Boris Groys je uznávaný umělecký kritik, mediální teoretik a filozof, jehož práce zkoumá vztah mezi uměním, filozofií a technologií. Ve své rozsáhlé akademické kariéře, která zahrnovala působení na prestižních univerzitách po celém světě, se Groys hluboce zabývá otázkami modernosti, umělecké avantgardy a dopadu médií na současné myšlení. Jeho teoretické rámce nabízejí pronikavý pohled na složitosti uměleckého diskurzu a jeho proměny v digitálním věku. Jeho literární přínos spočívá v neúnavném zkoumání hranic umění a filozofie.
Druhý svazek Edice VVP AVU seznamuje českého čtenáře v knižní podobě poprvé s myšlením významného filosofa a teoretika umění ruského původu Borise Groyse (*1947). Publikace zahrnuje překlady dvou studií (Gesamtkunstwerk Stalin, 1988; Komunistické postskriptum, 2005), které z různých perspektiv filosoficky interpretují historický fenomén sovětského komunismu.
A provocative essay on the relationship between communism, philosophy and language. Since Plato, philosophers have dreamed of establishing a rational state ruled through the power of language. In this radical and disturbing account of Soviet philosophy, Boris Groys argues that communism shares that dream and is best understood as an attempt to replace financial with linguistic bonds as the cement uniting society. The transformative power of language, the medium of equality, is the key to any new communist revolution.
Art has its own power in the world, and is as much a force in the power play of global politics today as it once was in the arena of cold war politics. Art, argues the distinguished theoretician Boris Groys, is hardly a powerless commodity subject to the art market's fiats of inclusion and exclusion. In Art Power , Groys examines modern and contemporary art according to its ideological function. Art, Groys writes, is produced and brought before the public in two ways -- as a commodity and as a tool of political propaganda. In the contemporary art scene, very little attention is paid to the latter function. Arguing for the inclusion of politically motivated art in contemporary art discourse, Groys considers art produced under totalitarianism, Socialism, and post-Communism. He also considers today's mainstream Western art -- which he finds behaving more and more according the norms of ideological produced and exhibited for the masses at international exhibitions, biennials, and festivals. Contemporary art, Groys argues, demonstrates its power by appropriating the iconoclastic gestures directed against itself -- by positioning itself simultaneously as an image and as a critique of the image. In Art Power , Groys examines this fundamental appropriation that produces the paradoxical object of the modern artwork.
On the New looks at the economies of exchange and valuation that drive modern culture's key sites: the intellectual marketplace and the archive. As ideas move from one context to another, newness is created. This continuous shifting of the line that separates the valuable from the worthless, culture from profanity, is at the center of Boris Groys's investigation which aims to map the uncharted territory of what constitutes artistic innovation and what processes underpin its recognition and appropriation.
Modern history is a history of aesthetizations - and every aesthetization raises a claim of protection. We aestheticize and want to protect almost everything, including Earth, oceans, the atmosphere, rare animal species and exotic plants. Humans are no exception. They also present themselves as objects of contemplation that deserve admiration and care. For some time, artists and intellectuals struggled for the sovereign right to present themselves to society in their own way - to become self-created works of art. Today everybody has not only a right but also an obligation to practice self-design. We are responsible for the way we present ourselves to others - and we cannot get rid of this aesthetic responsibility.However, we are not able to produce our own bodies. Before we begin to practice self-design, we find ourselves already designed by the gaze of others. That is why the practice of self-design mostly takes a critical and confrontational turn. We want to bring others to see us in the way we want to be seen - not only during our earthly life but also after our death. This is a complicated struggle, and the aim of this book is to describe and analyze it.
Retracing the philosophical discussions around care
Exploring radical biopolitical utopianism, this collection features key texts from Russian Cosmism, many newly available in English. Emerging alongside Marxism, Cosmism sought transformative change, envisioning a world free from death and limitless in cosmic exploration. Founded by Nikolai Fedorov, this movement inspired a diverse array of artists and thinkers, influencing Soviet politics and technology until its suppression in the 1930s. As contemporary discussions merge philosophy with science, the relevance of these Cosmist ideas resurfaces, inviting renewed engagement.