PETER FRIEDL
22 september - 10 december 2005
Theory of Justice
19 November – 10 December
  
Theory of Justice, exhibition view, 2005
As the art of observation, every theory draws a picture of the
world. But what happens when the pictures themselves want to
become theory? What is, or what achieves pictorial justice?
The title of Peter Friedl's project, which is being exhibited
here for the first time, refers to the attempt at renewing social
contract theory undertaken by the American philosopher John
Rawls (1921-2002). A Theory
of Justice (1971) and the subsequent restatement Justice
as Fairness (2001) are classic examples of a political
liberalism that believes in a well-ordered society as a system
of cooperation and in the all-embracing consensus of its members.
Rawls's ideal well-ordered society is effectively regulated
by a public concept of justice. It attains stability because
its citizens are satisfied with their society's basic structure:
"Justice as fairness is a political conception of justice for
the special case of the basic structure of a modern democratic
society."
If it is true that the contemporary global drama is one of expulsion and exclusion, then justice and distribution theories are out of touch with reality. In grasping the logic of the political as opposition to the dispositifs of administration, of police repression, and institutional regulation, conflict takes the place of consensus: politics as resistance by those social actors for whom no voice is foreseen. The question: "Can the Subaltern speak?" includes the questions of potential (speaking) pictures for this conflict. The site of these new pictures of history can be found between visibility and discourse.
Friedl's project, Theory of
Justice, is based on the collection (since 1992) and
selection of newspaper images, which means multiply published,
differently contextualized use-images. However, what is addressed
is not documentary practice or picture politics, but rather,
their reuse in the genre of politico-historical narrative. The
chronology of what is depicted (rather than the date of publication)
provides a presentation and organizing principle for the newspaper
cuttings, which stem from diverse sources, thus altering the
historicity of the pictures. Theory
of Justice shows a selection from Friedl's picture archive
in display cases that have been produced in collaboration with
D+. An inventory in book form is underway.
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press release
Playgrounds
Drawings
Theory of Justice
artist Book
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