartyrs=ri%ade announced that they were estabishin% a s"ecia unit o! women suicidebombers and namin% it a!ter Ca!a (dris11. uturay , we remember the !emae


20/31

"rota%onist o! the 2001 &ami 9m I&he &errorist and the A%erian womenin ?ontecor#o/s 9m I=atte o! A%iers smu%%in% %uns throu%h thechec$"oints o! rench sodiers. Readin% endess news"a"er re"orts o! therecent suicide bombers and s"ecuation o#er their actions seems to #et nothin%but the writer/s "u**ement o! how coud they/ and 'uestions o!whether this is an ad#ance or a re%ression !or !eminism. Fissin% !rom both is

the bumbin% arbitrariness and une)"ected stumbin% so e#ident in Fee$La%ay/s monoo%ue in Comen Cho Cear Ci%s - the unima%inedconse'uences o! dis%uisin% yourse! in an airine stewardess/ uni!orm andbonde wi% mi%ht be that you inad#ertenty become @ostess Jeya/ whois wanted by the "oice as a hi%hac$er, e#en thou%h she ne#er e)isted. (! youhide out in a hote that is in !act a brothe you mi%ht %et ta$en u" by "rostituteswho are !ar more concerned with how to %et your mae comrade to marry you,then with the !act that you stic$ out i$e a sore thumb in that en#ironment andob#iousy are on the run. A !emininity that is "ositioned ess as a tra%icaymoraised entity "ro"eed towards a tra%ic end, then as one who can "roducecontin%ent ne%otiations !rom une)"ected situations.

Lnyo$ed !rom a moraisin% discourse on !emininity howe#er, these endessyrecurrent ima%es become another !orm o! circuation, another set o!une)"ected connections and e%itimations. (n the recent wor$ o! se#era youn%=as'ue artists such as Qon Fi$e Lban and &)omin =adioa we 9nd odd, buriedre!erences to Eerman radicas o! the 1;M0s. &hese wor$s "ay with #arioussi%ns and mar$ers o! terrorism/ in 'uite sy ways men sit in cars waitin%!or we $now not what, bodies are "ued out o! cars either dead or asee", hereon the wa a sma "hoto%ra"h o! Lri$e Feinho!, there a series o! !rames o!assbinder in the 9m >eutschand im @erbst. Lban is more in#o#ed ina""ro"riatin% and e#acuatin% the !orms o! su""osed terrorist/ beha#iour

o! a meanin%, sta%in% deiberatey ambi%uous set "ieces and e)"osin% the"aranoid sus"iciousness bred by the dominance o! enmity. &)omin is morein#o#ed in remi)in% set scenes !rom identi9abe a#ant %arde 9ms and sta%in%his own in a "astiche in which he combines the ima%es o! terror with those o!se)ua , "articuary 'ueer se)ua, !antasies which he has christened I=adorms 12. =oth "roduce sy, ambi%uous, bad/ !orms which ha#eob#iousy more to do with the reaction to and rece"tion o! H&A in S"ain, withthe !ears and sus"icions %enerated and the atmos"here o! a watch!uness#er%in% on hysteria, as they do with their own need to be "ro#ocati#e in a"oitica cimate in which it is di+cut to "roduce a thou%ht!u res"onse.

@owe#er it is the re!erences to a "ast and to a $ind o! terrorist/ "edi%reethat ( 9nd so interestin% here. &o some e)tent in Lban/s wor$ this is anob#ious "oy, combinin% an ima%e o! !airy innocuous acti#ity with an ima%e!rom the 1;M0s Eerman RA "hoto abum, %i#es these seemin%y innocentactions a !risson o! dan%erous "ossibiity, a deiberate ob!uscation aimed atcom"icatin% what has become a !ar too sim"e discussion. =ut beyond wor$in%and unsettin% his audience, there is a set o! caims here to a "edi%ree and ainea%e and to a Huro"ean radicaity that had an acute sense o! its ownimbrication in coonia histories. Chy Lri$e Feinho! ( had been as$in% myse!e#er since ( 9rst saw these ima%es, what is it s"eci9cay about her, that"roduces a %ood "ro#enance !or someone insistin% on the ri%ht !or e)treme

resistance as a "oitica o"tionA recent discussion by &homas Hsaesser o! two 9ms: Schoendor!/s 1;M8>eutschand im @erbst an omnibus 9m o! res"onses to the recent deaths o!


