An Evening With... Diedrich Diederichsen
Thursday 29th September, 7:30 pm
An Evening With... Diedrich Diederichsen
Lecture & Debate
Thursday 29th September, 7:30 pm
Location: Stedelijk Museum auditorium
Language: English
Entrance: Free with a valid admission ticket to the museum
Reservation: Required
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Goethe Institute (Amsterdam) proudly present An Evening With: Diedrich Diederichsen. The Stedelijk Museum presents the debut of “An Evening With,” the newest addition to its Public Program. “An Evening With” extends an open invitation to noted scholars in the field of modern and contemporary art history and critical theory to present their current research in an informal lecture and discussion format, with the aim of actively contributing to a lively academic environment in the Netherlands. On September 29, media theoretician Diedrich Diederichsen will reflect on how the current budget cuts in the arts in the Netherlands relate to broader political developments in Western Europe.
For the past 50 years, Western contemporary art has constructed its ideas of criticality, subversion, and dissidence around structures in which state and market played out against each other. Now, it seems that the situation has become reversed, and both state and market have plenty of other options and don’t need critical art at all. The current political climate in the Netherlands – which actually spans well beyond Dutch borders – is a clear testament to that. What can we learn from this situation? Are there any options and opportunities on the artistic level, or can this only be dealt with in strictly political terms?
Diedrich Diederichsen (b. 1957, Hamburg) was editor of two music magazines during the 1980s (Sounds, Hamburg, and Spex, Cologne) and taught at several academies during the 1990s in Germany, Austria, and the United States in the fields of art history, musicology, theater studies, and cultural studies. He was Professor of Cultural Theory at Merz Academy, Stuttgart, from 1998 to 2006 and is currently Professor for Theory, Practice, and Communication of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna. His recent publications include: Psicodelia y ready-made, Buenos Aires 2011; Utopia of Sound, Vienna 2010 (co-editor with Constanze Ruhm) (English), Rock, Paper, Scissor - Pop-Music/Fine Arts, Graz 2009 (co-editor with Peter Pakesch) (German/English); On Surplus Value (of Art), Rotterdam/New York 2008 (German/English/Dutch); Eigenblutdoping, Cologne 2008 (German); Kritik des Auges, Hamburg 2008 (German); Argument Son, Dijon 2007 (French); Personas en loop, Buenos Aires 2006 (Spanish); and Musikzimmer, Cologne 2005 (German).
