Erogenous Zones of Reality: Lifshitz and Materialistic Kabbalah. Philosopher Yoel Regev talks to exhibition curator Dmitri Gutov

DESCRIPTION

As a part of the public program accompanying the exhibition If our soup can could speak: Mikhail Lifshitz and the Soviet sixties a discussion will take place between Yoel Regev and Dmitry Gutov of the possible connections of his thoughts with radical movements in Jewish mysticism.

“This means that our mind, being true to its definition, should actively seek in reality points charged with universality…” This phrase of Mikhail Lifshitz, which essentially summarizes his approach to idealism and his interpretation of materialist aesthetics, correlates in a strange way with Kabbalistic-Hasidic strategies of “seeking points of holiness” in the worlds of “impurity” and “externality” in order to “clarify” and “elevate” them. It is not a case of a chance parallel or a historical-cultural “influence”, but of a common epistemological field.

This discussion has been initiated by the Eshkolot Project, which is supported by The Genesis Philanthropy Group.

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

 

Yoel Regev – PhD in Contemporary Philosophy (Hebrew University in Jerusalem). Completed his post-doctoral studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Adjunct professor at the European University in St. Petersburg. His dissertation dealt with the philosophies of Badiou, Marion and Zizek. Regev has taught courses in philosophy at the Hebrew University and Avni Institute (Tel‐ Aviv), and published books and articles on different aspects of modern thought in English, Hebrew and Russian.

 


 

Dmitry Gutov studied at Repin St. Peterburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. He is an artist and theorist who has initiated a number of research projects exploring the history, theory, and practice of contemporary art. Gutov's artworks have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale (1995, 2013), since early 1990s, in over a hundred solo and group exhibitions, including in some of the first contemporary art galleries in Russia—the squat gallery in Trekhprudny Lane, Regina Gallery, and Marat Guelman Gallery among other spaces. Co-founder of Mikhail Lifshitz Institute (1994, Moscow), in recent years Gutov has been studying the legacy of this Soviet philosopher and cultural theorist.

HOW TO TAKE PART

Free admission with advance registration

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