Short text by Jaspar Joseph Lester

Date Added:
[October 5, 2012]
Discuss this:
[No Comments]
Archi-space:

 

To anthropomorphize objects is perhaps the greatest abuse that we can inflict on the object world. We like to imagine objects staring back at us and even, on occasion, position objects so that they appear to be watching us (see Jaspar’s image in the Visual Interpretations section).  This delusional fantasy is perhaps best challenged through the process of putrefaction where the human body decays to the point of being indistinguishable from the earth that envelopes it.

.

‘That which is exteriorized or dissolved into its precursor exteriority becomes a differential interpolation of a nested series of interiorities whose limitropic convergence upon zero (i.e. reflection upon death) has a weirdly chemical – thus contingent and productive – disposition which simultaneously forecloses the idea of return to the ideal origin and differentially convolutes the path of decontraction to the originary flatline of death.’

.

Reza Negarestani, ‘Undercover Softness: An Introduction to eh Architecture and Politics of Decay’, COLLAPSE, Philosophical Research and Development, Vol VI.  p. 391.

Lukol 1 pc

Leave a Reply

Object abuse asks the question:
who or what is being abused?

Object Abuse has been set up to provide a platform for people to discuss, provoke and question the very nature and orientation of objects. The aim is to readdress the unquestioned drives of our collective pursuits, to turn the tables on the object-subject dynamic.

This investigation’s relevance is reflected in recent developments in philosophy, shifts in our socio-cultural landscape and is finding expression in the visual arts. This questioning of our human-centric perspective is reflected through current ideas found in the works of Bruno Latour, Graham Harman, Quentin Meillassoux, Anselm Franke and others.

The question: what exactly is object abuse is by no means obvious, when you think about it, who is to say the object in question is passive and not active? Also it is worth asking where does the form of abuse originate from? What qualifies abuse, is it quantifiable, can we identify subtler variations? And for that matter; what is an object, or rather can we say what is not an object…with any real certainty?

OA‘s function is to invite a multidisciplinary engagement; to be a forum, a curatorial framework and an archival space.

We welcome expressions of interest and contributions to the ongoing debate.