Capitalism and Aisthesis - Life, Appearance and Art in Walter Benjamin's work

Capitalism and Aisthesis – life, appearance and art in Walter Benjamin’s work

Taina Rajanti

“a question of how life and work are organized in human society “

Combining Walter Benjamin’s work on effect of capitalism on life and art with his earlier work: what has “beautiful appearance” to do with life that is lived “in the heart of unreal, the appearance”?

Shiny appearance and alienation

“The fantasque escrime of the city in the tableaux parisiens is no more the place where you come from. It is a stage and estranged.”

“Odradek is "the form that things take in forgetfulness. They are distorted.”

Beautiful appearance and the inexpressed

“(The inexpressed) thus breaks that what in every beautiful appearance remains of the false totality, heritage of chaos: the false totality – absolute totality. Only it completes the work of art by making it into a “piece”, a fragment of the true world”

Politicize aesthetics – not aestheticize politics

The task or potential of art is not in rendering a beautiful appearance to a world destroyed by capitalism, but in rendering a necessary appearance to life, and thus breaking the false totality and the shining surface distorting the sensible.

Thank you!

Taina RajantiPori Art and Media, School of Art and Design

of Aalto Universitytrajanti@aalto.fi