21/31

the remainder o! the =aader-Feinho! %rou" in Stammheim "rison withcontributions by Schoendor!, assbinder and Nu%e amon% others and

&odess"ie made !or tee#ision in 1;;M by one o! Eermany/s most"rominent directors @einrich =reoer co#erin% much the same historicamoment, "ro#ided some "ossibe insi%ht into this 'uestion1P. Hsaesser/sbriianty com"e) ar%ument uses this com"arison to set u" two #ery di7erent

moments o! "oitica rece"tion.&he one in 1;M8 is characterised by Iattention on sym"athasi*ers/ :students, youn% unem"oyed, writers and inteectuas who be!ore condemnin%the RA outri%ht wanted to $now more about their moti#es. Sus"ectin% thea#aiabe in!ormation to be sus"ect, these sym"athasi*ers as$ed themse#eswith an%uish where they stood in the ensuin% debates about #ioence that s"it!amiies and estran%ed i!e on% !riends 14 Eermany in Autumn was made!rom the "ers"ecti#e o! the RA and their sym"athisers whie >eath Eame!ocused on one o! their #ictims @ans Fartin Scheyer and on the thenhanceor @emut Schmidt. &hus as Hsaesser says it shi!ts the !ocus !rom the

insur%encies to the state and its mechanism !or re-im"osin% order.( ha#e been wonderin% whether Lri$e Feinho!// connotes a cuturacimate in which such sym"athies are "ossibe or mi%ht be recou"erabe.Feinho! was a!ter a not ust one o! the main actors in the darin% actions o! theRA, she was aso a writer, editor, inter#iewer, 9m ma$er o! "rodi%iousener%ies and %reat #isibiity. She "ro#ided a brid%e between those ta$in%actions and those with sym"athies !or them. She was the "roo! that e)tremeactions were %rounded in an eaborate set o! "oitica beie!s, historica$nowed%e, widey in!ormed ae%iances and a "ro!ound sense o! inustice. &hatone coud ai%n onese! with the aims i! not with the means.

( wonder i! the constant circuation o! the ima%es o! women terrorists such asLri$e Feinho! is not in "art about an attem"t at reco#erin% an ethica and"oitica com"e)ity in which it is "ossibe to entertain sym"athy, rather thanecho the binary o""osites o! terrorism #s. the state. ?erha"s their constant"resence amon% us as ima%e re!erents, is "recisey not to do with theim"ossibiity o! woman/ and terrorist/ co-e)istin% , but with the"ossibiity o! re%ainin% a sembance o! the critica ambi#aence and sce"ticismwhich characterised their "oitica moment , "ro"eed them to action andcommunicated itse! to so ar%e a "ubic. &he "oitics ob#iousy cannot andneed not be reco#ered, they ha#e on% been re"aced by !ar %reatercom"e)ities but the subect "ositions and the reationa ocations o! bein%simutaneousy within and without do hod some "romise at this an)iousmoment.

(R(& R


22/31

Irit Rogof: The Where o NowSubmitted by irit on Sat, 2006-04-08 12:0P

But will it signify , she asked worriedly, will it signify over there?

&he 'uestion as$ed within an art word conte)t and reatin% to the si%ni!yin%"ossibiities o! some tra#ein% artwor$, suddeny seemed #ery dated. Chen, (wondered, had we sto""ed worryin% about whether wor$s !rom o#erthere/ mi%ht or mi%ht not be abe to !uy communicate themse#es o#erhere/ or #ice #ersa. Chen did we be%in to assume a 3uidity o! circuatin%meanin%s in which not ony is the si%ni9er detached !rom the si%ni9ed, but inwhich the enunciati#e had aso ta$en o#er !rom the inter"retati#e. Chen hadsuch a shi!t occurred between meanin% anchored in conte)ts andre"resentationa strate%ies and the circuar o"erations o! sin%uarities andcross-cutura transations

Cithin the art word at the e#e o! both the curatoria and that o! artistic"ractice there has been an ob#ious mo#ement towards a certain %oba !orm o!3uid circuation. At the same time this circuation has not ta$en on a sim"e-minded !ormua that e#erythin% is in motion in reation to e#erythin% ese.(nstead there has been in e#idence a "rocess which com"icates a o! those od'uestions re%ardin% oca conte)ts, "aces and "ositions !rom which we s"ea$,site s"eci9c re!erences.

