The uprooting of the art or the art of uprooting Some reflections on the contemporary

In one of his conferences, On terror and genes, pronounced during the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2001, Peter Sloterdijk makes a surprising claim: "There seems to have been a Chinese curse, that also reached the West, and is repeated every now and then by Western speakers. It goes like this: 'May you live in an interesting time.' "It is surprising because it reveals what may well be the essence of our time; for Sloterdijk continues: "this curse has become quite dramatic for us". But what makes our time interesting? This question can only be understood it we understand the real meaning of the word contemporary. This is the task before us, and what better in order to accomplish it, than to use one of most meaningful manifestations of our time: art.