![Armen Avanessian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Armen_Avanessian.jpg)
Armen Avanessian (born 1973) is an
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
,
literary theorist, and
political theorist. He has taught at the
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
, among other institutions, and held fellowships in the German departments of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. His work on
Speculative realism
Speculative realism is a movement in contemporary Continental-inspired philosophy (also known as post-Continental philosophy) that defines itself loosely in its stance of metaphysical realism against its interpretation of the dominant forms of p ...
and
Accelerationism in
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
has found a wide audience beyond
academia
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
.
Life
Of
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
descent, Armen Avanessian was born 1973 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
studied philosophy and
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
under
Jacques Rancière
Jacques Rancière (; born 10 June 1940) is a French philosopher, Professor of Philosophy at European Graduate School in Saas-Fee and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII: Vincennes—Saint-Denis. After co-authoring '' ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. He completed his dissertation, 'Phenomenology of Ironic Spirit: Ethics, Poetics, and Politics in Modernity', under the supervision of conservative theorist
Karl Heinz Bohrer
Karl Heinz Bohrer (26 September 1932 – 4 August 2021) was a German literary scholar and essayist. He worked as chief editor for literature of the daily ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ'', and became co-publisher and author of the cultural ...
at the
University of Bielefeld
Bielefeld University (german: Universität Bielefeld) is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization a ...
. For several years, he worked as a free-lance
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
,
journal editor
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
(Le Philosophoire, Paris), and in the
publishing industry in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
From 2007 to 2014, he taught in the
Peter Szondi
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
Institute for Comparative Literature at the Free University of Berlin. In 2011 he was a visiting fellow in the German Department at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and in 2012 in the German Department at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. Since 2013, he has held visiting appointments at a number of
art schools
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...
(in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Vienna,
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
). In 2014, he became the chief editor at Merve Verlag, a Berlin publisher specializing in philosophy and political theory. In 2011, Armen Avanessian founded the bilingual research and publication platform Speculative Poetics that brings together philosophers, writers, and artists from across the world around the idea of a new theoretical discipline in the making.
Career
Following his dissertation, which had already explored
phenomena
A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...
at the intersection of
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
,
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
, and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, Avanessian focused on developing a new approach in
literary theory
Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mo ...
and
philosophy of language
In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...
. Collaborating with colleagues such as Anke Hennig, he began working in 2011 on connecting new speculative-ontological approaches with twentieth-century philosophies of language, which resulted most notably in two co-written books, 'Present Tense: A Poetics' (2012, English translation 2015) and 'Metanoia: A Speculative Ontology of Language, Thinking, and the Brain' (2014, English translation forthcoming 2016). Moreover, he played a central role in bringing accelerationism into German-language political philosophy. In 2015,
Wired Magazine
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online magazine, online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquar ...
named him an intellectual innovator, noting in particular his concern with
post-capitalist
Post-capitalism is a state in which the economic systems of the world can no longer be described as forms of capitalism. Various individuals and political ideologies have speculated on what would define such a world. According to classical Marx ...
ideas.
Avanessian's work has come to be situated primarily outside the academy. It includes widely discussed statements on current affairs such as the
refugee crisis
A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of Forced displacement, forcibly displaced persons. These could be either internally displaced person, internally displaced, refugees, asylum ...
, numerous lectures in the international
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
and
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
scene, as well as a large number of interviews and
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
portraits. Beyond the classical academic mainstream, Avanessian has repeatedly managed to introduce new concepts and theoretical constellations into
public discourse
The public sphere (german: Öffentlichkeit) is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. A "Public" is "of or concerning th ...
. These consist partly of
neologisms
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
, partly of concepts used in smaller circles, which Avanessian's work as editor re-produces for the German-language context. Examples include "
speculative realism
Speculative realism is a movement in contemporary Continental-inspired philosophy (also known as post-Continental philosophy) that defines itself loosely in its stance of metaphysical realism against its interpretation of the dominant forms of p ...
