“We all must live an authentic life. In that respect existentialism has penetrated deeply into our culture. At the heart is a simple plea to take responsibility for our lives and it is up to us to create meaning. ‘You are free, therefore choose, that is to say, invent!’ Sartre says. We are what we make of ourselves and we cannot abdicate this responsibility and leave it to an authority. That’s a heavy load, which people are eager to escape. And the problem is that today these same values of freedom and responsibility have become popular values of our neoliberal society, and has also infected the work ethic of the art world.
Existentialism says all human interaction is conflict, and we are lonely, competitive individuals. But it is also a freedom philosophy, a narrative of agency, emancipation and responsibility. It influenced every single one of us through cinema, literature, and art. How free are we really as artists and what is our project in life? You are not born an artist, you have to become one, you have to invent. But if our purpose in life is to have our unique individual project, how can we engage with others and transform what is so personal and subjective into something magical that lifts more people than you alone? And that's ultimately our duty as artists.”
With ‘New’ and ‘-ism’ crossed out on the cover, features conversations with Ger Groot, Alana Jelinek, and Alexandra Blattler and an essay by Jan Verwoert.
Text in English and German.
Soft cover, 18 x 11 cm, 186 pages, 2016
ISBN: 978-3-03746-201-0
ISSN: 1874-0227
