DECONSTRUCTION
P E N S É E S
One can definitely clear one’s mind by blowing a Nothing through it. A Nothing that whirls around all the thoughts which had been neatly lying there in their pigeonholes. A Nothing that destroys the previous order; something one might call the “power of creative destruction” (Joseph A. Schumpeter). A kind of brutal shattering – into pieces that are lost forever, creating a wasteland on which something new can be planted again. Or it can be a kind of gentle disassembly, a cautious dismantling of several parts, a gradual unraveling, stitch by stitch, without destroying anything and with the possibility of reassembling the same pieces in a different way. Because what else is an idea, if not the new combination of two thoughts? The fact that destruction is just one of many variants of deconstruction is illustrated by Thom Yorke on his new album Anima and the ironic intonation of his voice when he sings “I have to destroy to create”.
It is only when the existing order is questioned that something new can emerge. It is only by treading untrodden paths that one reaches new places. It is only by disassembling something that the structures of systems can be rendered visible which are otherwise taken for granted and perceived as natural.
So what is the purpose of all this? It is only when the existing order is questioned that something new can emerge. It is only by treading untrodden paths that one reaches new places. It is only by disassembling something, much like philosopher Jacques Derrida did in his deconstruction of language, that the structures of systems can be rendered visible which are otherwise taken for granted and perceived as natural. Systems in which we like to make ourselves comfortable – but as the saying goes: “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” The more peaceful the standstill is, the more frantic becomes the fear that shouts: Stop wasting your time. There is great pleasure in thinking new things.
Recommended reading:
- Joseph A. Schumpeter: Kapitalismus, Sozialismus und Demokratie
- Jacques Derrida: Grammatologie
ARTICLES FROM OUR MAGAZINE
PENSÉES: THE INDIVIDUAL, THE ANTI-UNIVERSAL
About open societies and their enemies, about a static universal condemned to a standstill, the individual as a prerequisite for plurality and the "inventive Between".
THE INTERPLAY OF CHAOS AND ORDER
The new interior design for our showroom, about the interplay of chaos and order, how something new emerges from chaos and our virtual working space called 'ovesize corset'.
IN DIALOGUE WITH DESIGNER: DANIEL ANDRESEN
Daniel Andresen, knitwear designer from Antwerp, in an interview about his work as an unpredictable experience, on the threshold between tradition and avant-garde and his love for the imperfect. Why he prefers to be a craftsman rather than an artist and why he doesn't allow himself to be shaped, but rather shapes himself.
