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Sunday, December 18, 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005
UN NUEVO Y BRAVO MUNDO
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Sala Alcalá 31. C/ Alcalá 31. Madrid
Inauguración: miércoles 21 a las 20:00 horas.
Inauguración: miércoles 21 a las 20:00 horas.
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Tania Bruguera (Cuba), Teresa Margolles, Yoshua Okón (México), AES+F(Rusia), Javier Téllez (Venezuela), IC-98 (Finlandia), Christoph Draeger(Suiza), Javier Núñez Gasco, Santiago Sierra, Luis Alonso, Fernando SánchezCastillo y El Perro (España).
+Acción de Santiago Sierra
- Psicofonía. Casa del Pueblo, Bucarest. Rumanía. Octubre de 2005 -
Lugar:Yastá, Calle Valverde,10.Madrid.
22 de diciembre de 2005 de 23:30 a 1:30 horas
+Presentación del catálogo de Un Nuevo Bravo mundo
Lugar: Alcalá 31
Jueves 23 de Enero 2006 a las 21:00h
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UN NUEVO Y BRAVO MUNDO
ESPAÑOL / INGLÉS
Las dos distopías más populares del pasado siglo fueron
las que novelaron Aldous Huxley y George Orwell en
Un mundo feliz y 1984 respectivamente.En 1984 ,un
dictador ejercía su dominación a través de la vigilancia
absoluta incluida la privacidad del hogar,y la represión
generalizada.Aldous Huxley por su parte escribió so-
bre una sociedad constituida sobre el control exacto
de la procreación y el condicionamento absoluto de
los ciudadanos mediante técnicas que abarcan desde el
electroshock a los mensajes hinopédicos desde la más
temprana edad para moldear sus mentes de acuerdo
con el pensamiento dominante,una sociedad comparti-
mentada en castas,en la que los elementos inferiores de
su jerarquía se dedicaban a los trabajos más desagrada-
bles y rutinarios,dónde los avances de la medicina han
hecho posible la eliminación de las distintas edades de
la vida,donde la libertad sexual es total y los ciudadanos
de las castas más favorecidas se entregan a una cultura
del ocio,la depresión y la tristeza se podían tratar con
fármacos (“un gramo de soma cura diez pensamientos
tristes ”)y cuando la vida se hace insostenible una eu-
tanasia rápida y discreta pone fin a todo.
Neil Postman en su libro Amusing Ourselves to Death
(1985)propone una revisión de los conceptos que se ma-
nejaban en ambas obras llegando a la conclusión de que
si el mundo se acercaba a alguna de estas,era sin duda a
Un mundo feliz .Orwell temía que nos destruyese lo que
odiamos,Huxley temía que nos destruyese aquello que
adoramos,así un estado totalitario realmente eficaz sería
aquel en el que los todopoderosos jefes políticos y su ejér-
cito de colaboradores pudieran gobernar una población
de esclavos sobre los cuales no fuera necesario ejercer
coerción alguna pues amarían su servidumbre.
Retomando ahora estas novelas podemos consta-
tar que El Gran Hermano orwelliano ha sido rede-
finido por la telerrealidad,ya no se trata de incluir
a todos, de procurar la vuelta al rebaño de la oveja
descarriada, sino de “excluir ” al que no encaja. A ve-
ces, las recurrentes trompetas de la guerra al terror
que hace sonar el nuevo imperialismo nos recuerden
las noticias del interminable enfrentamiento bélico
que se desarrollaba en 1984 ,pero leyendo Un mun-
do feliz da la sensación de que la sociedad occiden-
tal no ha hecho otra cosa que intentar parecerse lo
máximo a esa utopía, cumpliendo de manera más o
menos aproximada las predicciones que en el tex-
to se planteaban. En este mismo sentido el escritor
francés Houllebecq,del que se acaba de revelar su
interés por la secta de los raelianos (cc por
el íncreible anuncio de haber conseguido realizar la
primera clonación humana y publicitados televisiva-mente a través de programas de cámara oculta por la
accesibilidad sexual de los adeptos en sus reuniones),
hace comentar a un personaje de su libro Las partí-
culas elementales ,Bruno,que si bien el universo de
Huxley se suele describir como una pesadilla totali-
taria, es una hipocresía hacerlo pasar como denuncia
virulenta, ya que si pensamos que todos los aspectos
que definen esa sociedad (cc genético,libertad
sexual,lucha contra el envejecimiento,cultura del
ocio) es para nosotros exactamente el mundo que
estamos intentando alcanzar.Aunque Bruno afirma
.Divertirse Hasta Morir.El discurso público en la era del show-bus-
sines .Neil Postman Ed.Tempestad,2001.Esta misma premisa es
presentada en el libro Pop Control de Mike Ibañez,Ed.Glénat,2000.
