Radical Passivity: Politics of the Flesh
The exhibition and its accompanying publication takes its cue from Paul B. Preciado’s biopolitical theory that the form of power in today’s society is “pharmacopornographic”: the way humans are subjectivized, he claims, operates on one level via pharmaceuticals (i.e. medicines, hormones, stimulants, tranquilizers, narcotics, etc.). On another level, today’s form of power functions via arousal, meaning not only the porn industry but also other social mechanisms that obey the masturbatory logic of “arousal – frustration – arousal”. These regulatory mechanisms are applied to the sensitive flesh in its nervous exposure, sensibility and vulnerability.
Eds.: Kathrin Busch, neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK), Gesellschaft für künstlerische Forschung in Deutschland (gkfd)
With contributions by: Kathrin Busch, Jonas von Lenthe