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Abstract
Two of the editors of the volume Aesthetics of the Commons (Diaphanes 2021) Cornelia Sollfrank and Felix Stalder discuss with WPCC journal the potential and meanings of the digital commons in creating new subjectivities and new imaginaries on and off the internet. Within this they question whether the focus on the aesthetics of the commons is useful for understanding phenomena such as ‘artistic shadow libraries’, pointing towards the need to build institutions for which ‘practices of commoning are central’. Also considered are the modern art system, copyright, and the corrosive individualism of Western modernity in the artistic sphere. Against these factors they note instead that, ‘the commons are structured through different relations, and care expresses that difference’. New economic approaches are needed in the arts supported by political actors which might include the ‘re-envisioning [of] public institutions, such as public broadcasting, as part of a commons’.
Highlights
WPCC: Thanks for agreeing to participate in an interview with WPCC
We’d like to start with a large question. You have both been working in practical and theoretical level with the ideas and practice surrounding aesthetic commons and digital commons notably through the research project Creating Commons (n.d.). Could you maybe both reflect on some of the more inspirational examples of work for each of you from within the project? And highlight any other projects outside that research project that could be seen in some way as ‘aesthetic commons’ ventures that you think might potentially galvanise other initiatives, artworks or projects? CS: I am not sure, if I find the term ‘aesthetic commons’ useful
One could say that our interest lies in the exploration of how alternative ways of managing resources produce new subjectivities and vice versa. We are doing this in the field of art WPCC Editorial Board: Aesthetics, Commons and the Production of the Subject with its specific conditions for producing specific realities
Summary
WPCC: Thanks for agreeing to participate in an interview with WPCC. We’d like to start with a large question. We are doing this in the field of art WPCC Editorial Board: Aesthetics, Commons and the Production of the Subject with its specific conditions for producing specific realities.
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