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[SYMPOSIUM] Book Club- Deleuze and Guattari: Rhizome
March 10, 2017 @ 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm GMT
Chaired by Katie Tysoe and Sophia Kosmaoglou
In March we’re reading Rhizome, the introduction to Capitalism and Schizophrenia: A Thousand Plateaus (1980) by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. Rhizome was first published in 1976 by Éditions de Minuit.
With rhizome, Deleuze and Guattari propose a theory of knowledge that privileges connectivity, heterogeneity and multiplicity. The rhizome is a centreless network, where every node connects with every other in a subterranean and horizontal fashion, allowing multiple, non-hierarchical entry points. Deleuze and Guattari compare the rhizome with it’s opposite; the binary, vertical, linear and hierarchical model of knowledge represented by the tree (tree of life, tree of knowledge). The rhizome, on the other hand “ceaselessly establishes connections between semiotic chains, organizations of power, and circumstances relative to the arts, sciences, and social struggles” (Deleuze and Guattari, 2004/1980, p. 7).
Rhizome fulfills its introductory role by demonstrating that A Thousand Plateaus does not work like most other books. For example, it doesn’t have to be read from start to end, you can start in the middle because “A rhizome has no beginning or end; it is always in the middle, between things, interbeing, intermezzo” (Deleuze and Guattari, 2004/1980, p. 25).
Why do artists have a affinity with Deleuze and Guattari, and particularly with this book?
The event is free but due to limited capacity booking is required. Please visit the website for more information, to book and download the text.
[SYMPOSIUM] is a monthly free and open-access reading group for artists, curators, researchers and anyone interested in the intersections between art practice and critical theory. Decision-making is collective and everyone can propose and chair the reading of a text on a selective and voluntary basis.
http://artandcritique.uk/book-club/
IMAGE CREDIT:
Richard Giblett [2008] Mycelium Rhizome. Graphite on paper, 120 x 240 cm.