#somatechnics

Abstract: In this paper I will make the case that the bodily change is a strategy for the destruction of the world. Radical romanticism, I will argue, is an ethical praxis of tactile engagement producing futures, without subsuming agential differences into a singular form. I will make the case that attention to cuteness and touch can turn into strategies for emergent practices beyond violent domination. I will discuss cuteness through the theorization of Tripthi Pillai and Sianne Ngai. Then turn to a reading of Neelu Bhuman’s Love Letter/Prema Lekha, which I will let culminate through resonance with Sharon Patricia Holland’s engagement with quotidian racism, in a proposal for radical romanticism. This reading will shown to be the overture for the destruction of the world through an articulation of transsomatechnics via the work of Denise Ferreira da Silva. Somatechnics can be envisioned as strategy of ethics supported by María Lugones’ world travelling. The end of the world might emerge from brokenness as Nat Raha discusses.

Keywords:

Ethics, trans, forms of life, somatechnics, dispositions, brokenness

Somatechnics. Transparent travelers and obscure nobodies 25/05 -02/09/2018

On occasion of the tenth anniversary of its new venue, Museion is turning the spotlight on its original mission, namely the idea of fostering dialogue between northern Europe and the Mediterranean area. Somatechnics offers a contemporary take on these elements, bringing together pieces by artists who work in Austria and Italy and explore the physical, administrative and symbolic borders of the two countries. Taking its cue from the historical and geopolitical characteristics of the South Tyrol – Trentino Alto Adige region, Somatechnics explores how ethnic identities form, in connection with a linguistic identity and the sense of belonging to a place, or trespassing in some way: elements which confine our bodies to specific areas. The project includes an exhibition, a programme of performances and a public programme.

The proposal was selected from a pool of projects by eight curators under the age of 45. The jury which chose the winning project comprised: Massimiliano Gioni, associate director and head curator of the New Museum, New York, and artistic director of The Trussardi Foundation in Milan; Matthias Mühling, Director of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich, and Letizia Ragaglia, Director of Museion.