Frank Jödicke will join the discussion about "alternative views vs. alternative facts" at Elevate Festival 2020 on Saturday, 07.03.2020.
Free entry at the Festival location Forum Stadtpark! -> Full programme info.
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Elevate's Festival theme 2020 is "Human Nature". What's your second thought about it?
I don’t have a clue what human nature is.
And your first?
Nice motto.
Quo Vadis Humanity? In 2009 Elevate's main theme was the climate crisis. 10 years have passed. What’s your take on the next 10?
There is this eerie behaviour: If people get away with something dangerous, they don’t consider it as dangerous and start being more cautious about it. No, not at all, they are raising the stakes. Mankind survived a lot: world wars and huge catastrophes. Yes, we were able to prevent the destruction of the ozone layer – for example. But that was quite easy and no-one had to change their way of living. And also, the same companied continue to make profit. With climate change it is going to be much more difficult. And we don’t even start.
The relationship of humans and technology - more reasons to be pessimistic or optimistic? Can you name some?
It’s not a question of being optimistic or pessimistic. It’s more about understanding the new situation that changed our life completely. Technology is changing the environment for humans. It would be absurd and impossible to go on with your life as a Styrian mountain farmer after someone built a chairlift beside your hayfields. You can think about the new technology as you like. You can develop the most astonishing attitude towards it. All this does not change the fact that your old life is over. This idea of technology changing human life in an inevitable way is important. Only if we acknowledge this, we can find a way to cope with it.
And our relationship with nature? Of course we are "part of it", but....where are we going?
We shouldn’t care for nature. Nature will find its way as it has for billions of years. Mankind is just a very short episode for our planet. We should take care to extend this episode. Like Gilles Deleuze said, people have difficulties to understand that mankind is a phenomenon. It appeared one day in the history of the earth and it will vanish someday. Not nature is in danger – we are.
"Psycho-spiritual crisis", "a psychotic society"… How bad is the status quo of humanity?
It has always been bad. As one character in a Samuel Becketts play famously puts it: Why of all days should we give up today? People get more awake by the hour and more and more people want to change their lives and the society as well. That is a good thing.
A message to the Elevate Festival community? What can we do?
Read skug. Seriously, the first thing is to educate oneself. Well, there are other magazines worth reading beside skug. You’ll find them when you look up bam.jetzt on the internet. The more people know, the better judgement they can develop. Reading (good books or articles) means preparing for resistance. And reading may also involve having fun and laughter.
Elevate features many amazing artists in the music & arts programme. Can we meet you on the Dancefloor too?
Of course.
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Frank Jödicke will join the discussion about "alternative views vs. alternative facts" at Elevate Festival 2020 on Saturday, 07.03.2020.
Free entry at the Festival location Forum Stadtpark! -> Full programme info.
