31 March 2011: Discussion on Giorgio Agamben’s essay “The State of Exception” at Punto ES
Despite the fairly prevalent criticism against Giorgio Agamben’s notion of the state of exception, the concept still seems to exert an undeniable fascination, giving way to a series of mis-readings and appropriations in art contexts that speak to the trope’s imaginary (if not actualized) potential. In fact, only a few days before artist Chryse Tsiota suggested “The State of Exception” among other texts as potential reading material for our meetings, I remember coming across the notion in an essay written by a group of feminist artists who seemed to be using it as a means of reformulating the idea of the other. While I have to confess that I had thus far avoided the text despite its widespread appeal and influence, mistakenly believing that it was on its way out, it yielded a surprisingly productive discussion around current issues and concerns. Continue reading
