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'A QUANTUM APPROACH TO ART': A two-day masterclass with Slavoj Zizek

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Venue: Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street

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A QUANTUM APPROACH TO ART

Quantum mechanics is not just a specific theory about subatomic particles; it comprise a complex vision of reality in which events are in a superposition (what “really happens” is just one in the series of possibilities), and in which necessity emerges retroactively from a contingent collapse of superposed levels into one reality - instead of a linear development we thus get constant retroactive rearrangement of the past. The political implications of such a vision are clear: a contingent revolutionary event changes our perception of the entire past, and what actually happens is always haunted by the versions of what might have happened. However, its implications for the universe of arts are much less explored. Each of the two classes will therefore focus on a quantum approach to one of the spheres of art:

1--- THE PAINTED VOID will deal with paintings by Jean-Louis David, Gustave Courbet, Picasso, and Andrew Wyeth, focusing on how what we see in their paintings implies an empty frame around which what we see circulates.

2--- SUPERPOSITIONS IN CINEMA, EAST AND WEST will deal with superposed realities in Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Kore-Eda’s Monsters, Park Chan-wook’s Handmaiden, Hitchcock’s Suspicion, and Kieslowski’s Blind Chance. 

LITERATURE: Slavoj Zizek's texts that appeared in the last 2 years on “Philosophical Salon,” where they are freely available.    

 

The masterclass will take place at Birkbeck campus. It will consist of two in-person seminars with Professor Zizek. These teaching sessions will be chaired by the BIH Co-Director Prof Esther Leslie. 

Tickets can be purchased separately for each of the two sessions which will run from 14:00-16:00 (GMT) on both days. Each session costs £25 but there is also a combined ticket available to attend both days at £40. 

Discounted tickets are available to Birkbeck students and staff, who will be required to show their Birkbeck ID at the registration desk.

Although we are looking into streaming possibilities, we have not yet been able to secure this option. For the time being, all tickets released are of in-person attendance only. Additional tickets for virtual streaming may be released separately further down the line - please check this webpage for more information towards the end of October. 

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