EVENTS

Lecture
Diedrich Diederichsen
What is it about toys (and boys)?
20.07.2023, 19h00

E-flyer (eng)
E-flyer (port)
Press-Release (port)
Exhibition by Cosima von Bonin

Cosima von Bonin, Boy at Work, installation view, Lumiar Cité, 2023

In the context of the exhibition ‘Boy at Work’ by Cosima von Bonin, which runs until 23 July, Lumiar Cité presents the lecture ‘What is it about toys (and boys)?’ led by Diedrich Diederichsen, one of the most relevant international theorists reflecting on the interconnection between contemporary art, popular culture and politics.

Certain toys appear and reappear in Cosima von Bonin's art as well as in the art of some of the people she often mentions. But not all kind of toys qualify for this. At the same time, the never-ending debate about use-value and autonomy has embraced the art-toy as a theme. How this discourse completely misses the point teaches us hopefully how and why toys and toys are not the same, as this includes boy-toys.


Diedrich Diederichsen (1957) lives and works in Berlin. After teaching at the Merz Academy in Stuttgart, he became Professor for Theory, Practice and Communication of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2006. He regularly contributes to periodicals such as Artforum, e-flux journal, Frieze and Texte zur Kunst. His most recent book publications include Aesthetics of Pop Music (2023), Über Pop-Musik (2014), The Whole Earth. Kalifornien und das Verschwinden des Außen (2013, co-edited with Anselm Franke), The Sopranos (2012), Psicodelia y ready-made (2010), On (Surplus) Value in Art. Mehrwert und Kunst. Meerwarde En Kunst (2008), and Kritik des Auges: Texte zur Kunst (2008), among others.

The lecture will be in English.

Venue:
Lumiar Cité
Rua Tomás del Negro, 8A
1750-105 Lisboa