Backlash - Essays zur Resilienz der Moderne - OUT NOW!

Finally, in one week (on 21.5) my new and long awaited book "Backlash - Essays zur Resilienz der Moderne" will be released // Endlich! In einer Woche (21.5) erscheint mein lange erwartetes Buch "Backlash - Essays zur Resilienz der Moderne"!

Ihr könnt es jetzt schon per ISBN-Nummer (ISBN: 978-3-86485-139-1) bei der Buchhandlung Eures Vertrauens bestellen - mehr Infos zu Release-Veranstaltungen (zur Zeit noch schwierig) und Rezensionen werden hier folgen.

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Die ökologischen Katastrophen des Anthropozäns führen zu einer Verhärtung althergebrachter Strukturen – dem »Backlash«. Gleichzeitig regt sich Widerstand und neue politische Bewegungen und massive Proteste sprießen überall. Das Wissen über die Probleme unserer modernen Lebensweisen, sowie utopische Modelle eine besseren Welt scheinen so weit verbreitet wie nie – und dennoch „kippt“ die mehrheitliche Weltlage, wenn überhaupt, nur ins Regressive. Warum kommen wir nicht vom Fleck? Was macht die veralteten Strukturen, über deren Toxizität wir so gut wie nie zuvor Bescheid wissen, weiter beharren?

Kilian Jörg betrachtet Bedingungen und Hindernisse des Wandels, indem er unsere körperlichen und subjektiven Verstrickungen in modernen Lebenswelten analysiert. In Überlegungen zu anthropogener Landnahme, Automobilität, hegemonialer Männlichkeit und Regimen der Angst soll unsere sozioökologische Situiertheit in einer Zeit der Um- und Zusammenbrüche greifbar gemacht und damit Handlungsspielräume skizziert werden.

Den Text ergänzende 77 Handlungsanweisungen, sowie Interventionen und Zwischenrufe in Bild- und Textform, laden zusätzlich ein, das Gefühl der Lähmung und Alternativlosigkeit vermittels alltagstauglicher Widerstandspraktiken und Realitätsglitches in aktive Ermächtigung umzuwandeln.

Mit Gastbeiträgen von B Ajay Sharma, Thomas Ballhausen, der Bicycle Liberation Front, Moritz Frischkorn, Claudia Heu, Sabina Holzer, Bernd Kräftner, Anna Lerchbaumer, Emilia Lichtenwagner, Claudia Lomoschitz, Louise Pedigo, Yasmin Ritschl und Brigitte Wilfing.

Kilian Jörg: Backlash

Essays zur Resilienz der Moderne

Erscheint am 21.05.2020

Leseprobe

Kleiner Stimmungs-Atlas in Einzelbänden
Hg. Gustav Mechlenburg, Nora Sdun
Gestaltung: Christoph Steinegger/Interkool
Bd. 27 – B: Backlash. Essays zur Resilienz der Moderne, Kilian Jörg

Textem Verlag, Hamburg
ISBN: 978-3-86485-139-1
16 Euro

Mehr Infos hier: http://textem.de/joerg-backlash.html

*images from page 101 and 30 in the book (photos by myself and Anna Lerchbaumer)



//Update (26/5/2020): the first release event will be held on 4.6 at Vienna's Schikaneder! More information here. 

Crowned Death - On good living and dying in times of Corona

Dying & the modern culture's tendencial incapability to cope with it in any meaningful way seems to be one of the central, yet mostly unacknowledged trigger points that are fueling and distorting the debates around the current Corona crisis. In my article released today at skug | Musikkultur, I argue that we have to understand Covid-19 in relation to the Sixth Mass Extinction - we are, after all, part of the huge, manifold and vastly endangered biomass of this planet and to ignore this fact produces 1) a Backlash into rather trite and meaningless humanist sloganizations of oxymorons like "prevent every unnecessary death" 2) as well as it makes political critiques short-sighted in that they remain in the human, all-too-human realm of only seeing biopolitical regimes of state of exception without any grounding in more-than-human-relationality with other critters from viruses to bats and beyond.

https://skug.at/crowned-death-on-good-living-and-dying-in-times-of-corona/

 *Update: this article has been reposted on NON and production de l'immédiate

Wasting our selves for the environment @/100

 

I have so far only rarely attempted to combine two of my main research topics: that of club culture with that of ecology. In the text Wasting our selves for the environment I try to do exactly that. This text was written last summer on invitation for a Berlin based zine on rave culture which still isn't published. However, a radio version in which I read the text for Entkunstung's new streaming platform /100 has been aired today and you can listen to it if you follow this link.

