Imperialism post-ex-ante
Avenir Institute. “Imperialism post-ex-ante”, lecture-performance/installation, Sao Paulo (BR), 2017
The lecture-performance took place at the opening of the exhibition of Avenir Institute “Against the Future” on February 16, 2017. The exhibition is a result of the residency of co-founders of the Institute, Denis Maksimov and Timo Tuominen, at Atelier Fidalga (Residência Paulo Reis) in February-March 2017.
video of the lecture-performance
text, published by Avenir Institute in the aftermath of the lecture
We have hardly yet begun
We have hardly yet begun, 2015, Joseph Popper
Originally produced for The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
© The V&A
Can you begin to remember the futures? Every single moment of the present creates potential and desirable scenarios. The history of progress is a continuous endless race from the point of ultimate uncertainty towards a fictional finish line of total predictability. Today, we enjoy the possibility of keeping in touch with people across the planet, crossing vast terrains and oceans, while simultaneously gluing a sticker on the web camera of laptops, afraid of being spied upon by Big Brother. The idea of the technological panopticon* as an instrument of an omnipresent observation system is therefore sublime: both fascinating and terrifying at the same time.
There are many ways of dreaming about the future. For some, it can be an escape into individual reality as a consequence of an unwillingness to face the currents. The realm of aesthetic freedom seduces science when non-hierarchical thinking is evolving faster than the institutions of knowledge verification within the field of science will allow. Scientific thinking enters the mode that it appears to despise in our present-day: fiction, which can be considered the result of an extrapolative doodle about the potential application of something the scientists haven’t even closely approached.
Today, knowledge creation and its verification mechanisms are still predominantly separated by disciplines: economics, literature, physics, history and so on. This separation of knowledge limits the speed of human pace towards possible progress. The mental gap between the image of a possible future and the institutional restrictions of its arrival becomes unbearable. The frontier between the ‘fictional’ and the ‘real’, so evidently uncrossable before, is violently penetrated in the moments when formerly fictional ideas become suddenly materialized: air flight, voyage into space, etc. These moments liberate the mind into free float. We have been finally heading into the future of infinite possibilities and abandoned restrictions. When will we arrive there and if it happens – how is it to live there?
There is a Soviet anecdote: “the future is certain, it is only the past that is unpredictable”. The ultimate certainty of the future is plain: it is going to come regardless of whether we have a place in it. The future is a flimsy construction subjected to anthropological gravity at a certain point of intersection between time and space. The strength of the pull towards the usual ground is defined by human-centrism in acting, thinking and dreaming. And we have hardly yet begun to depart from fundamental egoism behind the conviction that the Universe is turning around us. The future is fascinating, merciless and situated within the perfect chaos of storms.
*A panopticon is a proposed architectural model for the most effective prison. Developed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the structure requires one single guard in a central observation tower who is able to watch any prisoner at any moment of time. This creates the feeling for the prisoners that they are indeed being watched at all times, effectively constantly controlling their own behaviour.
– text by Denis Maksimov
original publication via Node Centre for Curatorial Studies, Prophecies
Almanac of Contemporary Culture
Russian Centre of Science and Culture, Brussels
Modern media technologies push protagonists to become ‘smupid’ (term coined out of merging 'smart’ and 'stupid’ by Douglas Coupland) - 'I am really smart, there is just no wifi access here’. The abundance of media content and visual information in form of carpet bombardment from numerous screens contributes to losing the ability to focus and go in depth in understanding of essential issues. This leads to inevitable lack of comprehension of totality of ideological frame, which we inhabit. How to preserve the ability to self-reflect and deconstruct the attempts of manipulation in the midst of acceleration and attention deficit?
The Anatomy of a Modern Leviathan
poster is designed by Vaast Colson
The idea of a state as meta-human was described by Thomas Hobbes in the classic book of political philosophy, where the concept of a social contract theory between ‘Leviathan’ and citizens is outlined. Artistic strategy of taking metaphor literally and developing narratives from it is a point of departure for this lecture-performance. We still understand little about our bodies. The same is true for political processes. When you get health issues everyone around you either gives 'common advice’ on treatment or recommend you to see the doctor (what most of us try to escape usually). What is the political system 'illnesses’, 'hospital’, 'treatments’? Denis Maksimov drew (literally and figuratively) comparative parallels between the nature of Westphalian-modelled nation state, modern political systems and common knowledge about anatomy of the human body. The lecture-performance is a conceptual triptych, consisting of the physical nature of Leviathan, comparative politics and comparative medicine, the most common deviations and illnesses.
Denis Maksimov was invited to stage lecture-performance by Vaast Colson. It was staged in Stadslimiet art space in Antwerp, Belgium, on January 9, 2015.
Art, society and politics: Russian ‘soft power’ in recent history
KU Leuven
What is the history of the interrelation between art and politics? Is ‘soft power’ really that new a phenomenon? How did art’s role from the tool of transmitting and narration of political power transformed during the 20th century? What role do art, so-called 'cultural diplomacy’, and soft power play in the big political games on the global scale? How did The Soviet Union and Russia exert this soft power? How does this compare to other countries?
More information | Lecture slides
Innovative methods of teaching: competitiveness of future university
Hogeschool Universiteit Brussel, Brussels
The academic education is challenged by the further development and sophistication of the online education platforms. Orientation of the industries on practical knowledge and skills disregard the diploma is a risk for university standard to become a mere fetish in upcoming future, holding position of prestige at the maximum.
How university can compete with changing landscape of education and stay relevant in the post-Internet age?
Understanding the contemporary art world and it’s key actors
How to approach and analyse works of contemporary art? What is art and what is not? What mediums, subjects and artists define ‘modernity’? What are the key roles and functions in 'the art world’? How do galleries, art fairs and museums work in relation to each other? Why do people invest in contemporary art? How to talk and what to ask in conversation with artists? How does art influence the way we perceive the world around us?
International research cooperation: Russia in spotlight
Tallinn University
In this keynote lecture for EARMA annual conference, Denis Maksimov on behalf of Eurasia Competitiveness Institute had presented analysis of Russian innovation system and research infrastructure competitiveness in the context of government strategy and policies of the recent years, as well as the outlook for possible future scenarios.
Strategies for creative university branding
Flemish Cultural Centre, Brussels
How modern university, especially the one without ages of history, can ‘mark’ it’s location on the global map of academic propositions to attract the best minds from all over the world?
Round table conversation at the National Research University Higher School of Economics
National Research University - Higher School of Economics, Moscow
The roundtable took place in the framework of the program of the International Consultancy Committee of The Higher School of Economics, focused on improving recognition and reputation of the University abroad.