Eventlist

Lecturer:Dr George Vassilacopoulos
Entry:FREE

Synopsis

This presentation introduces the central ideas of a book length study of George Michelakakis' art, which I am undertaking collaboratively with Toula Nicolacopoulos (Latrobe University) and the artist himself. The study positions Michelakakis' work, as complementing that of Goya, which is in turn read as a critical response to, and mediation on, an era in recent history defined by amnesia and the reproduction of a culture of death: war, class exploitation, loss of meaning, and the technological destruction of nature. Whereas Goya produced his art in late 18th and early 19th centuries, Michelakakis has been active since the late 1960s. In this presentation I focus on the ways in which each was inspired by political movements (the French and Russian Revolutions) whose ideal of solidarity remains unrealised.

Bio

George Vassilacopoulos is Convener of Philosophy at Latrobe University's Department of Politics and Philosophy. His research addresses the continuities and divergences in the thought of European philosophers including Plato, Hegel, Marx, Heidegger, Derrida, Husserl, Levinas and Castoriadis, with particular attention on the meaning and practice of communal gathering, history and otherness. He is also interested in the place of philosophical thinking in the 21st century and has published extensively on contemporary social issues, including multiculturalism and foreigner discourses, drawing on critical race and whiteness theory and the history of Greek-Australian political activism. He is the author and co-author of 5 books and many scholarly articles. He has served on the management Committee of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria, and is a member of the Greek Democritus Workers League.

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