", "
acceleration
In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by the ...
", "
xenofeminism
Cyberfeminism is a feminist approach which foregrounds the relationship between cyberspace, the Internet, and technology. It can be used to refer to a philosophy, methodology or community. The term was coined in the early 1990s to describe the wor ...
", "hyperstition", and, most recently, the concept of the "time complex:
postcontemporary". Hyperstition, moreover, is not just another concept, it also designates a method, namely the actualization in the present, from out of the future, of ideas or fictions.
Avanessian's books have been translated into several languages, including
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Russian,
Dutch,
Spanish, and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
Literary Studies
Avanessian's early publications are mostly scholarly books and essays on
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
,
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy
Philosophy (f ...
, and
literary studies. His philosophical breakthrough came with the edited volumes on 'Speculative Realism' (Realism Now) and the German edition of the reader, '#Acceleration'. His move to Merve has emphasized his focus on editing current, not yet established philosophy, treating, in particular, questions in
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
,
finance theory, and
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
. He has also published books discussing the possibility of
poeticizing philosophy.
His book 'Overwrite: Ethics of Knowledge, Poetics of Existence' (2015, English translation forthcoming) confronts the deplorable state of academia in an explicitly accelerationist way. Not limiting himself to mere criticism, Avanessian is constantly at work constructing alternative platforms such as the summer school he organized with
Reza Negarestani
Reza Negarestani (born 1977) is an Iranian philosopher and writer, known for "pioneering the genre of 'theory-fiction' with his book" ''Cyclonopedia'' which was published in 2008. It was listed in Artforum as one of the best books of 2009. Negare ...
and Pete Wolfendale at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, on "Emancipation as Navigation: From the Space of Reasons to the Space of Freedoms."
Art
Avanessian can also be considered a postcontemporary artist. He uses not only classical publication formats but also
art festivals and
exhibitions
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery
An art gallery is a roo ...
. The 2015 gallery festival "Tomorrow Today / curated by_vienna" for example, was based on Avanessian's
homonymous
In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones (equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition, ...
essay and combined the work of twenty curators with the idea of an actual
post-capitalism. Within the framework of the ninth Berlin Biennale, Avanessian conducted a ten-day Young Curators Workshop on alternatives to the economic and political models of
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
.
Avanessian is a regular contributor to art journals such as
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
,
Texte zur Kunst
''Texte zur Kunst'' is a German contemporary art magazine.
History
''Texte zur Kunst'' was founded in 1990 in Cologne by art historian Stefan Germer and art critic Isabelle Graw. It has been published in Berlin since 2000. Since the death of ...
, and
DIS Magazine
DIS is a collaborative project based in New York City. It was founded in 2010 by Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, David Toro, Nick Scholl, Patrik Sandberg and Samuel Adrian Massey, and publishes ''DIS Magazine'', a twist on a lifestyle and ...
. He also writes frequently about
art in philosophical contexts. For several years now, Avanessian has collaborated with the
graphic artist
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...
, Andreas Töpfer, which has led to publications in print (with Merve and Sternberg Press) and on film.
Radio
With columnist Georg Diez, media theorist Paul Feigelfeld, and author Julia Zange, Armen Avanessian hosts "60 Hertz", a talk show airing every Monday on Berlin Community Radio. The show is conceived as an artistic rendering, in interviews and conversations, of everyday life in the 2010s. Episodes are usually broadcast in a mix of English and German language.
Film
With Berlin director Christopher Roth, he has produced the film ''Hyperstition'' (2016), which draws on
ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
,
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
, and
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
to question the concept of
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
.
Screened at several festivals in Europe and the United States, the film consists of conversations with established as well as younger philosophers such as
Nick Srnicek, Elie Ayache,
Ray Brassier
Raymond Brassier (born 1965) is a British philosopher. He is member of the philosophy faculty at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, known for his work in philosophical realism. He was formerly Research Fellow at the Centre for Research ...
and others.