At the same time that this seemin% shi!t has been ta$in% "ace in the "recisearticuation o! where we s"ea$ !rom, we ha#e aso had e)"erience o! numerousinternationa e)hibitions such as >ocumenta O(, the (stanbu =iennae 200PB orFani!esta 5 2004B to name ony a "rominent !ew, which ha#e !ore%rounded anart "ractice that in!orms in a seemin%y !actua way but at a si%ht remo#e !romre"orta%e. Ce coud say that this shi!t has mo#ed away !rom su""yin% #ariousin!ormation about a "ace or a site and instead "ays with our consciousnessre%ardin% the #ery nature o! ha#in% a direct and uncom"icated reation tothese. @ere we can reco%nise an art "ractice that !ocuses our attention onsomethin% that we need to $now but ha#en/t the abiity to see or the"ro)imity or access to obser#e or the cunnin% or wit to discern. An art "ractice

that obi'uey and "oeticay "us to%ether conunctions and "atterns that !ormthe interin$ed webs o! commerce, circuation, mobiity and beon%in%. And yet!or a o! their su""osedy in!ormati#e ca"acities, these contem"orary arts"ractices are not historicay or materiay s"eci9c/ as they were o! od!or they do not rey on conte)t/ !or their embedded meanin%. (nstead weha#e around us numerous wor$s whose ca"acity !or obser#ation and !or!erretin% out a $inds o! une)"ected conunctions o! in!ormation is "ut towardsthe tas$ o! articuatin% newy ima%ined reaities rather than towards describin%the conditions o! reaities we ha#e on% been abe to name and to abe.

(n the "rocess a conce"t o! ocation/ K o! bein% abe to ceary de9ne

named entities in reation to which we woud instanty $now how to "ositionourse#es K has %reaty eroded. &he where o! now/ o! my tite re!ers tothe !act that ocation is increasin%y a si""ery construct o! conunctions


23/31

between #irtuaity, materiaity and the #icissitudes o! circuatin% si%ns. (n RAWSFedia oecti#e/s AGSGJ 200PB wor$ers Ii#in% between an onine andan oXine word in time *ones on the outer reaches o! cyberiaI at a cacentre in (ndia are tau%ht to sound and be abe to introduce re!erences !amiiarto the inhabitants o! the cuture they are ma$in% cas to on beha! o! somemutinationa com"any em"oyin% data outsourcin% which has "roduced a new

di%ita "roetariat. IAGSGJ A%eGSe)GJocationB ma"s the time %eo%ra"hy o!shi!tin% identities in a new economy, where ca centres em"oyees who are"hysicay ocated in (ndia answer customers in Finnea"ois in a Fidwesternaccent. i AGSGJ/ con!ronts us with a si""ery ocation which can onybe understood tem"oray. Jocated neither in (ndia nor in the AmericanFidwest, we 9nd the "roduction o! a cor"orate ocation within a 9bre-o"ticsnetwor$ which rede9nes many eements the ocation o! the wor$, the ocationo! the communication and in the "rocess con!ounds e#eryone/s certaintythat it is "ossibe to $now who you are ta$in% to. &his di%ita "roetariat thato"erates these ca centres around the %obe embodies the where o!now/ bein% simutaneousy materiay ocated and #irtuay disocated so asto "roduce a "er!ormati#e aternati#e to the "oarity o! such o""osites in earierdiscourses, which o!ten con!used identi9abe ocation with understandin%. Andthat o! course is the "oint, the Hni%htenment e%acy, so centra to theconstitution o! %eo%ra"hy as $nowed%e, that to be abe to name and to ocateautomaticay eads to bein% abe to $now.

(n contrast many contem"orary art wor$s o"erate on "roducin% somewhatobi'ue ines o! identi!yin% ocation. (n the "resent e)hibition I&imeYones much o! the wor$ has an eusi#e and doube-ed%ed reation to theencodin% and decodin% o! its %eo%ra"hica em"acement. (n Anri Saa/sOOOO the %istenin% #acant biboards hodin% a the "romise o! soon-to-be-

a#aiabe/ %obay circuatin% commodities co-e)ist on screen withumberin% wor$ers and munici"a buses, with souess housin% "roects in

