art, science & business/symposium: »Dealing With Fear II«

Part 1: The Artist’s Fear of Her-/Himself
Part 2: The Public’s Fear of New Technologies

This symposium continues the Akademie Schloss Solitude’s interdisciplinary work on the main topic of »dealing with fear« by exploring two special aspects of this condition. The collective discussion and exploration of the challenge of a subjectively perceived existential fear, and a societally based (future) fear is not only an experiment that artists, art historians, cultural scholars, and nanoresearchers are adressing, but also an interdisciplinary approach that will locate unexpected commonalities.

The recognizability of the artistic author is the condition of success in today’s cultural world. Only those who find their own position – and can hold onto it – are heard. The fear of establishing an artistic identity, which is too narrow or too open, is too easily exchangeable with others or too far outside of conventions, is therefore always present during the careers of artists. Fear of new technologies is one of the largest phobias since the 1990s. People fear technological developments in the areas of nanotechnology, nuclear energy, genetic research, etc. How do scientists deal with this vague fear, and, in contrast, how can trust be established?

The symposium will open on Thursday evening with a lecture in German by Thomas Macho, professor of cultural history at the Humboldt University in Berlin, on the topic of »production strategies of fear in the artistic avant-garde«. The Friday lectures take place in English.

Initiated by engineering juror Petros Koumoutsakos, music juror Isabel Mundry, and Akademie jury chairman Philip Ursprung.

Please register with Catharina Märklin, cm@akademie-solitude.de, Tel. +49 (0) 711 99 61 91 34.
Free admission. Thu 8 pm, Fri 9.30 am – 6:30 pm