Cybernetic-Existentialism and Being-Towards-Death in Contemporary Art and Performance

Ideas and themes central to both cybernetics and existentialist philosophy converge in the work of some of the world's most celebrated contemporary artists. Utilizing little or no technology, these artists nonetheless employ "systems" approaches and proto-cybernetic models, while simultaneously exploring themes directly related to existentialism. The article focuses on artworks that explore death and our anticipation of it-what Jean-Paul Sartre terms "Being-towards-death", which existentialist philosophers consider in terms of a revelatory memento mori to emphasize our need to act decisively, meaningfully, and authentically, and to assert individual freedom. It is argued that both cybernetic paradigms and existentialist ideas are central to groundbreaking artworks by Marina Abramović, Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Michael Landy, Douglas Gordon, Urich Lau, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.

Citation:
Dixon, Steve. "Cybernetic-Existentialism and Being-Towards-Death in Contemporary Art and Performance." TDR: The Drama Review, vol. 61, no. 3, 2017, pp. 36-55.