“In the beginning there was Chaos” — Hesiod
A collaboration between Chaosmos ∞ and Incite Seminars
GROUP DESCRIPTION
Despite the modern obsession to control, chaos is everywhere around us. From wildfires to floods to never-ending wars: rationalism failed so drastically that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start thinking upside down, namely that chaos—and not logos—is the actual Big Boss who can never be controlled. Instead of trying to control, we would be better off to figure out how to attune to chaos, and how to use its vast creative force to change the world.
Chaos research group is a fabulative, post-disciplinary research hub, taking as its starting point the primacy of chaos in the most ancient cosmologies. On top of that, ever since Nietzsche, chaos—and not logos—is of growing interest in contemporary philosophy. On top of that, chaos theory in physics is nowadays applied in various disciplines, not only in the natural sciences but throughout the humanities. What else?
We take these disciplines as mere materials to be used, compared and played with in a fantafuturistic setting where the distinction into academic disciplines has become obsolete. Moreover, there is no longer a difference between scientific research and artistic creation: in a world ruled by chaos, everything goes.
GROUP MATERIALS
Initial schedule (to be continued following the members’ preferences):
20 Oct. 2024 — Intro + scenes from Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice
3 Nov. — D. H. Lawrence, “Chaos in Poetry”
17 Nov. — Hesiod, Theogony ?
1 Dec. — …
Further readings/lectures/artworks/films, etc. will be proposed by the members of the group.
Due to the vastness of the field, potential topics may include:
- Comparative mythology
- New Materialisms
- Non-Philosophy
- Deep Ecology
- Anarchism
- Self-organizing systems
- Cybernetics
- Chaos Theory
- Psychedelics
- Chaos Magick
- Mysticism
- …
Facilitator: Having lived and studied all around the world, Hannes Schumacher works at the threshold between philosophy and art. He completed his MA in Berlin with a thesis on Hegel and Deleuze, and he also published widely on Nishida, Nagarjuna, chaos theory, global mysticism, and contemporary art. Hannes is the founder of the Berlin-based publisher Freigeist Verlag and co-founder of Chaosmos ∞. Recently, he facilitated the incite seminars “Nishida Kitarō: The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview” and “Who’s Afraid of Hegel: Introduction to G. W. F. Hegel’s Science of Logic.”
You may register and join the group at Incite Seminars.
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