Jean Baudrillard and the Arts (opening)

Continuing the series on Art and Philosophy at the ZKM, the exhibition on Jean Baudrillard and the Arts, which is being staged in conjunction with the Baudrillard symposium, focuses on the theories developed by the French philosopher. The exhibition consists largely of materials from the archives of the Berlin publisher, Peter Gente, who has supported and influenced the reception of Baudrillard’s works in the German-speaking countries for many years. Texts, manuscripts, letters and notes together with sound and video documents provide an open invitation to examine Baudrillard’s work in its context. References to Andy Warhol in words and pictures combine with photos taken by Jean Baudrillard to provide an insight into his way of thinking.
The exhibition shows the ‘non-disciplined’ thinker, Jean Baudrillard, from two sides – as a producer of both words and images. In contrast to the previous events featuring Foucault and Deleuze, the title Baudrillard and the Arts indicates not only that Jean Baudrillard adopts a critical or interpretative approach to the arts, but also that he himself is in the process of developing as an artist. Indeed, he might be called an artist-philosopher and, as such, placed alongside Nietzsche, Adorno, Klossowski, Barthes, Weibel and others.