&irana and eora redoent o! an earier Sociaist #ocabuary. either de9nin%not contradictin% each other these two #ocabuaries "ro#ide a doubeoccu"ation that !ractures synchronic time, the od time o! history. (nstead asHric Aie* says IA wid tem"oraity characteristic o! ca"itaism hashistoricay e7ected subecti#ity and the mo#ement o! thou%ht ii. &hewid tem"oraity/ in this case has to do with the !act that neither#ocabuary has re"aced one another in trium"h o! one so-caed ideoo%yre"acin% an earier one. (nstead they enact IH)am"es o! disunctures

"roduced by %obaisation: media 3ows across nationa boundaries that"roduce ima%es o! we bein% that cannot be satis9ed by nationa standards o!i#in% and consumer ca"abiities.. iii . Rather than !actua $nowed%e,Saa/s wor$ "roduces a subecti#ity that is s"it between contradictory si%nsand is acce"tin% o! it, not attributin% it historicay, ideoo%icay or%eo%ra"hicay. (t is a subecti#ity characterised not by any identi9abecharacteristics, "ro"erties or tro"es o! "ace but by what Eior%io A%amben hascaed whate#er sin%uarity/. D&he comin% community is whate#erbein%. Says A%amben... I&he Chate#er in 'uestion here reates tosin%uarity not in its indi7erence with res"ect to a common "ro"erty to aconce"t, !or e)am"e bein% red, bein% rench, bein% FusimB but ony in its

bein% such as it is. Sin%uarity is thus !reed !rom the !ase diemma that obi%es$nowed%e to choose between the ine7abiity o! the indi#idua and theintei%ibiity o! the uni#ersa. i# (ma%in% the subecti#ity o! whate#er


24/31

sin%uarity/ does not ha#e to do with di%%in% !or the truth behind theima%es, nor in in#ention o! new #isua tro"es that woud be more truth!u than"re#ious ones but in their e#acuation !rom od assum"tions and mobiisations.(n a "re#ious !ormation there was a necessary aiance between identitybein% Red, bein% rench, bein% Fusim/B and the "acin% o! that identitywithin a nationa, re%iona or cutura ocation bein% &ur$ish, bein% orthern

Huro"ean, bein% o! the art wordB. (n the current moment howe#er the mutuade"endence o! those two cate%ories has been oosenin% in intri%uin% ways.

Jocation, Jocation, Jocation

(t woud seem that ony in the hy"erboic s"eech o! the "ro"erty mar$et isocation sti ascertainabe with such sim"e carity, or can be determined inreation to #aue, o! a "ro)imity to some notion o! a centre/. H'uay onyin the word o! "ri#atey owned "ro"erty and o! urban de#eo"ment and%entri9cation can "ace and ocation be de9ned by boundaries that aow it tonei%hbour simutaneousy and se"aratey both ess and more desireabe areasand to con!er identity by "ro)y.

(n a other as"ects o! our i#es we ha#e on% abandoned notions o! cear,coherent and ocated identities. &he trias and tribuations o! identities on themo#e that test the imits o! containment enacted by nationa boundaries andthe incusions and e)cusions o! citi*enshi" and beon%in%, ha#e shown u" thede%ree to which the containment and di#ision "racticed by borders ha#e !aiedto do ust that. (nstead o! bureaucraticay re%uated di#isions we ha#e theconstitution o! e)tra-territoria s"aces !or the containment o! ie%aimmi%rants/ such as cam"s and centres !or re!u%ees and asyum see$ers


25/31


26/31

tortured ocation with an ease that does much to com"icate the sim"e mindedbinarity o! ethnic "oitics that was the media/s characterisation o! that"oitica con3ict. (n I( am Fiica &omic the serene and beauti!u artist in awhite e#enin% %own circes in !ront o! the camera, utterin% her own name and adi7erent country o! ori%in and a di7erent an%ua%e, at each turn. As she turnsboody cuts a""ear on her body, the embodied "rice o! this en!orced in$a%e

between a "ro"er name and its su""osedy coherent identity.#iii &omic and hercohort "er!orm sin%uarity as do ancy/s ists, they ha#e a reation to "acebut not one o! identity or beon%in%, they enact the im"ossibiity o! thosesim"e reations and their re"acement by obi'ue conunctions. &hey inhabitthat wid tem"oraity/ in which the tortured e%acies o! CC(( ?artisanhistories and o! ater ethnic hybridities ride around in a con#ertibe with thecom!ortabe circumstances o! Cestern Huro"ean "ros"erity and e#eryonesmies.

