Carl Einstein: Radical Anthropology, 2005 (Dokument)

Archive plan context
Universitätsarchiv der Akademie der bildenden Künste, Wien 3 Publikationen 3.1 Bücher / Periodika 3.1.1 Wissenschaftliche Abschlussarbeiten 3.1.1.2 Dissertationen Ästhetische Differenz und subjektiver Ausdruck (2007) Carl Einstein: Radical Anthropology (2005) Das "böse" Kind der Stadt (2008)

Information on identification
Archival Material Types:	Buch
Title:	Carl Einstein: Radical Anthropology

Information on content and structure
Publikation: Gruppe:	Diplomarbeit/Dissertation (DIPLOM)
Publikation: Typ:	Dissertation
AutorIn:	David Quigley
Creation date(s):	2005

Identification area
Identification code:	ÖNB Wien / 1786008-C
Language:	Englisch

Area of information

Beschreibung:

"Die Gesellschaft von heute ist in eine Umrangierung der individuellen und kollektiven Kräfte gestellt. Selten hat der Konflikt zwischen beiden Strömungen mit gleicher Gewalt das Leben des einzelnen bedrängt." (Carl Einstein: "Georges Braque", 1934)

In the face of twentieth century mass-mobilization and slaughter, amidst violent movements of currents of power flowing with the combined force of machine and man, a new urgency develops around the theory and organization of society. Revolution and war between 1914 and 1945 dramatically changed the stakes of conceptualizations of the way in which society is organized. 1914 marks the beginning of a development in which the consequences of the organizational and military power of nation states qualitatively change the relationship of the collective to individual identity and expression. The fusion of industrial principles of organization and mobilization with military planning, not to mention the alliance between science, heavy industry and national sovereignty, become defining characteristics of a new form of social order.
Research into the phenomenon of modern mass-mobilization as manifested in early twentieth century Western European culture can be used not only to understand the specific biographical and historical narrative of the genesis of modern culture, but also to understand the implications such organization might have for a comprehensive theory of human practice: What implications, not only direct, biographical and historical, but also aesthetic, ethical and epistemological, does the modern theory and practice of social organization have for contemporary cultural production? How do general, collective changes in the conditions of production alter the relationship of the individual to others - and how might these changes be integrated into a theory of aesthetic practice?
The twists and turns of history have left behind prominent empty spaces in the cultural landscape of Europe. Amidst the obvious presence of structures and traditions that have continued beyond their time, those constitutive "foundations" of a certain practice or way of conceiving the world, the contemporary is haunted by the conspicuous absence of unrealized projects, unfulfilled works, or lives cut short or forgotten by this or that fluke of history. In order to appreciate the questionable status of the shape of the present world, contemporary research necessitates both a critical assessment of the people and institutions left standing, as well as a speculative investigation into those worlds which along the way have been obscured or simply lost.
Carl Einstein's life and work constitute the framework for my research into the concurrent development of aesthetic, epistemological and political theory in the early twentieth century. Einstein's work develops in the constellation of these disciplines as they give order and form to the unfolding of culture, but also - and more importantly - it shows how the negotiation of these areas of practice and knowledge directly determine the conditions of life. The peripheral acknowledgement of Carl Einstein in current research, verging on complete absence, not only reflects numerous problems inherent to art history and theory; Einstein's life and the fate of his nearly forgotten writings suggest the situation of culture in the aftermath of the organized violence of the twentieth century.