My video work The Political Argument/Peace Talks @ IDKF, Stuttgart, Germany
My video ?The Political Argument/Peace Talks“ is presented at IDKF - Internationales Digital Kunst Festival, taking place 16th and 28th, Sunny High Club and Musik der Jahrhunderte, November 2024 at Stuttgart, Germany.
The IDKF is an annual international video art festival taking place in Stuttgart, Germany.
About ?The Political Argument/Peace Talk“:
Political debates are characterized by more than just discussions between private individuals; they have a theatrical aspect. Political actors behave like magicians, pretending one reality while living another. The central element of political confrontations is the “claque,” the applause-givers, whom the arguments do not target because they are already factored into the political discourse. The claque is part of the staging, as political disputes are always a form of theater.
?A typical element of political conflicts is the creation of the “Other,” the political opponent who must be fought at all costs. In liberal democracies, this battle takes place on a sublimated level of verbal confrontation. However, this symbolically conducted struggle always contains the element of physical destruction and, therefore, the element of war.
?In our modern Western democracies, the element of war is becoming increasingly evident in political discourse. It begins with the ruthless battle for dominance over all communication channels and ends with the inability to listen to the political opponent. To avoid listening to them, the strategy of dehumanization is often employed. The political opponent is stigmatized, for example, as a “Nazi.” Dehumanization in any conflict is, however, the first step toward war.
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