Harier, ( 'uoted ancy at such en%th because o! the itany o! names and"aces he "uts !orward, the im"ortance o! the act o! istin% them, the burden it

en!orces o! tryin% to understand their contradictory o%ic. ot ony do theseists o! emer%ent distinctions inhabitin% the same terrain constitute thetheatre o! boody con3icts amon% identities/ ancy caims, but they asoconstitute a counter o%ic to named ocation. &hey %i#e dramatic e7ect to thesomewhat bander discourses o! %obaisation which ha#e been tryin% to"robematise the #ision o! a word !undamentay characterised by obects inmotion. I..to say that %obaisation is somehow about thin%s in motionsomewhat understates the "oint. &he #arious 3ows we see K o! obects,"ersons, ima%es, and discourses K are not coe#a, con#er%ent, isomor"hic ors"atiay consistent. &hey ha#e what ( ha#e esewhere caed reations o!disuncture. =y this ( mean that the "aths or #ectors ta$en by these $inds o!

thin%s ha#e di7erent s"eeds, a)es, "oints o! ori%in and termination and #ariedreationshi"s to institutiona structures in di7erent re%ions, nations, orsocieties. i)

( want to ta$e u" the notion o! sin%uarity/ in reation to "ace. Jocationand %obaisation because it seems to me to enabe the $ind o! !racturedconunction that &omic/s ima%es and ancy/s "arade o!unac$nowed%ed identities mana%e to "roduce, at times in a comic at times ina tra%ic, #ein. Sin%uarity/ is bein% that is not inscribed with identity, isnot in a reation o! e%ibe identi9cation with other bein%s but ne#ertheess"er!orms some !orm o! coecti#ity or mutuaity.

(t is "ossibe to u)ta"ose the %rounded s"eci9city o! con#entiona %eo%ra"hicaocations with the emer%ent o%ic o! sin%uarity. Chie the s"eci9c is true to ao%ic o! its conte)ts , the sin%uar it true to a o%ic o! its own interna se!or%anisation. I &he sin%uar and the s"eci9c says ?eter @award in Absoutey ?ostcoonia/, Idi#ide most ob#iousy, most nai#ey, intheir toerance o! "ositioned interests and wordiness/ in the most%enera sense. Accordin% to the sin%uar-immediate o%ic, in order to %ras" thetruth o! the created word, you 9rst ha#e to ste" outside o! it&he s"eci9c onthe other hand im"ies a situation, a "ast, an intei%ibiity constrained byinherited conditions.. Cithin the word, the s"eci9c reates subect to subect

and subect to other the sin%uar disso#es both in one beyond-subect )(n rancis Ays/ Yocoo/ >ate OOOO , a 3a% "oe ocated in a centras'uare in Fe)ico ity mar$s the "rocess o! an endess s"atia sub di#ision o!


27/31

the s'uare itse!. ?eo"e 9ndin% shade in its shadow, arbitrary and ine)"icitmiitary !ormations, ad hoc !esti#ities, haw$ers and iders continuousy rewritewhat is %eneray "ercei#ed as a s"ace o! e)em"ary ci#ic "ride and a de9nin%urban "ubic s"ace into a ramshac$e un!odin% o! numerous mundanemoments. &he on% duration o! the "iece, the continuous s"atia habitationsthat 3ow one into the other and the 3at i%ht that iuminates its s"rawin%

sur!ace, wor$ to re!use a transation !rom one urban myth, that o! architecturaand ci#ic achie#ement, into another urban myth so "re#aent in the accounts o!other modernities/ - namey that o! a chaotic crowd whose urbanroamin%s !oow a seemin%y incom"rehensibe o%ic. Ays has mana%ed to ta$ea named ocation and disso#e it into one beyond subect/ un!ramin% it!rom any attem"t at oca characterisation. iewed !rom hi%h abo#e the s'uarehe eschews an or%anisin% %a*e under whose rei%n e#erythin% can be ta$enin by a sin%e %ance !rom the menta eye which iuminates whate#er itcontem"ates... )i. (nstead "eo"e come and %o, inhabit the s"ace !or amoment or two, inhabit it throu%h duration rather than throu%h the identitythey are assumed to re"resent.