que la separación de la sociedad por castas ,desde
los alfas a los epsilon, descrita en la novela, choca con
los ideales igualitarios o más bien meritocráticos de
la sociedad actual (pp lo que Huxley resultaría un
mal profeta),hoy no nos quedaría más que mirar a
las vallas de Ceuta para refutar esa opinión. Son los
excluidos del nuevo Gran Hermano.
El deseo,lo que adoramos,es una fuente de dominación.
El confort y la comodidad son nuestros objetivos vitales
inmediatos,continuamente ofrecidos a través de la se-
ducción de la mercancía,el continuo murmullo publicita-
rio,la aceleración de las modas,las persuasiones urbanas
y las del ocio,el calendario diseñado para hacer florecer
nuevas ocasiones de consumo.La propia esencia pro-
pagandística de la publicidad cuyo objeto de venta,más
allá del producto puntual que promociona,es el sistema
en el que se inserta,objetiva una determinada visión del
mundo.Lo que Guy Debord definió como sociedad del
espectáculo no era sino eso:“una Welstanchauung que se
ha materializado ”.“Cientos,miles,millones de ciudada-
nos van a comprar los mismos objetos,vestirse del mis-
mo modo,suspirar por el mismo automóvil,soñar con
iguales vacaciones,exhibir un mismo estilo,pero siempre
recibiendo la impresión de que cada uno de ellos está
eligiendo libremente en el mercado (…)Esta seducción
de la opulencia no es casual .Si lo fuese,sería ocasional
e inconstante.Pero lo cierto es que es una fuerza mayor.
Cimienta las relaciones sociales en una enorme porción
del mundo y actúa como anzuelo para la otra ”.
La seducción de la opulencia. ublicidad, oda y consumo ..MM.
Pérez Tornero,.ropea, .anagustín, .OO osta
Un nuevo y bravo mundo
EL PERRO
...................................................................
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
The two most popular dystopias of the last century
were those described by Huxely in Brave New World
and George Orwell in 1984 .In 1984 ,a dictator exer-
ted his control through widespread repression and
an omnipresent surveillance that even penetrated
the privacy of the home.Aldous Huxley wrote his
version of a society constituted by complete control
over procreation and total conditioning of its citi-
zens, using techniques ranging from electric shocks
to hypnopaedic messages from a very early age to
shape minds in accordance with the dominating way
of thinking.The society is divided by castes, where
the inferior members of the hierarchy are relegated
to the most unpleasant and routine jobs, while upper
class citizens enjoy a life of leisure and entertainment.
In Huxley ’s world,there is sexual freedom; advanced
medicine eliminates age; depression is treated with
drugs (““a gram of soma cures ten negative thoug-
hts ”) ;and when life becomes unbearable,
a quick and
easy euthanasia can put an end to it all.
Neil Postman ’s analysis of both novel ’s concepts in
Amusing Ourselves to Death (11985)(11) concludes
that if the world has begun to reflect one of the two
themes, it is undoubtedly Brave New World.Orwe-
ll feared that what we hated would ruin us; Huxely
feared that what we loved would ruin us; in this way
a truly efficient totalitarian state would be one in
which all-powerful political leaders and their army
of collaborators would be able to govern a slave po-
Amusing Ourselves to Death. iscourse in the Age of how
Business .d.euthuen ublishing Ltd.987.
pulation without needing to use any force at all as the people would love their servitude.