Selected bibliography
Writer
* Phänomenologie ironischen Geistes Ethik, Poetik und Politik der Moderne. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2010,
* with Anke Henning: Präsens Poetik eines Tempus. Diaphanes, 2012,
** Present Tense. A Poetics. (together with Anke Hennig), Bloomsbury 2015
* with Anke Hennig: Metanoia Spekulative Ontologie der Sprache. Merve Verlag, 2014,
** Metanoia: Ontologie der Sprache. (together with Anke Hennig) Berlin: Merve, 2014 (English forthcoming with Bloomsbury)
* with Andreas Töpfer: Speculative Drawing, Sternberg Press, 2014,
** Speculative Drawing. (together with Andreas Töpfer) Berlin: SternbergPress, 2014
* Überschrift: Ethik des Wissens Poetik der Existenz. Merve Verlag, 2014,
* Irony and the Logic of Modernity. De Gruyter, 2015,
** Irony and the Logic of Modernity. DeGruyter, 2015
* Überschreiben. Ethik des Wissens Poetik der Existenz. Berlin: Merve 2015 (English forthcoming with Sternberg Press Berlin)
Publisher
* Armen Avanessian, Luke Skrebowski: Aesthetics and Contemporary Art. Sternberg Press, 2011,
* Armen Avanessian, Björn Quiring and Andreas Töpfer: Abyssus Intellectualis. Spekulativer Horror. Merve, 2013,
* Armen Avanessian : Form Zwischen Ästhetik und künstlerischer Praxis. diaphanes,
* Armen Avanessian, Gabriele Brandstetter and Franck Hofmann : Die Erfahrung des Orpheus. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2010,
* Armen Avanessian, Franck Hofmann : Raum in den Künsten : Konstruktion Bewegung Politik. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2010,
* Armen Avanessian, Winfried Menninghaus and Jan Völker : Vita aesthetica Szenarien ästhetischer Lebendigkeit. diaphanes,
* Armen Avanessian : #Akzeleration. Merve Verlag, 2013,
* Armen Avanessian, Jan Niklas Howe : Poetik Historische Narrative, aktuelle Positionen.
Kulturverlag Kadmos, 2014,
* Armen Avanessian, Robin Mackay : #Accelerate The Accelerationist Reader. Merve Verlag, 2014,
* Armen Avanessian, Anke Hennig and Steffen Popp : Poesie und Begriff, diaphanes.
* Armen Avanessian, Sophie Wennerscheid : Kierkegaard and Political Theory Religion, Aesthetics, Politics and the Intervention of the Single Individual. Museum Tusculanum Press, 2015,
* Armen Avanessian, Helen Hester and Jennifer Sophia Theodor (Translation): dea ex machina. Merve Verlag, 2015,
* Armen Avanessian, Gerald Nestler : Making of Finance. 2015,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avanessian, Armen
1973 births
20th-century Austrian philosophers
20th-century Austrian writers
20th-century essayists
21st-century Austrian philosophers
21st-century Austrian writers
21st-century essayists
Anti-capitalists
Austrian anti-fascists
Austrian essayists
Austrian film producers
Austrian logicians
Austrian non-fiction writers
Continental philosophers
Critical theorists
Epistemologists
Film theorists
Graphic novelists
Hyperreality theorists
Independent scholars
Irony theorists
Literacy and society theorists
Literary theorists
Living people
Mass media theorists
Media critics
Metaphilosophers
Metaphysicians
Metaphysics writers
Ontologists
Phenomenologists
Philosophers of art
Philosophers of culture
Philosophers of economics
Philosophers of education
Philosophers of language
Philosophers of literature
Philosophers of mind
Philosophers of religion
Philosophers of science
Philosophers of social science
Philosophers of technology
Philosophy of time
Political philosophers
Science fiction critics
Austrian social commentators
Social philosophers
Theorists on Western civilization
Writers about activism and social change
Writers from Vienna
Columbia University faculty