On Standby
A series of videolectures
The virus has emphatically called to our minds the forecasts for late anthropocene, the disintegration of familiar economic and political structures, and especially the existence of borders, which we had forgotten in our civilizational paradigm of a world that belongs to us. The limitations of our way of life imposed by the quarantine have smashed our comfortable patterns of perception.
The prevalent requirement for constant productivity and mobility has been reduced to zero. This sudden deceleration, a forced downshift, shatters our illusions of infinite possibilities of acquiring, exploring and consuming. It places us back in our corporeality. It grounds us and compels us to listen carefully for things coming both from within and from without.
In this context, the experience of enforced isolaton appears as a journey which poses a lot of new questions. To confront them, we are inviting distinguished representatives of different areas and perspectives: science, culture, religion, to share their thoughts on the chances of building new models of society, development and re-creation of compassion, solidarity and engagement.
Their lectures for the students and doctoral students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, and for everyone interested, will be presented on the Academy’s YouTube channel.