Virus, Virality, Virtuality

Or: The Corona Virus, the Leviathan of the Proxy-Society – an Essay by Peter Weibel

 
The closed society to which we are condemned opens our minds. It let us understand that our systems are more fragile than we ever thought. The first tele-society in human history is just emerging. Mass mobility is coming to an end. Globalization is running out of air. And: The telecommunication society is becoming a reality.

 
The play of the hour is by Jean-Paul Sartre and was premiered in 1944 under the title »Huis clos«. Three people are in hell after their death. You have curfew, that’s torture. They are locked together in a small room that they cannot leave and are constantly exposed to the eyes of the others. The famous message of the play is therefore: “Hell is other people.” – hell are the others.

Today the others are the infected ones. They are the heralds of hell, sickness, and death. They are the ones we are supposed to protect ourselves from and we have to refrain from.

Sartre’s drama today would be entitled »Shutdown« because all of Europe is in the mode of shutdown. In New York, because of the order to stay at home, there is “shelter in place”. The word “shelter” means bunker. The German word “wohnhaft” [resident] reveals its real meaning in the corona crisis, namely being in “Haft” [custody] in your own “Wohnung” [apartment]. The infected ones become interned and detained in solitary confinement.

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Πηγή: zkm.de