Olaylar ve Durumlar Arası İlişkisel Eşitsizlik

Abstract

This report tries to point out the relationship between art and politics in the light of the notions of “hegemony”, “state of emergency”, “exception”, “friend-foe” which are mentioned by Carl Schimtt, a jurist and political scientist, in his books “Political Theology” and “The Definition of the Political”. The report consists of four chapters which can be handled together as interrelated parts or independent texts. First chapter discusses the relation between Art and Theology. In the second chapter focusing on Schmitt's argument of “Political Theology” the relation of art to politics is handled through the concept of exception which arouses the edgeboundary situations. This concept especially discussed in the context of Avantgardism. Along with this, the concept of “political” which points out the relationship between humans or human groups is taken into consideration. According to this, every situation and every object can be a matter of politics among humankind. When the boundaries of political is drawn or become clear they divide the humankind into two in the sense of their decisions and attitudes. This duality consists of friends and foes. Thus, the division of friend and foe defines the political and also becomes a conceptual criterium in explaining the political act. In its relation to art, arguments are like this: In an ordinary situation, in the cultural and artistic activities of a given period of time, outstanding works/personas create an “exceptional situation/state of emergency” and the one who decides this is the hegemon. Secondly; if we define art as an exceptional situation without norms, this would be another political decision. Through these two basic arguments I want to state that from Modernist Avantgarde to the Contemporary Art, art always includes an exceptional situation and a state of emergency. When it comes to the friend-foe duality, it is a kind of duality that come out clear when the boundaries of politics and art are drawn or become clear to shape the senses and perceptions in a given space-time. This is to say; both art and politics take its power from these dualities. Artistic practices as exceptional situations create relationships which are outside of the ordinary norms, points out the degree of intensity in friend-foe duality. In this context, international art festivals of our time and cultural diplomacy is taken into consideration. In the third chapter, the general analysis considering the theological basis of the relationship between art and politics is tied to the processing mechanisms of the World system and with the phenomenon of culture, an intellectual and linguistic practice is attempted to be presented. A concept as “relational inequality” is the aim of this chapter. The fourth and the last chapter is on practice. A process aiming to translate the grey zone of theory into production and presentation, which is entitled as “oriented message”, to the visual language is the content of this chapter.