This blog - http:// beuysown.blogspot.com - is the repository for the writings of Benjamin Tallis, freelance writer and commentator.
This depot of words and ideas contains articles that have been published in many European media outlets as well as curatorial texts, essays and other writings that have appeared in a variety of different contexts. These works have appeared alongside (although not in agreement with!) those of Vaclav Havel, Jeffrey Sachs, Helena Kontova and Giancarlo Politi, amongst other luminaries.
Reflecting the diversity of the author's engagements, experience and interests, these writings cover topics ranging from contemporary art and visual culture to political analysis and critiques of international relations.
However, if there is a unifying theme, it is a multi-vocal call to arms: the insistence that we can influence our own lives and those of others to shape the societies and spaces that we want.
However, to do this we must expose the operations of power that obscure our senses of possibility, instead re-imagining spaces of and move towards true
Each article appears in a separate blog entry (listed on the right of this page) and, where relevant, includes the date and outlet of its initial publication. For convenience, the articles are listed below, grouped into themes, with the most recent in each group listed first.
Op-Eds: (Political) Opinion Pieces
Don't Jump on the Ban Wagon
A look at the anti-democratic consequences of banning 'extremist' political parties
This Ruckus is Sponsored by Political Impotence
The Meaning of the G20 protests in London, as seen from the inside
Black Arts
Looking at the value of politcal art in light of the scandal caused by David Cerny's 'Entropa'
Politics Reborn?
Hopes for 2009: Rebirth of Politics and Social Democracy; Re-engaging Russia; Back from the Ashes
Kings for a Day?
An examination of the challenges and opportunities facing the first Czech Presidency of the EU
Turning Hope into Change
Reaction to the election of Barack Obama
Uncommon Ground
Uncovering the privatisation and of space in Prague and its impacts.
Power Play
Looking beyond the media spin to understand the Georgia-Russia conflict.
Blame Game: The Politics of Corruption
The causes and damaging consequences of making corruption a political priority.
Security Theatre
The politics of security on the streets of suburban Prague
Feature Length Analyses and Investigations
Faith, Hope & Charity: Out of their labours and into our lives in Eisenhuttenstadt
An exploration of the (spatial) politics of memory in the post-communist world, in homage to Charity Scribner, author of 'Requiem for Communism'
Hope, Change or None of the Above
An in-depth, critical exploration of Barack Obama's claims to represent hope through real change
Debt of Gratiude: Why 'No!' Doesn't Mean 'No.'
Examining the causes and consequences of the Irish Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty
Art and Visual Culture
Faith, Hope & Charity: Out of their labours and into our lives in Eisenhuttenstadt
An exploration of the (spatial) politics of memory in the post-communist world, in homage to Charity Scribner, author of 'Requiem for Communism'
Black Arts
Looking at the value of politcal art in light of the scandal caused by David Cerny's 'Entropa'
Common Space: Gallery - Curatorial Text
For the exhibition 'What I never had is being torn from me. What I did not live, I will miss forever' by various artists, poets, musicians, people - provoking platforms for the consideration of collective memory in the context of mourning, melancholia, nostalgia and amnesia.
Common Space: Gallery - Curatorial Text
Curatorial Text for the exhibition 'I would be happier if I let everything be true at once' by artist and poet Elizabeth Gross, questioning how we can know ourslelves, others and the outside ...
Common Space: Gallery - Curatorial Text
Curatorial Text for the exhibition Double Game Squared, playing with the work of Sophie Calle to question identity and interaction.
Common Space: Gallery - Introduction//Concept
An introduction to the Common Space Gallery and the idea of common spaces on the occasion of the first exhibition
Review: 6th Biennale of Young Czech Artists
Mapping the constellations of Czech contemporary art and its future
