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Philosophy for the People
Philosophy for the People
Vol. I : On Power
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Download a digital copy here (free).
The core idea of Philosohpy for the People (PftP) is to get more people to read and enjoy philosophy by pairing timeless theory with a classic work of literature and an essay that reflects on their theme and relevance today.
The idea for PftP originated while lying awake under an open window on a hot Berlin summer night in 2015. I thought of ‘1984’ by George Orwell, how relevant that work still is and how many people have heard of the book, but may not have gotten around to reading it. I remembered that books lose their copyright after a number of years and wondered if that was the case with 1984, so it could be reproduced and shared more widely.
All works by Orwell became copyright free in 2020, 70 years after he died. Which is when I picked up the idea again and turned it into a project. Fueled by reading ‘The Purpose Myth’ a book by Charlotte Cramer, I got to work on taking the steps needed to actually create and publish Philosophy for the People.
Seeing its origin, it is fitting that this first volume of PftP contains a work by George Orwell. Animal Farm is short and straightforward, making it a great introduction for the TL;DR generation, while discussing the truly timeless and relevant problem of power.
Beyond the match in theme between Animal Farm and the Communist Manifesto, Marx also saw the need for the proletariat to be educated and empowered so they would be able to unite, rise up and reclaim power where it belongs: in the hands of all people. Which makes the Communist Manifesto a fitting piece for this first volume of PftP as well.
Animal Farm is a work that was on the reading list of many high school students, while many college students encountered the work of Marx at one point or the other. Yet both are in the category of classics that many people have heard of, but haven’t read. These works are as relevant today as they were when they were published, so no better time to read them than now.
Thank you to Mara Lin, Lisanne and Margot for their support with my essay.
Enjoy. Share. With love, for the people,
Nikki
writing
Philosophy for the People
The core idea of Philosohpy for the People (PftP) is to get more people to read and enjoy philosophy by pairing timeless theory with a classic work of literature and an essay that reflects on their theme and relevance today.
The idea for PftP originated while lying awake under an open window on a hot Berlin summer night in 2015. I thought of ‘1984’ by George Orwell, how relevant that work still is and how many people have heard of the book, but may not have gotten around to reading it. I remembered that books lose their copyright after a number of years and wondered if that was the case with 1984, so it could be reproduced and shared more widely.
All works by Orwell became copyright free in 2020, 70 years after he died. Which is when I picked up the idea again and turned it into a project. Fueled by reading ‘The Purpose Myth’ a book by Charlotte Cramer, I got to work on taking the steps needed to actually create and publish Philosophy for the People.
Seeing its origin, it is fitting that this first volume of PftP contains a work by George Orwell. Animal Farm is short and straightforward, making it a great introduction for the TL;DR generation, while discussing the truly timeless and relevant problem of power.
Beyond the match in theme between Animal Farm and the Communist Manifesto, Marx also saw the need for the proletariat to be educated and empowered so they would be able to unite, rise up and reclaim power where it belongs: in the hands of all people. Which makes the Communist Manifesto a fitting piece for this first volume of PftP as well.
Animal Farm is a work that was on the reading list of many high school students, while many college students encountered the work of Marx at one point or the other. Yet both are in the category of classics that many people have heard of, but haven’t read. These works are as relevant today as they were when they were published, so no better time to read them than now.
Thank you to Mara Lin, Lisanne and Margot for their support with my essay.
Enjoy. Share. With love, for the people,
Nikki
writing
The Allegory of Concrete
The Grey Space In the Middle organized a finnisage for the Open Space residency of choreographer Amparo González Sola. Open Space is a residency program that shows the artistic process as an ongoing exhibition.
Sola’s residency focused on her work La Conspiración de las Formas (The Conspiracy of Forms). In this long-term project, she investigates the changing relationship between human and matter. It addresses the question how we relate to the world we built. Read and watch more here.
The finnisage was to be a gift to her and consisted of an artistic dinner, a sound piece performed by Stephanie Pan, an essay read by me and a panel talk.
You can download the essay here.
writing
The Dream Argument
MacGuffin is an unusual design & crafts magazine. It features stories about the life of ordinary things, often anonymously designed. Each biannual edition takes an object and explores the manifold stories it generates. Like the MacGuffins in Hitchcock films, these things are not the main characters, but the plot devices that set the story in motion.
Issue N° 1 (‘The Bed’) is all about the amazing backstage stories that revolve around our beds: cookie-cut Airbnb bedrooms, customized Do-it-Yourself beds, neat nightingale nests, copulating skyscrapers, instable flowerbeds and deflated airbeds are investigated by writers, critics, designers, craftsmen and photographers like Sam Jacob, Chris Kabel, Noriko Kawakami, Arnoud Holleman, Steven Heller, Wouter Vanstiphout, Madelon Vriesendorp and Labadie/Van Tour.
The piece I wrote is on the dream argument by Descartes and functions as a note to the photograph by Ola Lanko, also depicted in the magazine.
Dowload the piece here.
writing
You Snooze, You Lose
Frame Works was an exhibition by Els & Nel in collaboration with Friday Next. The installation highlights the concept of time management and what this means for people and their environments. Over the course of 4 weeks they invited artists to collaborate and perform, this way showing a broader spectrum of what managing time signifies, using the installation as a stage.
For Frame Works I wrote an essay called “You snooze, you lose” on the evolution of missing out in an environment where the Internet reminds us 24/7 what other things we could be doing. How can we not fail? During the exhibition I also gave an interactive lecture on the topic of the essay (as can be seen in the image).
Download the essay here.
Moralia etc. is the semi-professional excuse of Nikki Brörmann to engage in applied ethics and all things moral.
read more here.
THE DREAM ARGUMENT // MACGUFFIN
MacGuffin is a design & crafts magazine, with stories about the life of ordinary things, often anonymously designed. Like the MacGuffins in Hitchcock films, these things are not the main characters, but the plot devices that set the story in motion.
Issue N° 1 (‘The Bed’) is all about the amazing backstage stories that revolve around our beds, for which I wrote a piece on the dream argument by Descartes. The words function as a note to the incredible visual work by Ola Lanko, also depicted in the magazine.
Lorem Est. Morbi eu bibendum justo. Aliquam erat volutpat. Fusce pretium tempus lacus in posuere. Aenean fringilla, elit eu tempor sodales, ligula dolor dignissim sem, id tempor ipsum tellus ac neque. Nulla auctor, dui ut dignissim consecte. Aliquam erat volutpat. Fusce pretium tempus lacus in posuere. Aenean fringilla, elit eu.