Cosmism–Images from a Future Gathering
Eye on Art: Cosmism – Images from a Future Gathering
Guest curator Robbie Schweiger presents films by artists elaborating on the ideas of cosmism and imagining a future in times of war, climate and energy crises. Schweiger is the co-curator of Cosmism – Images from a Future Gathering in the Stedelijk Museum.
Cosmism is a religious-philosophical movement that arose around 1900 in Imperial Russia. According to the founder of cosmism, philosopher Nikolai Fedorov, mankind would become immortal thanks to developments in technology. Also, everyone who ever lived could be resurrected from the dead. As this would lead to overpopulation, it would be necessary to conquer the cosmos. Planets in outer space would be the future homes of these resurrected generations.
These ideas influenced thinkers and scientists, particularly after the Russian Revolution of 1917, when overcoming death – the ultimate universal goal of humanity – was aligned with the goals of Communism. Doctors and biologists experimented with practical issues of immortality and mathematicians and geologists developed ideas that would go on to form the basis of the later Soviet space programme.
Artists also became caught up in cosmism, imagining in their work how such a future might look. Guest curated by Robbie Schweiger, who together with Frank van Lamoen put together the exhibition Cosmism – Images from a Future Gathering in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (runs until 3 March).
Programme
It cannot be that nothing can be returned (Dana Kavelina, 2023, 51')
In this speculative future, the dead from the war on Ukraine are given the choice to live again – and process the trauma of the past. Painful memories can be removed and archived in a living monument that can then be revisited from an emotional distance. Full memory immersion for the perpetrators will ensure they never forget.
Autotrofia (Anton Vidokle, 2020, 32')
Shot in the village of Oliveto Lucano in the south of Italy, Autotrofia is simultaneously a documentation of an ancient pagan fertility ritual that is still practised in this region, and scripted fiction. The scripted elements of the film explore the ecological dimension of Cosmism: a desire to transform and evolve in such a way that humans would not need to kill and consume any other living organism in order to produce the energy necessary for life, instead learning from green plants how to generate nutrition directly from the sun. (Anton Vidokle)
Fragment from a performance by Fedir Tetianych
Fedir Tetianych developed his artistic practice in Kyiv in the 1960s and ’70s. His art project Fripulya, which he also adopted as his artist name, dates from the mid-’70s. The artist describes it as follows: ‘Fripulya is a code that mankind emits like radio waves or rays of light, and that contains all the information about itself. Fripulya can be used to re-create the human race at every place in space.’ Tetianych constructed ‘biotechnospheres’ from found materials and activated these with performances in which he dressed in costumes made from glistening fabrics and sound-emitting materials, anticipating the arrival of Fripulya.
This is part of
Details
Production year
2024
Length
90 min.
Event language
English
Country
NL
Part of
Eye on Art
Eye on Art is a programme on the intersection between film and other arts. Eye on Art keeps up with current events, with presentations on contemporary artists and programmes that coincide with important exhibitions, manifestations and Eye activities.
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