Symposium Abstraction and Economy

The symposium Abstraction and Economy examines the tension between abstraction and economy from different perspectives of art and architecture theory / history as well as law, sociology, philosophy and economics. Abstraction and Economy addresses questions about the current challenges of a global economy, with its claim to expansive growth in relation to aesthetics, technology and democracy. We ask about the role of art between concretion and abstraction, and discuss formalistic approaches to art theory with its assertion to autonomy, as well as the social and economic aspects that critical theory takes into account in order to track down the aesthetic regime of capitalism.