Wednesday, May 5th 2021 * Dr. Alexander Wiehart * Lecture

The Modern State as a Monster. About the Big Turn in Political Philosophy, Iconography and even in Being an Artist.

Dr. Alexander Wiehart – Lecture – Wednesday, May 5th in Zoom – 6 pm.
please register here: blo-huj@riseup.net

The 17th century in Europe – much begins to change, for better or worse, and has since been turning the whole world into what can be called modernity. Humans have learned that they are determined by supra-personal social and political structures not only in their well-being but even in the deepest depths of their selves and desires. The resulting multifaceted tensions are still unsolved, perhaps unsolvable, and cause ever-accelerating cultural dynamics. In 1651 they find their early philosophical and visual expression in Thomas Hobbes’ depiction of the state as the monster “Leviathan”. Leviathan has been on the rise ever since; also transforming art and what it is like to be an artist.