Jake, 2020 / Video / 0’06”
Gotta catch em all, 2020 / Video / 0’05”
Quarantine-Exhibition / Video / 0’40”
A day in the life / Video / 0’20”
#CritiqueAndHumanism
The Idea of Epoch
Giorgio Agamben
…
The one incomparable claim to nobility our own era might legitimately make in regard to the past: that no longer wanting to be an historical epoch. If one feature of our sensibilities deserves to survive, it is just this sense of impatience and almost of nausea we feel when faced with the prospect of everything simply beginning all over again, even if for the best…
Concepts such as postmodern, the new renaissance, humanity beyond metaphysics, all betray the seed of progressiveness hidden in every conception of decadence and even nihilism. The essential point, on every occasion, is not to miss the new epoch already here or about to arrive or which at least might arrive and whose signs are already around us to be deciphered…
There is… the only really human and spiritual possibility: that of surviving extinction, of overvaulting the end of time and historical epochs, not toward the future or the past, but toward the heart itself of time and history. History as we know it up to now has been no more than its own incessant putting off, and only at the point in which its pulsation is brought to a halt, is there any hope of grasping the opportunity enclosed within it… In our stubborn effort to give ourselves time we mislay the meaning of this gift, just as what gets lost in our incessant breaking into speech is the very reason for language…
What we want is to save the epoch and society from their wandering in tradition, to grasp the good – undefeatable and non-epochal – which was contained in them. The undertaking of this task would be the only ethics, the only politics which measures up to the moment.
This quotation from the essay is part of the Agamben’s book The Idea of Prose
“Do desperate times call for desperate measures?
Over the last few weeks, we have witnessed our lives changing drastically. Social distancing, isolation, quarantine, and pandemics have been embedded into our common vocabulary.
Quarantine is a paradoxical existence in which we experience extreme solitude while allowing a connection. In this suspended space/time, the possibility of reaching out virtually does not alleviate the profound sense of isolation we experience. Rather it amplifies the idea of boundaries: the boundary of a house/body, which prevents us from being a community. I have been trying to use creativity as a means of coping with the stress and isolation of adopting the new ways of living suggested for managing the spread of COVID-19. In the absence of the other, our gaze, unique yet similar, brings us closer through the view, common to all, of the world beyond our window.”
– Eden Mitsenmacher
Biography Eden Mitsenmacher
Born 1987 in the USA; works in Rotterdam.
Combining performance, video and installation to take a critical yet engaging view of social, political and cultural issues. Embracing the desire to do what you love and occasionally getting embarrassed by it. Finding a form for vulnerability and blurring the lines between sincerity and ambiguity. Using pop culture as a frame of reference for social and personal critique but also as a way to create familiarity and accessibility. Sharing and connecting experiences between an I and a You.
Personal experiences such as love, loneliness and longing are taken at face value but are immediately turned into points of systematic general inquiry. The banal becomes serious, and vice versa. Presenting hyper-worlds, built from cultural stereotypes and clichés, then pushed to the brink of emotional overload. Kitsch is a conscious strategy in my research and practice. My inspirations often come from the observation in daily life and especially the firsthand experiences. As one of the many individuals who are experiencing the confusion and struggles in the current macro environment I am interested in the doubts, curiosity and cognition for the potential new value orientations and its unpredictable future possibilities.
Holds a BFA from Goldsmiths College University of London and an MFA from the Dutch Art Institute. Has participated in several exhibitions world wide, including; Istanbul Biennial, the Van Abbe Museum in the Netherlands, Holon Design Museum, Liverpool Biennial, Arebyte Gallery London, ANILOGUE, Animation Festival Budapest, Internationales Kurz- FilmFestival Hamburg Germany and many more.
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