Hur som helst – som icke-frankofon sörjer jag att jag inte kan läsa Lazzaratos bok om Tarde vs. Traditionell Politisk Ekonomi. Känns som att den borde vara en intressant diskussion om relationen mellan samtida italienare och den dåtide frassen.

Therefore, it’s unlikely that speaking of immaterial labor results
in talking about a virtual world. The wedding of art to life, as
realized by performance before the march, was intended also to imply
that art should not be perceived as ideology, a world distant from
life and its materiality. Here, the contradiction is only apparent.
On the other hand, the march through the streets of the city is a very
“material” activity which potentially annoys some who see art as a
privileged sphere, separate from politics and economy. We supported from the start the process of the march, the clear absence of controversial
content could be criticized, but it must also be read in terms of its
positive value: the thrilling physical affirmation of sociability — a
way of affirming the artist as a subjectivity in a highly visible
manner. The spirit of the march was not a provocative one, seeking the
effect of being involved in a debate, of which the terms were already
established by judges and media.

It is true that artists are an emblematic category in the discourse of
immaterial labor. This discourse, however, is not only about them, but
about all social and creative production elicited by all members of society. Goethe and Strindberg admitted that the
task of the writer is a constant borrowing of ideas from the social
environment around him. From them to the cool hunters of the marketing agencys the tune didn’t change.
The issue of physical spaces therefore
deserves increased attention. Surely, the joyous appropriation late
into the night, and early into the morning, of Konstfack was a good exemple that should be extended (finally, a
DJ who has captured the feeling of a dance floor and engaged this
spirit by playing good music — a rare thing in Stockholm). Indeed, we
are probably talking about a gray zone: immaterial lobour is most likely the point at which life and politics converge.
F.