Author: Alan N. Shapiro
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Jean Baudrillard and Albert Camus on the Simulacrum of Taking a Stance on War, by Alan N. Shapiro
Unlike other thinkers such as Chomsky, Baudrillard is not ‘against war’. Baudrillard’s position is rather that of being ‘neither for nor against’ contemporary hyper-real mediatized wars, and seeing the imperative of choosing whether one is ‘for’ or ‘against’ war as being something of a forced and imposed simulacrum.
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Ruben Talberg‘s volte-face paintings “Arcanum”, by Alan N. Shapiro
An artwork from Ruben Talberg’s series “Arcanum” suggests a multi-nodal secret that can only become known to the initiated few. The work hints at presenting the key to solving a mystery, providing an answer to a riddle that is accessible via magic, mysticism and a very personalized meditation practice filtered through classical spiritual traditions.
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Star Trek: Technologien des Verschwindens, von Alan N. Shapiro
Star Trek is die verbreiteste “Ikone” der technologischen Kultur. Zu den größten Fans gehören Physiker, Ingenieure, Informatiker, Grafikkünstler und Medienschaffende. Doch die ursprüngliche Kreativät von Star Trek wird von der Star Trek-Industrie neutralisiert.
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Towards the Internet of Creators, by Alan N. Shapiro
We don’t yet have an Internet where the creator of a photograph, a video, a piece of music, a segment of software code, a digital artwork, a journalistic piece, or a writerly composition is identified by a special authentication signature or a certificate of ownership.
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Transdisciplinary Code and Objects, by Alan N. Shapiro
In Impossible Exchange, Baudrillard separates his system of thought from ‘neo-Marxist critical theory’, which, on the whole, is also a subject-centered perspective (although one could definitely find an ‘object-centered perspective’ in the original texts of ‘Frankfurt School’ thinkers like T.W. Adorno).
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The development of New Music theory and philosophy with focus on the American composer John Cage, by Marit Trantel
Cage was one of the most important composers of New Music and helped to revolutionise the concept of traditional classical music entirely. Important for this revolution was also the philosophy that stood behind his music and which is intricately linked to his “compositions“.