Spaces of Appearance - by Martin Renz & Julius Schwarzwälder (Paperback)

About the Book

Often cited, rarely explained, never applied ‒ Arendt's >space of appearance

Book Synopsis

Present whenever people act together and yet never seen for what they do, spaces of appearance come in many guises: a car crash in Vienna, a discussion forum in Dresden, a baker's queue in Paris, an art festival in Shiraz, an unbuilt house in Istanbul, a law court in Berlin, a photograph from Arkansas. Taking their cue from Hannah Arendt's famous concept, the case studies in this volume, written in close collaboration, examine how the perceptive standards of a given political situation may subtly change or consolidate. Supported by a wealth of images, this volume demonstrates how the concept can be activated for innovative research ‒ especially in cases where an understanding of aesthetics and politics needs to go beyond their analogization.

Featuring an essay by Susan Buck-Morss.

Review Quotes

»Ce livre surprendra tant par son propos que par sa méthode. Il affronte une question non résolue et plus que jamais insistante: comment prenons-nous conscience de l'histoire dans laquelle nous sommes trop directement plongés pour ne pas osciller entre la dénégation et la dramatisation? La diversité des articles en même temps qu'un hommage à la lucidité d'Hannah Arendt sont une pierre de touche quant à la pertinence de cette approche. Le faire voir propre à l'art, particulièrement dans ses impacts et techniques récentes, apporte à ce projet ces éclats d'actualité qui convainquent.« (Claude Imbert, Professor of Philosophy Emerita, ENS Paris)--Claude Imbert, Professor of Philosophy Emerita, ENS Paris

»Democratic politics, so it is often hoped, will be a >space of reasons, space of appearances.

»Illuminating Arendt's spaces of appearance in their aesthetic guise, this essay collection opens a novel, exciting perspective on how we speak and act together politically. I recommend this volume in particular because of the vast variety of voices it assembles and the plurality of aesthetic experiences it brings to shine.« (Maria Robaszkiewicz, author of Hannah Arendt and Politics)--Maria Robaszkiewicz, author of »Hannah Arendt and Politics«

About the Author

Martin Renz (Edited by)
Martin Renz is a PhD candidate in American Studies at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. He works as a freelance journalist on science advice and research policy for the German news publication Research.Table and organizes the research initiative Ästhetik demokratischer Lebensformen in Frankfurt. Before embarking on his PhD, he studied philosophy, political science, and the humanities in Berlin, Paris, Frankfurt, and Chicago.

Julius Schwarzwälder (Edited by)
Julius Schwarzwälder is a PhD candidate at Technische Universität Darmstadt, where he considers some aesthetic effects of the surging use of algorithmics. In and beyond Frankfurt, he co-organized the graduate research initiative Ästhetik demokratischer Lebensformen. He studied philosophy and aesthetics in London, Frankfurt, Paris, and Darmstadt.