>oube @ori*ons

&o e#o#e the #ocabuary we need in order to estabish a tem"ora subecti#itywithin a %oba circuation we mi%ht !oow @omi =habha towards the doubehori*on/ in which tem"oraity and s"atiaity %oad one another into adi7erent set o! "oitica and cutura reations. I(t was throu%h my interest inthe intermediary i!e/ o! the %oba e)"erience says =habha I Kthat &hird S"ace/ somewhere between the od and the new K that (became aware o! a $ind o! conti%uous , doube hori*on that ho#ered o#er the%oba discourse. (t was a shuttin% bac$ and !orth between continuity and

conti%uity the tension o! the ew Cord


28/31

e)"ore and in#esti%ate the course o! oceans, ri#ers and waterways, o! car%oand shi""in% and eisure and mi%ration that ma$es its way across bodies o!water and o! the i#es o! shi"s that %ide throu%h them or sin$ to their bottom.Fiche oucaut !amousy decared Ithe boat is a 3oatin% "iece o! s"ace,a "ace without a "ace, that e)ists by itse!, that is cosed in on itse! and atthe same time is %i#en o#er to the in9nity o! the sea and that !rom "ort to "ort,

!rom tac$ to tac$, !rom brothe to brothe, it %oes as !ar as the coonies insearch o! the most "recious treasures they concea in their %ardens, you wiunderstand why the boat has not ony been !or our ci#iisation.. the %reatestinstrument o! economic de#eo"mentbut has been simutaneousy the%reatest reser#e o! the ima%ination. &he shi" is the heteroto"ia "are)ceence )i#

(n thin$in% o! what Aan Se$ua/s Iish Story , Futi"icty/sISoid Sea or their "roect on the 3oatin% residentia shi" caed I&heCord or most recenty o! Jaura @orei/s wor$ on eisure cruise shi"s , orFatthew =uc$in%ham/s new word ee%y on the @udson Ri#er ha#e enabed,

we once a%ain %ean the wid tem"oraity/ coined by Aie*.)# A o!these wor$s ay out %reat swaths o! "re#iousy unconnected s"heres between"orts and car%os and on%shoremen, between shi"yards, en%ineers and theeisure cruise industry, between ie%a immi%ration attem"ts #ia shi"s that endin tra%edy and the intricate state bureaucracies that deny their e#er ha#in%e)isted. =ut beyond the detaied e)"orations o! how a o! these waterysur!aces and economies "roduce eaborate connections between abour,commerce, mobiity, %o#ernabiity and desire, they aso undermine theseamess s"atio-tem"ora order im"osed by the idea o! a coherent and ocatednationa or%anisation. )#i (t is the de%ree to which nothin% coheres that is sointerestin% about these wor$s and their abiity to rehearse contradictions so

seamessy mer%ed in "re#ious narrati#e tro"es o! i!e at sea. (n Jaura@orei/s 2 channe #ideo wor$ on a cruise shi" , the em"oyees o! the iner ,wor$ers in a $ind o! "ermanent carni#a o! entertainments , are as$ed to wearbad%es which identi!y them by name and by their many countries o! ori%in. Atthe same time they are ony aowed to s"ea$ in Hn%ish whie on board, theone mani!estation cancein% out the meanin% o! the other. >i7erence is"er!ormed and sameness is im"osed within a eisure industry that "ursues the"roduction o! a 3oatin%, neutra nowhere/ and counters the #ery"ossibiity o! any curiosity or disco#ery as "art o! the e)"erience o! a #oya%e.

&he !act that the crew aso e)"ress no interest in any o! the "aces they are

#isitin% nor do they seem to e)"ore the shi"/s home base in San Quan,s"ea$in% instead about their earnin% ca"acities and their on%in% to return totheir homes, !urther ocates them in ca"ita rather than in any %eo%ra"hicas"eci9city.

A these, the "rota%onists o! these di7erent wor$s, come at the dominanttem"oraity o! the word !rom an esewhere/ that is not ocatabe in astabe and 9)ed notion o! s"ace. Athou%h a notion o! a soid sea/ as anobstace course tra#ersed at di7erent e#es and re%isters by the di7erenty"ri#ie%ed actors in the !orms o! tourists, merchants or re!u%ees has beencoined by Futi"icity/ !or their "roect, it is at some e#e shared bymany o! these "roects. &his soidity/ counters the iusion o!seamessness and trans"arency , reintroducin% obstaces and iuminatin%hidden structures that ne%ate any !antasy o! !reedom that may be "o"uaryinherent in the narrati#es o! the sea. o on%er an ad#enturous in-


29/31

between/ in oucaut/s "re#iousy 'uoted and somewhat romanticterms, the shi"s in these art "ractices e)em"i!y heteroto"ias at the ed%e o!the word which are ne#ertheess dee"y imbricated within ca"ita "roductionand circuation but at a di7erent tem"ora re%ister.

