| this reversion can take the shape of an open act of violence (such as terrorism), but also of an impotent surrender (that is more characteristic of our modernity), of a self-hatred, and of remorse, in other words, of all those negative passions that are degraded forms of the impossible counter-gift. | |
| what we hate in ourselves -- the obscure object of our resentment -- is our excess of reality, power, and comfort, our universal availability, our definite accomplishment, this kind of destiny that dostoevsky's grand inquisitor had in store for the domesticated masses. and this is exactly the part of our culture that the terrorists find repulsive (which also explains the support they receive and the fascination they are able to exert). terrorism's support is not only based on the despair of those who have been humiliated and offended. it is also based on the invisible despair of those whom globalization has privileged, on our own submission to an omnipotent technology, to a crushing virtual reality, to an empire of networks and programs that are probably in the process of redrawing the regressive contours of the entire human species, of a humanity that has gone "global. | |
 " (after all, isn't the supremacy of the human species over the rest of life on earth the mirror image of the domination of the west over the rest of the world?). this invisible despair, our invisible despair, is hopeless since it is the result of the realization of all our desires. thus, if terrorism is derived from this excess of reality and from this reality's impossible exchange, if it is the product of a profusion without any possible counterpart or return, and if it emerges from a forced resolution of conflicts, the illusion of getting rid of it as if it were an objective evil is complete. |
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| he is a member of the editorial board of ctheory. francois debrix is assistant professor of international relations at florida international university in miami, florida. articles, interviews, and key book reviews in * contemporary discourse are published weekly as well as * theorisations of major "event-scenes" in the mediascape. electronic reviews of key books in contemporary theory. electronic articles on theory, technology and culture. event-scenes in politics, culture and the mediascape. interviews with significant theorists, artists, and writers. | |
multimedia theme issues and projects. * * no commercial use of ctheory articles without permission.; advance bibliography of contents: political science and * government; canadian periodical index; film and literature index. despite a career span of more than 50 years, most of which were spent in new york in close contact with some of the most influential artists of his time, he remained unknown to a larger audience until the time of his death. | |
| however, he was virtually a superstar within a particular art network that developed in the 1960's and 70's, using the postal service as an artistic medium ? a medium that makes it possible to exchange and distribute written and visual works within a large network of correspondents' instead of exhibiting in galleries and museums. ray johnson is perhaps primarily known as the creator of this network. in the 60's the rapidly growing postal network was dubbed the new york correspondence school of art (a tongue-in cheek parallell to the famous `new york school' of painting), and he participated actively in the global mailart movement up until his death. in fact, responding to mail ? keeping the network up and running ? took most of his time. | |
| johnson's use of the postal service as an artistic medium tied in with the general development of many radical art projects in the 60's,which directed their attention towards social issues. as one receives mail, one automatically feels obliged to ? and in way a network develops, based on type of exchanges that human societes in . in extension of the practice, many regarded the mailart movement as for society where all individuals communicate freely and where social barriers and divisions no longer excist.. .. |