Militarization: What better way to measure art and humanities' results and effects on the wider world than to engage with the singular politico-industrial poly-entity which has constantly and consistently affected so many aspects of our lives, beyond the scope of our awareness? Taking as a reference point the Military-Academic Complex in the US, we can re-forge the so-called "iron triangle" (and funding mechanism) of military agencies, science industries, and research universities by inserting the art-academic industry as a primary vertex in the equation. Esperanto aside, warfare is the most universally understood mode of communicating; why not capitalize on this commonality to promote inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional, inter-industrial dialogue?
Militarization:
Forging an Art-Military-Industrial Complex to ensure real results and wide-ranging effects of art on the wider world.
First presented at 'Is Thought Action?' (2013), a conference exploring tensions between academic theory and praxis organized by the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis and Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, this paper proposes a militarization of the arts by forging an Art-Military-Industrial Complex. To view a video of the lecture or to read a copy of the paper, please send an e-mail.
