HARMAA: Indirect Philosophy as a Form of Resistance

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

What can philosophy and the visual arts offer to the so-called post-truth era, which is characterized by the rise of populism, drifting of different social groups into defensive positions and separate media realities? HARMAA wants to instigate a movement that works as a counterforce for the contemporary culture of aggression and manipulation. Our aim is to make room for thinking in the “interspace” between “yes” and “no” and endorse “soft tactics” even in social media, in distinction to the currently popular tactics of provocation. The American artist Kate Stone will extend our project by exploring the line between reality and fantasy as well as truth and lies. She creates artistic worlds that play with the suspension of disbelief typical of the audience’s engagement with animations, and thereby provides another kind of approach to the themes of uncertainty and in-between. Her subtle artistic expression has an affinity with the styles of expression of the other group members, but, as something that we do not have in our group as of yet, is working with photographs and combinations of hand-drawn and three-dimensional stop-motion animations. Also, Stone’s delicate use of sound in the creation of psychic spaces helps investigate the ambiguous undercurrents of social unrest. Her work looks for beauty in miscommunication and meaning within inaccuracies, opening a humorous vista to the problems of the post-truth era. Her contribution to the project include a short animation and collage images, which will be presented on the website of HARMAA as well as in an art exhibition.