Stephen Zepke, an independent researcher, discusses Felix Guattari's screenplay and the importance of art in politics. The conversation explores the film 'Videodrome', the critique of science fiction, the themes of the Dune series, and the connections between different works and concepts. They also discuss the emotional intensity of the film 'On Silver Globe' and explore the limitations of language. Overall, it's an engaging discussion on art, philosophy, and politics.
The screenplay UIQ challenges traditional subjectivities and heteronormative relationships, exploring the complexities of desire and the potential for liberation.
The UIQ screenplay presents UIQ as a revolutionary entity capable of disrupting societal norms, emphasizing the need for a radical break from repressive forces that regulate desire.
The UIQ screenplay critiques traditional dynamics of romantic relationships, juxtaposing the liberating potential of desire with its oppressive effects when channeled through traditional subjectivities.
The film UIQ subverts traditional cinematic storytelling, creating emotional uncertainty and rejecting the clarity and certainty usually associated with the medium.
Deep dives
UIQ: A Love Story between UIQ and Janice
The screenplay UIQ explores the tumultuous and unconventional love story between UIQ, an infinitely small entity, and Janice, a punk DJ. Set in a commune, the narrative delves into the complexities of desire, jealousy, and the obstacles that accompany love. As the story evolves, UIQ's emotional immaturity and overpowering emotions lead to catastrophic consequences, resulting in global mutations and chaos. The screenplay delves into the limitations of traditional subjectivities and challenges the norms of heteronormative relationships. In this narrative, UIQ embodies the unconscious and serves as a critique of a love confined within a bourgeois framework. The screenplay explores the struggles of desire and the potential for liberation when desire breaks free from traditional boundaries.
Schizoanalysis and the Liberatory Potential
The UIQ screenplay also touches on the concepts of schizoanalysis and cosmosis. It presents UIQ as a revolutionary entity capable of disrupting societal norms and unleashing desire from its containment within traditional subjectivities. The narrative emphasizes the need for a radical break from the repressive forces that regulate desire, allowing its fullest potential to proliferate. However, the screenplay also highlights the challenges and ambiguities that come with such a process. It recognizes the continuous struggle and the unpredictable outcomes that can arise from liberating desire from societal constraints. It suggests that true liberation lies in the ongoing process of differentiation and the constant production of difference rather than in the pursuit of a fixed, utopian state.
Love and Desire as Contested Grounds
UIQ portrays love and desire as contested and complex experiences. The narrative explores the negative consequences when desire becomes over-determined by immature emotions and expectations. It critiques the traditional dynamics of romantic relationships and challenges the possessive and jealous notions attached to them. The screenplay juxtaposes the liberating potential of desire with its oppressive effects when channeled through traditional subjectivities. It raises questions about the limitations of conventional understandings of love and the potential for a transformative reimagining of desire and relationships.
The Blurring of Politics and Subjectivity
The UIQ screenplay intertwines politics with individual subjectivity, with a focus on emotional life and interpersonal relationships rather than traditional political objectives. The narrative depicts state forces as absurd and not to be taken seriously, emphasizing their ridicule more than portraying them as sinister entities. The story concentrates on the subjective experiences and struggles of the characters, particularly UIQ's emotional volatility and turbulent journey through love. Politics in the narrative are intertwined with the communal setting, serving as a condition for UIQ's emergence rather than a central focus. Overall, the screenplay prioritizes exploring the complexities of relationships and the emotional challenges faced by its characters over conventional political messages.
The rejection of traditional cinematic narrative
In this podcast episode, the speaker emphasizes how the film UIQ challenges traditional cinematic storytelling. Unlike most films that provide a clear narrative structure with definite heroes and villains, UIQ creates a sense of emotional uncertainty. The cinematic object becomes an experience that disrupts the usual consumption of films, rejecting the clarity and certainty often associated with the medium. This subversion of traditional narrative forms allows for a political message that remains ambiguous and open to interpretation.
The exploration of subjective resonance
The podcast delves into the concept of subjective resonance, drawing inspiration from French philosophers Guattari and Deleuze. Subjective resonance refers to a redundancy that pulls subjectivity into an abstract black hole of absolute deterritorialization. This redundancy involves personal pronouns, proper names, and all shifters. The film UIQ is seen as operating within this post-signifying regime, where redundancy creates a resonant black hole, attracting consciousness and passion. This concept of subjective resonance offers a framework to understand the merging of characters in the film and the loss of identity and predetermined roles.
The complexity of the aesthetic object
The podcast delves into the philosophical approach to artistic objects, contrasting the ideas of Guattari and Leotard with contemporary trends in art. Guattari's emphasis on the aesthetic object as an ontological and ontopolitical force challenges the dominance of the conceptual and linguistic elements in contemporary art. The aesthetic becomes a transformative and creative force that disrupts our usual ways of relating to objects. However, the podcast also explores the emotional valence of the film UIQ's ending, considering whether it aligns with the radical and ecstatic experience often associated with the aesthetic object. The complex relationship between the aesthetic and conceptual aspects of art is highlighted, suggesting different interpretations and experiences offered by artistic objects.
Stephen Zepke is an Independent Researcher based in Vienna. His work concerns the intersection of art, philosophy and politics. We sat down to discuss Felix Guattari's screenplay, A Love of UIQ. We delve into Deleuze and Guattari's vision for art, the relationship to science fiction, and more.
A Love of UIQ:
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/a-love-of-uiq
Stephen's Links:
https://independent.academia.edu/stephenzepke
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/stephen-zepke.html
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