Commonism
A New Aesthetics of the Real
- Explores the ideological thoughts under the notion of the commons and asks how this shapes the reality of our living together.
- Pays attention to the aesthetic dimension of commonism as an ideology: what artistic strategies and what aesthetics do commoners adopt?
Editors: Nico Dockx & Pascal Gielen
Contributors: Walter van Andel, Michel Bauwens, Giuliana Ciancio, Maria Francesca De Tullio, Nico Dockx, Futurefarmers, Lara Garcia, Harry Gamboa Jr., Pascal Gielen, Liam Gillick, Eric Kluitenberg, Rudi Laermans, the land foundation, Sonja Lavaert, Peter Linebaugh, Matteo Lucchetti, Pat McCarthy, Antonio Negri, Hanka Otte, Recetas Urbanas, Jörn Schafaff, Stavros Stavrides, Evi Swinnen, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas, Louis Volont, Judith Wielander
Design: Metahaven
Series: Antennae
2018, Valiz | supported by ARIA, Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts, University of Antwerp, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp/Artesis Plantijn, Culture Commons Quest Office, University of Antwerp, Research Foundation Flanders | 448 pp. | 21 x 13.5 cm (h x w) | English | ISBN 978-94-92095-47-3
After half a century of neoliberalism, a new radical, practice-based ideology is making its way from the margins: commonism, with an o in the middle. It is based on the values of sharing, common (intellectual) ownership and new social co-operations. Commoners assert that social relationships can replace money (contract) relationships. They advocate solidarity and they trust in peer-to-peer relationships to develop new ways of production.
Commonism maps those new ideological thoughts. How do they work and, especially, what is their aesthetics? How do they shape the reality of our living together? Is there another, more just future imaginable through the commons? What strategies and what aesthetics do commoners adopt? This book explores this new political belief system, alternating between theoretical analysis, wild artistic speculation, inspiring art examples, almost empirical observations and critical reflection.