Reciprocal Turn #1

Can art be a place that serves as a set of conditions that enable Menschlichkeit? Even though the production and perception of art distinguishes human beings as such, there is no final answer to the question, how artistic activity and Menschlichkeit are linked.

Menschlichkeit is not a fixed determination or a found moral – rather, it is a the negotiation of and the struggle for the notion that make us human. Art serves as a place for this struggle, as artworks are the output of humans and constitute a relation to one another and the environment. Various links are possible. You are invited to read and see how the contributors approached art and Menschlichkeit, in theoretical texts and artistic works.

We, Mira Hirtz, Johanna Ziebtritzki und Michail Rybakov, founded the journal devoting it with pathos to the great themes of art theory. For #one we invited young artists and theorists to contribute to the understanding of art as a place of Menschlichkeit. We are amazed by the richness and variety of approaches which showed us that this topic holds a high potential to give hope.