M HKA Ensembles

ORBANISM

This term, created by Luc Deleu, led us to pairing him with Allan Sekula and Dimitris Alithinos.

‘Orbanism’ can be described as the worldview which positions the planetary scale as the second relevant scale besides that of the human being. After decades of political, technological and social evolution towards the “global village”, global transport and information networks have increased in complexity, amplifying connectivity and freedom of movement. However, the outcome of this was globalisation, a homogenised regime of exploitation, which Sekula analysed poignantly as having started in the oceans, with the unflagging of ships.  Artists developing other modes of engaging with this planetary scale may offer crucial alternatives as they restore the complexity of interrelations among people and between people and other components of the world, be it through a Shamanistic approach like in Alithinos’ Concealments, or through urbanism as in Deleu’s architectural projects that merge structural macro-decisions and the chaotic energy of life.

Sekula proposes an analysis from real life in this chapter of Fish Story, Deleu plans a trip around the world – he made one himself with a sailing boat – in 80 days, and offers an idea for a floating university, whereas Alithinos integrates the world through a webbing of real actions.

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