Utgitt: 2026
Sideantall: 260
ISBN: 9783000859441
This book outlines a theory of the subject of counterrevolution, which is realized differently in various countries; it is shaped by diverse theoretical concepts, its historical form meanders, and its concepts diffuse. While it corrupts all areas of life, it is much less talked about than the subject of the revolution, whose advent it permanently prevents.
The Subject of Counterrevolution: Art, War, and the Public presents a picture of today’s semiotic warfare: how to define, how to represent, and how to interpret war? We say that in order to represent war, one must take sides. Those who describe war become part of war. War is an all-consuming process; it cannot be depicted from the outside. We describe the phenomenon of war in a way that conceives of us and our description as part of war and reflects this participation in the description.
The semiotic theory of war is framed by a program of institutionalized art and social practice that differ sharply from bourgeois notions. Instead of autonomy and functionally differentiated spheres, we describe art as permeated by war. War permeates everything, and it also pervades us. The concept of art that we develop takes into account its weaponization.
What is to be done? The basic question must be that of the capacity for knowledge and action. How can we distinguish between automatic processes and scope for spontaneous or organizational action, both from above and below? What mediation between reality and representation is meaningful for us? What operative images and which infrastructures that enable them do we need for a realistic picture of the revolution?
SdA / Counterinsurgency Strategies is a collective of artists and theorists exploring the intersection of artistic and military discourse. Organized by Julia Eichler and Fabian Ginsberg, they develop theoretical concepts and practical methods. The focus is particularly on changes in public opinion, the role of art, and the extension of military concepts into civilian spheres. "The Subject of Counterrevolution. Art, War, and the Public" is a new publication with Gato Negro Ediciones, 2026.
