The Spaces of Appearance
Philosopher Hannah Arendt coined the phrase ‘the space of appearance’ to convey her sense of where politics takes place. Until mid-December, Nicholas Mirzoeff will be exploring the spaces of appearance constituted by the intersection of the ‘right to appear’ (Butler) and the ‘right to look’ in both present-day and historical contexts. How does this space of appearance work, and what happens in the space of representation in politics and visual media that is its counter?
The posts will be written ‘live,’ in the week prior to publication, rather than being excerpts from finished, written work. Themes that are likely to be considered include the state(s) of whiteness, decolonizing the space of appearance, and Black Lives Matter and its intersections. Dialogue is welcome!
Nicholas Mirzoeff
Nicholas Mirzoeff is Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University and is sometimes considered one of the founders of the academic discipline of visual culture. He is the author of How To See The World (2015) and The Right to Look: A Counterhistory of Visuality (2011), which won the Anne Friedberg Award for Innovative Scholarship from the Society of Cinema and Media Studies in 2013. Currently he is working on an e-book project looking at how Black Lives Matter has transformed the possibilities of the space of appearance and a new media project called How To See Palestine: An ABC of Occupation.
- MAGA Masculinity, Scary Clowns and the Souls of White Folk
- It's on Us
- A Broken Hallelujah: Mourning and Militancy for the Age of Authoritarian Nationalism
- Empty the Museum, Decolonize the Curriculum: For the (Roman) General Strike
- Visual Sovereignty and Standing Rock: Decolonizing Native Spaces of Appearance