Shoud we be as$in% where she was shi""in% her wor$ !rom, or where she wasshi""in% it to, woud it he" us to ocate her 'uestion in a more em"atheticmanner i! we understood the direction o! this mo#ement, i! there was amar%ins and a centre to this story, to this 'uestion

&he Hd%e o! the Cord

=ut is the ed%e o! the word a "ace !rom which one can "roduce a critica %a*eor is it a tra%ic mar%inaity

Achie Fbembe in his anaytica writin%s has "aced A!rica at the ed%e o!the word/ not as a mar%ina s"ace but actuay as one !rom which it mi%htbe "ossibe to read new !orms o! emer%ent territoriaities and une)"ected!orms o! ocaity. (n an e)ce"tiona readin% he ar%ues a%ainst the o#erridin%

con#ention that "osits A!rican stru%%es o! se! ocation at the !eet o! arbitrarycoonia di#isions o! territories that cut across an%ua%es, cutures, andsca"esand triba a+iations. =ut e'uay he ar%ues a%ainst the re%iona inte%rationthat is seemin%y ta$in% "ace throu%h socio-cutura soidarities and interstatecommercia networ$s as e)cusi#ey oca.

I.. (! at the centre o! the discussion on %obaisation we "ace the three"robems o! s"atiaity, cacuabiity, and tem"oraity in their reations withre"resentation, we 9nd ourse#es brou%ht bac$ to two "oints usuay i%nored incontem"orary discourses, &he 9rst has to do with tem"ora "uraities, and, wemi%ht add, with the subecti#ity that ma$es these tem"oraities "ossibe and

meanin%!uthat tem"oraities o#era" and interace .itted within oneanother, they reay each other sometimes they cance each other out andsometimes their e7ects are muti"ied. I)#ii

(n concusion Fbembe , in tandem with so many o! the arts "racticescircuatin% around us, insists that it is the "ositioned #iewer, thee"istemoo%ica "ace !rom which we see and $now that is the maor "robem.I(nter"reted !rom what is wron%y considered the mar%ins o! the word,%obaisation sanctions the entry into an order where s"ace and time , !ar !rombein% o""osed to one another, tend to !orm a sin%e con9%uration )#iii

&he co-oinin% o! s"ace and time seems abstract and di+cut to entertain. =ut

o!ten it does not ta$e the !orm o! a %rand enter"rise but rather one o! a e#eand there!ore unsettin% %a*e.

Simiary in de Ri$e and de Rooe #ideo OOOOO which !ocuses on a %ra#e yardsurrounded by hi%h rise buidin%s in >a$arta, we 9nd the e#e and steady %a*ewhich turns the tabes on the su""osed tumutuousness by which most o!tenan esewhere/ is "ercei#ed and brou%ht into #ision. So o!ten acon#entiona western %a*e is o#erwhemed by what it obser#es to be a chaoticor irrationa o%ic o! the esewhere. As in Fbembe/s "ositionin% o! A!rica inhis ar%ument, here too it is not the choice o! what is bein% e)hibited that haschan%ed but the !ormation o! the #iewin% %a*e. H'uay it is the reco%nition

that there are necessariy muti"e tem"oraities and that the inscri"tion o! the%obe into one tem"ora order in which e#erythin% is synchronic is an inherited#ioence. or as e%ri says I&ime is not ony a hori*onit is aso a


30/31

measure )i) >uration then, hori*on, the e#e and steady %a*e whichunsettes con#entiona "erce"tions o! how we oo$ esewhere, are a thecritica toos by which we can turn other ocations and other modernities intoed%es/ !rom which we can turn "erce"tion inside out.

