SD49 Diedrich Diederichsen "Is Berlin Over? We Live in a World of Echos and Delays"

Is Berlin Over? In this conversation, Diederichsen offers clues for understanding the current developments of contemporary fascism and its attack on the bohemia and critical artistic expressions, and how this manifests specifically in Berlin and within the broader German context. By exploring the period between 2005 and 2015, and the ways in which culture was mobilized as a form of soft power, we can trace how a limit was reached during that decade, particularly when decolonial critiques began to pose a threat to Germany’s Staatsräson, its unconditional support for the security of the State of Israel. We discuss the complex history of the Antideutsch movement and how, in recent years, it has gained access to institutions. We also examine the idea of “access to tools,” connecting the Whole Earth Catalog to communes and alternative lifestyles, Silicon Valley, and the convergence of cybernetics with Eastern religions, from the ambition to conquer outer space to the exploration of inner worlds, and their contemporary manifestations in digital technologies. Finally, we address the possible end(s) of contemporary art and forms of technological entropy generated by streaming platforms.