Re: <nettime> I farted

[Andre Rebentisch <tabesin@gmail.com>]

Cavalry charges against tanks. Is this a legend or real?

Anyway, one of the most iconic and defeating acts of bravery is the
sinking of the interned imperial fleet at Scapa Flow. The first ship
that sunk was SMS Friedrich der Große, named after another ruler (whose
brother build memorials for disgraced generals and neither became King
of Wallachia nor King/President of the United States) with an ability to
turn military disasters into alleged glory.

The methodology of sinking ships was later perfected by Hans Langsdorff
who flooded the ship under his command, the Graf Spee, and committed
suicide. An act his crew was quite thankful for because as a result they
were among the few navy crews that survived WWII.

Concerning the Golden Toilet stunt, let me raise the point that salty
humor can't become an exclusive domain of strongmen to demonstrate their
power. Old school conservatism always had the nice mix of puritanism and
dirty jokes. What observers failed to recognize is how - say - his very
breaches of conduct made Berlusconi popular and humanized him. Same for
Trump. It's like Commedia Dell'arte.

Isn't it funny that Trump is the first US President who tried to bark
back vs. North Korea in their own style of sabber-rattling. I think this
was psychologically the appropriate method superior to conventional
diplomacy. Does the Guggenheim need to become slackless?

Why not! The difference is consciousness. In the case of North Korean
propaganda, when they criticize Trump as a maniac, that implies that
they have to become more reasonable in their self-conception. In the
case of the Guggenheim they are not vulnerable as the art snobs anymore
when they make these cheap shots. It is also never wrong to be playful.
Your assumption is that the Guggenheims need to be the reasonable
professionals and that certain conduct would harm an art institution and
the art scene at large.

Here we are with all the preconceptions and the paradox to have a
President that defeated conventional wisdom and an art community that
wants to restore conventions. Pointless actions matter.

-- A


On 01.02.2018 11:53, Felix Stalder wrote:
> This analogy is wrong.
>
> The better one might be the Polish cavalry charging against German tanks
> in September 1939. Impeccable in style, even scoring a micro-victory,
> but no match to the forces just unleashed.
>
> Felix



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