by Dr. Christoph Kluetsch
Tuesday 7 January 2025 at 5pm
Auro Artworld is organizing a series of 6 lectures at the Centre d’Art multimedia room in Auroville. These lectures, conducted by Dr. Christoph Kluetsch, will explore connections between art, philosophy, and spirituality, bridging Eastern and Western traditions to illuminate the enduring questions of existence, consciousness, and creativity. The series will be offered on the first Tuesday of every month, beginning on October 1st.
Who is Seeing When Seeing: The Kena Upanishad and the Sensation of Logic
Who in our consciousness experiences sensations? How are sensations synthesized? How do matter, vibration, consciousness, and self connect? And how can we share sensations through art? Aurobindo introduced the uncommon notion of intermiscence at a central point in his interpretation of the Kena Upanishad. This concept invites deeper speculation about the power of art and provides a profound tool to understand postmodern theories like Gilles Deleuze’s provocative reinterpretation of the notions of concept, percept, and affect. The Logic of Sensation (Deleuze) is an analysis of the forces in modern painting as an encounter. It will become clear that Aurobindo’s interpretation of the Kena Upanishad as a key text of the Vedanta can hold space for one of the most profound rhizomatic postmodern thinkers.
On a deeper level, I want to explore how Aurobindo’s idea that sensations can ‘operate without bodily organs’ relates to Deleuze’s notion of body without organs (BwO). Both philosophers point at the forces of consciousness on a plane of immanence.