Issue 3

Watching Worlds Collapse

20.07.2015 - 28.09.2015

In 2008, Naomi Klein explained in The Shock Doctrine the manner by which the aftermath of catastrophes which she described as “states of shock” — whether they be ecological, political, or economic in nature —are crucial moments for the redistribution of social structures, ideologies, institutions, and individuals that then seek to impose new orders more aligned with their respective interests.

Shock as a strategy is familiar to artists. In history, artworks have been uttering loud, peculiar statements often defying the conservatism of the societies they belong to, fostering intellectual shifts of perspective through formal and conceptual experimentation. A “shock” can crack a system open and is an occasion for discussion, meaningful silence, and the overall mutation of the status quo. What differentiates the normal state of things from one of emergency? How do feelings of fear, comfort, or disruption affect our judgment, making us susceptible to certain forms of hatred, ambition, or indulgence? How can we propose an alternative to the radicalization of behavior brought about by traumatic historic contingencies? How do artists deal with the particular perception of temporality embedded within these complex situations?

The 3rd issue of Terremoto proposes to look at “shock” as an entity in itself, entailing its own aesthetics, morals, and ideology through its representation in contemporary art. It considers art born in periods of crisis, taking extreme situations as inspiration, food for thought, or sheer provocation. Or rather, art that establishes “shock” as an aesthetic method in itself. Through the use of appropriation, documentary, and fiction, contemporary artists confront the state of permanent emergency that characterizes early 21st century global politics, thus hoping to digest social traumas so they can become springboards for change rather than remain as unresolved wounds.

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