Looking back at these novels now,we can confirm
that Orwell ’s Big Brother has been redefined by TV
reality;it is no longer about including everybody,
trying to round up the stray sheep,but about ‘exclu-
ding ’ those that don ’t fit the mould.Sometimes the
incessant war of terror ’s sabre-rattling produced by
new imperialism makes us think of the never-eending
war conflicts that took place in 1984.However,rea-
ding Brave New World we have the impression that
Western society is well on the way to fulfilling the
very utopian prophecies described in the novel.In
the same way,the French writer Houellebecq,
who
has recently revealed his interest in the Raelian sect (ff for the astounding news of having created
the first human clone,and given televised publicity
through a hidden camera showing sexual encounters
between sect members in their meetings) in his book
The Elemental Particles ,portrays a character,Bruno,
who recognizes that although Huxley ’s world is, as so
often described,a totalitarian nightmare,it is hypo-
critical to dismiss it just as a bitter,hostile criticism,
because if we look at all the aspects which define
Huxley ’s society (gg sexual freedom, the
fight against ageing,culture and leisure),it is exactly
the world we are hankering after.Even though in the
novel,Bruno says that the separation of society into
castes, from alphas to epsilons, conflicts with egalita-
rian ideals of today,call it modern society ’s merito-
cracy (ii a prophet who
got it wrong),today we would not have to look further
than Ceuta ’s fences to negate this opinion.They are the
‘excluded ’ ones from the modern Big Brother.
Desire,so greatly coveted,is a source of control.
Comfort and conveniences are our immediate,es-
sential needs, which are continually bestowed on us
through the seduction of shop windows, the ongoing
hum of advertising,the constantly changing fashio-
ns, the enticing urban entertainment and a calendar
year designed for occasions to consume.The very
propagandist essence of advertising,whose selling
objective is the system in which it lives and not the
actual object it is promoting,objectifies a particular
view of the world.What Guy Debord called a socie-
ty of spectacle was no other than “a Welstanchaung
which has materialised.” “Hundreds, thousands, mi-
llions of citizens buy the same objects,wear the same
clothes, yearn for the same car,dream of the same
holidays and flaunt the same style,but as if each one
of them were choosing with their own free will from
the market (……)This seduction of luxury is not coin-
cidental.If it were,it would only be occasional and
inconsistent,in reality however this seduction is part
of a force majeure,a higher calling that lays the foun-
dation for social relations in a large part of the world,
and acts s a bait for the other ess fortunate part.”
It refers to a systematic seduction, meticulously plan-
ned,pre-meditated and well-organized.However
those being seduced are under the impression that their
choice is spontaneous with objective foundations,whi-
La seducción de la opulencia. ublicidad, oda y consumo .
(““The seduction of uxury.Advertising,ashion and con-
sumption. ”).MM Pérez Tornereo,.TT .angustín, .OO osta.
A brave new world .
were those described by Huxely in Brave New World
and George Orwell in 1984 .In 1984 ,a dictator exer-
ted his control through widespread repression and
an omnipresent surveillance that even penetrated
the privacy of the home.Aldous Huxley wrote his
version of a society constituted by complete control
over procreation and total conditioning of its citi-
zens, using techniques ranging from electric shocks
to hypnopaedic messages from a very early age to
shape minds in accordance with the dominating way
of thinking.The society is divided by castes, where
the inferior members of the hierarchy are relegated
to the most unpleasant and routine jobs, while upper
class citizens enjoy a life of leisure and entertainment.
In Huxley ’s world,there is sexual freedom; advanced
medicine eliminates age; depression is treated with
drugs (““a gram of soma cures ten negative thoug-
hts ”) ;and when life becomes unbearable,
a quick and
easy euthanasia can put an end to it all.
