<underfire> re fluid borders, structured chaos, weak discipline

[Wolfgang Sützl]

Sarah, Bracha, Ryan,

in response to your postings, may I offer some more thoughts on the 
possibility of an "originary event of peace" -

I have long been concerned with the question of peace as a historical 
reaity beyond the prevailing understanding of it as the negation of war. 
That negating thing invariably bears the traces of what it seeks to 
negate, and peace born out of war only lives as peace that goes back to 
war. Brecht writes in his "German War Primer" "THOSE AT THE TOP SAY: 
PEACE AND WAR Are of different substance. But their peace and their war 
Are like wind and storm. War grows from their peace Like son from his 
mother He bears Her frightful features. Their war kills Whatever their 
peace Has left over."

If peace is to be peaceful, it could not be a mere opposite of war. So 
the question of the originary event of peace - peace ocurring, without a 
presupposed violent reality that it negates - would be a "postive" 
peace, but also a much more fragile, time- and place-bound, pluralist 
conception of it. As such, it is different from the metaphysical, 
solemn, out-of-this world, awakward notions of the "big peace" that we 
have inherited from traditions (and which, with its symbolism of 
solemnity, matches the war agenda, which is the one that gets "down to 
business"). However, such a "eventual" peace can never be "secured" 
without ceasing to be what it is. It can only be constantly re-creataed.

I agree with Ryan that this opens epistemological questions. And I add - 
we cannot address these questions from within the existing 
epistemological parameters, but, I would suggest, only through a radical 
questioniong of these parameters, as it happens in experimental art. I 
am not so clear about the withheld thought. If the eventual peace is one 
that can historically manifest, it would be interesting to see the 
significance of latency in it.

Bracha,

 >> The originary event of peace is compassion.

I love the nobility of this (communicated!) thought. There are people, 
including Vattimo, who have suggested understandings of the "eventual" 
peace as "caritas" (lat.), which survives in "charity" (engl.) or 
"caridad"(esp.). It has the root of the verb "to care" in it. Compassion 
is near to that, isn't it? But does it not presuppose a suffering, a 
"passion"? And would that mean if there is no suffering, than peace 
cannot occur? What would be your understanding of this? "Without care" 
is "se cura" in latin, and the root of "security". Nowadays we tend to 
understand care as "worry", something we want to be free from 
(carefree), and we tend to forget the meaning of care as "caring for". 
Is caring not an art?

Kate, your suggestion of
> peace is a relationship.

Would correspond to the notion of caring/compassion, but how does a 
relationship occur? To what kind of actions does it give rise that would 
be historically "real". This lead me back to the epistemological 
question. If radical and experimental art is the place whre we might 
look for an "event of peace", than perhaps that event of peace might 
include transforming modes of perception, storage, archivation and 
distribution of works. It would be a matter of radically re-inventing 
media.

Wolfgang



Southworth, Kate schrieb:
> Dear Bracha,
> 
> Thank you for your words 'the originary event of peace is
> compassion'.  They are beautifully simple words, that seem to mean
> just what they say, but which also seem to refer to your ideas of
> compassionate hospitality.  Your writing on compassionate hospitality
> suggests, to me, that peace is a relationship.
> 
> If it is appropriate, I would be very grateful if you could share
> with us here on this list some of your ideas about compassion and
> peace.  For me, it is only through attempting to understand the
> supplementary space that you articulate in your work that it is
> possible to imagine peace.
> 
> warmest regards,
> 
> Kate
> 
>> ---------- From: 	underfire-bounces at underfire.eyebeam.org on behalf
>> of bracha L. Ettinger Reply To: 	underfire at underfire.eyebeam.org 
>> Sent: 	Saturday, November 4, 2006 6:29 PM To:
>> underfire at underfire.eyebeam.org Subject: 	Re: <underfire> re fluid
>> borders, structured chaos, weak discipline
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Ryan replicates Wolfgand's question What would be an originary
>> event of peace and his reply is a thought.
>> 
>> 
>> For me there is no doubt about this. And I do not stop writing
>> this, again and again.
>> 

>> 
>> Bracha L. Ettinger
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> _______________________________________________ Under Fire
> http://underfire.eyebeam.org 16 October - 10 December 2006 
> International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville all writings
> copyright individual authors no commercial use without permission to
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