In the spotlight: Marcus Quent
What were your first thoughts when you saw the call for applications for the fellowship?
I thought: What a timely research program! I was impressed by the diverse approaches to the problem of the (post-)apocalypse at various levels. I found it most intriguing to make use of the apocalypse for connecting the analysis of a variety of contemporary and historical phenomena with the elaboration of an independent conceptual framework.
What does the apocalypse and/or post-apocalypse mean for you?
Apart from the general question of modernity’s relation to eschatological thinking, I am starting from the observation that today, our present seems challenged by an existentially menacing and at once plain version of the end – a “naked apocalypse,” to use Günther Anders’s term. With the nuclear threat and the ecological transformation, it seems we are now confronted with two versions of this “naked apocalypse” simultaneously. Therefore, I analyze both events considering the specific temporalities they imply. I am interested in how the status of the so far dominant configurations of the “contemporary” or the “absolute present” change when confronted with apocalyptic temporalities.
What is your fellowship trying to achieve?
With my research project I aim to address what we could describe as a mutual stabilization of catastrophism and presentism in our construction of time: On the one hand, the so called “endless” or “absolute” present produces catastrophic consequences; on the other hand, an impending event of catastrophe retroactively sets the endless time-space of the present absolute. My project explores how the construction of time could be conceptualized differently to avoid being trapped in the political impasse of this mutual stabilization.
How does the fellowship project build on or connect to your previous career or biography?
Temporality, particularly the notion of the present, is a key aspect of my research. This doesn't just mean the history of the philosophy of time. I understand it in a broader sense. For me, it is crucial that the problems of our present manifest themselves primarily as problems of time, as problems of temporality. Understanding the (historical) present then entails a twofold question: What are the spatio-temporal specifics of "our" present – but also: How is the constitution of the present as such to be conceived, which enables us to speak of "our" present at all? The apocalypse is an element of the investigation of "the present" in that sense. Because the construction of the apocalypse emphasizes the temporality of the present as well as our present is one that recognizes itself as apocalyptic, becoming intelligible through this lens.
What do you take with you from the project and its results?
I have gained a deeper awareness of the complexity, potential and scope of the application of the conceptual framework of apocalypse and (post-)apocalypse – but also its limits. The concept brings with it a specific surplus and resistance, that complicates its application and integration as a mere tool for the humanities. I have learned that "the apocalypse," be it as an affirmative conceptual framework or an object of critical investigation, should not be part of a normalizing endeavor. Above all, this concerns our position, practice, and self-conception as scholars.
What was particularly valuable for you in terms of the input from other disciplines, other perspectives, and the exchange with the fellows and people at CAPAS?
I found it most inspiring to observe how other researchers approached time-related issues. The struggle with Chronos-time was constantly resurfacing, be it in projects in history, literature, art, geography, or psychoanalysis. It seems to me that the apocalyptic framework in its various appearances opens a field for thinking temporality beyond mere linear chronological time – based on the excess the chronological form of time itself entails.
To get some practical advice: What would be the three things you would definitely need in a post-apocalyptic world?
Faith, courage, and desire.
What are some of your favourite pop culture references to the/an (post)apocalypse?
When it comes to popular music, for me the apocalypse is situated probably somewhere in-between Swans’s „It’s Coming It’s Real” and Claudine Longet’s “The End Of The World”.
Marcus Quent is a research associate at the Department of Art History, Art Theory and Aesthetics at the Berlin University of the Arts. His research focuses on philosophical aesthetics and aesthetic theory, the philosophy of time and the history and topicality of critical theory.