Welcome to the Spiritual Kingdom of Animals

Collage-truth n°18, 2012, 46 x 30 cm, courtesy Thomas Hirschhorn and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris

Slavoj Zizek well known for his radical style and post-Marxist criticism of the moral vacuum of global capitalism. Here the Slovene philosopher looks at nationalism, mass violence, and crime not only through the lens of modern politics and nihilism but also through the responsibility of art and poetry in an era that perceives itself as post-ideological.

WELCOME TO THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM OF ANIMALS by SLAVOJ ZIZEK
collages by THOMAS HIRSCHHORN

 

Plato’s reputation suffers because of his claim that poets should be thrown out of the city — rather sensible advice, judging from this post-Yugoslav experience, where ethnic cleansing was prepared by poets’ dangerous dreams. True, Milosevic “manipulated” nationalist passions — but it was the poets who delivered him the stuff that lends itself to manipulation. They — the sincere poets,…