"Rave culture can operate as one among many experimental fields for developing new and badly needed forms of community-building and sympoiesis on this dying world. To overcome the self-centered, patriarchal culture of the anthropos, we have to waste our selves that are inflicted by its norms, jurisdictions and moral codes : we have to develop new queer forms of relating, of being together, of desiring, even of dying and destroying : of wasting. Amidst the soundworlds of mighty subwoofers and PA towers, we can relate to the power of our machines and include them into our community. A first step to become an ecologically aware society is not to dream about pristine Nature (the anthropos was good at that all along), but to start to see and respect the waste we produce to make the toxic environments we are all (human and non-human) inhabiting in the Anthropocene. In wasted raving, we can achieve the ecstasy of developing a sensual relationship to this planetary state of collapse and transition. Aside our ego-centered, ecologically catastrophic selves we can join the waste we created and become more resilient with it, in a thousand and one new communal ecstatic experiences."

I will make sure to get the text version published soon as well... 

 UPDATE (12/5/20): you can now find the text online at Skug and at NON!

https://skug.at/wasting-our-selves-for-the-environment/
https://non.copyriot.com/wasting-our-selves-for-the-environment/ 

Artist Talk about Toxic Temple for "AIL im Gespräch"

The Angewandte Innovation Lab / Elisabeth Falkensteiner did a talk about our exhibition Toxic Temple this March. In 15 minutes our approach and ideas are summarized in a very good way. Tune in and enjoy!

Virale Überaffirmation

I have felt quite lonely in the last few days in my thinking and doubting about Corona and the collective overaffirmation of government's actions and restrictions. At the invitation of the Austrian magazine on musical culture skug, I have reflected on the situation with some of my over-affirmative favorite tracks and tried to keep a differentiated picture in times of germinating community madness.

Find the German text here.

Corona Panic & Cold Panic - commentary on the Corona Pandemic for taz

 I have written a commentary on the current Corona-Panic for taz - die Tageszeitung. I argue that we might be witnessing a displaced emotional outburst originating from the "cold panic" (Isabelle Stengers' concept) of the slow realization of the ecological catastrophe we are living in.

 "Die heftigen Reaktionen auf Corona zeugen von einem tiefliegenden Bedürfnis, endlich unsere katastrophale Normalität zu suspendieren."

https://taz.de/Umgang-mit-dem-Coronavirus/!5671630/

performative Lesung der toxischen Gebete - Dokumentation

 The first Toxic Temple has closed it's gates. But be sure there will be others opening up in the not so distant future. Stay tuned, we will continue to venerate those that will outlast us!

For now, I will leave you with a few images of our performative reading at the last Toxic Temple event on 26.2 (Überschreitung) - one more poem and some rather edgy video material of the action. Oh Tempel, Du der neuen Düfte, selten' Erden sind dein Land. 

 

 Coke

ein Schluck von diesem schwarzen Trunk

ein Knistern des Behältnis sich verschließender Faust

Du wirst mich überdauern, Flasche Coca Colas

ein Stratum willst du bilden

zuerst mobil und das ozeanische Getier verschlingend

später den Boden als Folie überziehend

Zeitkapsel, Überdauerungsgarant der schwindenden Kultur

Du, die kommuniziert mit den nächsten

Botschafterin der glatten Länder

von der so viele abgerutscht

wohin sollen wir Dich senden

was Bedeutung willst Du übermitteln

singt der irdene Successor

Dein schlierig‘ Lied?

Das Gift hat unser Leben

gemacht zum Garten Eden

dankend senden wir dich hin

du Uniform der Carbonierten

richte Grüße an die Neuen

die Durchdringung dann gelingt

The poems will be published soon and there is also a more general publication on Toxic Temple planed.