=ioG"ower K =ioGtime- ew "oitica s"aces

( want to try and brin% them a to%ether s"atia tem"oraities and sin%uarities,notions o! duration and o! bodies which by "er!ormin% their bein%/ areactuay inter#enin% criticay. ( want to "ot out how what mi%ht seem di7use isactuay a "roducti#e intensity and how the e#e %a*e o! considerabe durationis "roducin% a new s"ace rather than a new statement. ( wonder i! thisconunction mi%ht "ro"ose a #isua cuture o! bioG"ower

Chat is constanty bein% re!erred to as bio"ower/ is a !orm o! "owerthat re%uates socia i!e !rom its interior rather than !rom its e)terior !oowin%it, inter"retin% it, absorbin% it and articuatin% it. As a term,what it mi%ht aowus to do in the "resent conte)t is to ma$e tan%ibe conunctions o! s"ace and

time at the e#e o! the body, o! their embodiment.&he "er!ormati#e bodies which inhabit a o! the wor$s touched on throu%houtthis discussion are not iustrati#e o! ideas or actions ta$in% "ace outsidethemse#es, not characteristic o! any "articuar cutures nor do they iuminate"articuar historica moments. &he 3eetin% ways in which they inhabit thescreen obi'ue, !ra%mented and arbitrary ensures that they cannot become!ronta actors in some historica drama but instead !unction as sin%uarities in as"atia tem"oraity.

=io"wer too occu"ies a s"atia tem"oraity in which wor$ is no on%er reducibeto a measure based u"on the time o! use-#aue, but brou%ht into reation with

the new or%ani*ation o! socia tem"oraity on a bio "oitica baseine. (n Antonioe%ri/s I&ime or Re#oution the richness o! the D&he onstitution o!&imeD consists sim"y in its bein% the com"ression and crystai*ation o! e%risthin$in% on the trans!ormation o! the time o! e)"oitation. &ime here has beenconcei#ed o! as the 'uantitati#e measure o! e)"oitation now it can be thou%hto! as the 'uaitati#e o! the aternati#e and o! chan%e.))

&he dee" entan%ements o! cross cutura transation and circuation and theirmani!estations within contem"orary arts "ractices in which it is subecti#itiesthat both "roduce and mani!est bioG"ower ma$e !or a much more hos"itabeconte)t !or the understandin%s o! mutitude/ . Futitude/ are

what e%ri and @ardt contrast with uridica structure and constituted "ower.&his mutitude is Ithe "ura mutitude o! "roducti#e creati#e subecti#itieso! %obaisation that ha#e earned to sai this enormous sea. &hey are in"er"etua motion and they !orm consteations o! sin%uarities and e#ents thatim"ose continua %oba recon9%urations on the system. ))i

Chat dri#es IHm"ire as a boo$, what dri#es so many o! the arts"ractices that are ta$in% u", consciousy or not, the terms su%%ested here isthe tension between the ways in which the od !ormations em"ireB constantyrema$e themse#es, ada"tin% and absorbin% a chaen%es and the "ossibenew 9%ures and s"aces !or "oitica stru%%e in the !orm o! new subecti#ities,new modes o! e)"ressi#e democracy/. Iew 9%ures o! stru%%e andnew subecti#ities are "roduced in the conuncture o! e#ents, in the uni#ersanomadism, in the %enera mi)ture and misce%enation o! indi#iduas and"o"uations and in the technoo%ica metamor"hoses o! the im"eria bio"oitica


31/31

machine. ))ii

=ut how are these 3e)ibe mutitudes, tradin% on their inteect rather thantheir ca"ita, to create this new De)"ressi#e democracyD

?hioso"hers and artists ha#e o! ate been tein% us o! crowds and mutitudeswho are ust there/, that do not ma$e s"eci9c demands nor carry

"articuar banners, they resist an order throu%h their sheer bein%.e%ri says D&he "rotesters at Seatte are not unsym"athetic. &hey dont stand!or anythin%. &hey dont ha#e a "ro%ramme. =ut what is im"ortant is that theyha#e !ound a s"ace !or a di7erent "oitics - a %oba "oitics.D))iii And A%ambencaims that the !ury that the authorities uneashed in &ianamen S'uare wasdirecty reated to the !act that the "rotestors had no "articuar demands,demands which they mi%ht ne%ate or condemn or ne%otiate with. IChatthe state cannot toerate in any way, howe#er, is that sin%uarities !orm acommunity without a+rmin% an identity.. .))i#

id she e#er %et an answer to her concern !or whether that wor$ mi%ht si%ni!yo#er there/ "robaby not as it was ob#iousy ne#er the ri%ht 'uestion.Ci she be abe to "roduce a modaity between "aces without tryin% so hardCe/ see.

Hssay, I&ime Yones &ate Fodern ,

Documents

Irit Rogoff