MIMICRY—EMPATHY
Edited by Susanne Bürner
Authors: Roy R. Behrens, Roger Caillois, Marie de Brugerolle, Anne-Sophie Dinant, Amirali Ghasemi, Johan Hartle, Gohar Homayounpour, Jonna Mendez
Contributors: BLESS, Susanne Bürner, Berta Fischer, Wiktor Gutt, Sofia Hultén, Annette Kelm, Jochen Lempert, Alexandra Leykauf, Waldemar Raniszewski, Ulla von Brandenburg
Publisher: Monroe Books
Year: 2020
Pages: 216
Language: English
Cover: Paperback
Size: 16,5 cm x 24 cm
Type: Book
Status: New
ISBN: 978-3-946950-06-6
Price: 24 €
Link: monroe-books.de
A reader on the project Mimicry—Empathy, comprising exhibitions, Screenings, Workshops and other formats.
It includes works by Ulla von Brandenburg, Berta Fischer, Jochen Lempert, BLESS, Alexandra Leykauf, Wiktor Gutt/Waldemar Raniszewski, Sofia Hultén, Annette Kelm and Susanne Bürner.
The development of mimicry demands a certain empathy in order to be able to put oneself in the position of the opponent, or to blend in within the system one wants to be part of or on which one depends. Only in engaging with the strategies and trains of thought of the counterpart, is it possible to form the basis for visual adaptation and mimicry. On the other hand, it is precisely the empathic act that runs the risk of dissolving the boundaries between imitator and imitated, creating a genuine identification—in the most complicated case, with the enemy. Mimicry—Empathy deals with these emotionally uncontrollable aspects of adaptation, and it challenges the construction of cultural identities in the void between playing safe and getting lost.
The first Mimicry—Empathy event was the exhibition at the Lajevardi Foundation in Tehran in 2018, which included one-off events such as artist talks, screenings, and workshops. This book follows on from these iterations as both a thematic reader and a document of the exhibition, put in relation to archival images.