Neil Postman ’s analysis of both novel ’s concepts in
Amusing Ourselves to Death (11985)(11) concludes
that if the world has begun to reflect one of the two
themes, it is undoubtedly Brave New World.Orwe-
ll feared that what we hated would ruin us; Huxely
feared that what we loved would ruin us; in this way
a truly efficient totalitarian state would be one in
which all-powerful political leaders and their army
of collaborators would be able to govern a slave po-
Amusing Ourselves to Death. iscourse in the Age of how
Business .d.euthuen ublishing Ltd.987.
pulation without needing to use any force at all as the people would love their servitude.
Looking back at these novels now,we can confirm
that Orwell ’s Big Brother has been redefined by TV
reality;it is no longer about including everybody,
trying to round up the stray sheep,but about ‘exclu-
ding ’ those that don ’t fit the mould.Sometimes the
incessant war of terror ’s sabre-rattling produced by
new imperialism makes us think of the never-eending
war conflicts that took place in 1984.However,rea-
ding Brave New World we have the impression that
Western society is well on the way to fulfilling the
very utopian prophecies described in the novel.In
the same way,the French writer Houellebecq,
who
has recently revealed his interest in the Raelian sect (ff for the astounding news of having created
the first human clone,and given televised publicity
through a hidden camera showing sexual encounters
between sect members in their meetings) in his book
The Elemental Particles ,portrays a character,Bruno,
who recognizes that although Huxley ’s world is, as so
often described,a totalitarian nightmare,it is hypo-
critical to dismiss it just as a bitter,hostile criticism,
because if we look at all the aspects which define
Huxley ’s society (gg sexual freedom, the
fight against ageing,culture and leisure),it is exactly
the world we are hankering after.Even though in the
novel,Bruno says that the separation of society into
castes, from alphas to epsilons, conflicts with egalita-
rian ideals of today,call it modern society ’s merito-
cracy (ii a prophet who
got it wrong),today we would not have to look further
than Ceuta ’s fences to negate this opinion.They are the
‘excluded ’ ones from the modern Big Brother.
Desire,so greatly coveted,is a source of control.
Comfort and conveniences are our immediate,es-
sential needs, which are continually bestowed on us
through the seduction of shop windows, the ongoing
hum of advertising,the constantly changing fashio-
ns, the enticing urban entertainment and a calendar
year designed for occasions to consume.The very
propagandist essence of advertising,whose selling
objective is the system in which it lives and not the
actual object it is promoting,objectifies a particular
view of the world.What Guy Debord called a socie-
ty of spectacle was no other than “a Welstanchaung
which has materialised.” “Hundreds, thousands, mi-
llions of citizens buy the same objects,wear the same
clothes, yearn for the same car,dream of the same
holidays and flaunt the same style,but as if each one
of them were choosing with their own free will from
the market (……)This seduction of luxury is not coin-
cidental.If it were,it would only be occasional and
inconsistent,in reality however this seduction is part
of a force majeure,a higher calling that lays the foun-
dation for social relations in a large part of the world,
and acts s a bait for the other ess fortunate part.”
It refers to a systematic seduction, meticulously plan-
ned,pre-meditated and well-organized.However
those being seduced are under the impression that their
choice is spontaneous with objective foundations,whi-
La seducción de la opulencia. ublicidad, oda y consumo .
(““The seduction of uxury.Advertising,ashion and con-
sumption. ”).MM Pérez Tornereo,.TT .angustín, .OO osta.
A brave new world .
EL PERRO
AES +F • LUIS ALONSO • TANIA BRUGUERA • CHRISTOPH DRAEGER • IC-98 • TERESA MARGOLLES JAVIER NUNEZ GASCO • YOSHUA OKON • EL PERRO • FERNANDO SANCHEZ CASTILLO • SANTIAGO SIERRA • JAVIER TELLEZ
AES+F.Last Riot.Fotografía.2005.
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