In its second phase, the research project B01 builds on the improvisation-theoretical perspective developed in the first period, investigating the relationship between artistic interventions and everyday practice. While the previous focus was on the capacities required in artistic improvisation to deal with the unexpected, the current focus lies on the dynamics of change and adaptation of these improvisational capacities within human practices more broadly. The aim is to examine the aesthetic aspects of the plasticity of everyday life in both its individual and social-infrastructural dimensions, thereby also contributing to a revision of the so-called ‘culture-industry thesis’. SP 1 explores how the handling of everyday (micro-)crises can be conceptualized as being 'able to be unable' (Können des Nichtkönnens) — a disposition cultivated through aesthetic interventions. It asks what function this disposition serves in coping with everyday challenges. SP 2 examines the plasticity of human capacities as the basis for artistic intervention practices. It pays particular attention to second-order capacities, i.e. capacities for transforming other capacities, as well as the role of transformative experiences.

Head of Project

Prof. Dr. Georg Bertram (SP 1)

Postdoctoral Researcher

Lilja Walliser (SP 2)