Knowledge seems to have become an independent force in our society, a force that seems to exist without us, that drives the economy, even shapes entire societies. In fact, sociology has been dealing with knowledge for a long time. Quite in contrast to the philosophical epistemological tradition, the sociology of knowledge understands knowledge as a fundamental social phenomenon, as a social form of meaning. In its social form, knowledge is also subject to social structures and power processes. As the more recent sociology of knowledge shows, in order for knowledge to have social consequences and become “real”, it must be communicated. A small empirical example will illustrate how the communication of knowledge can be regarded as physical performance. The essence of knowledge, it is concluded, lies in the form of communication.
As an artist, Mariechen Danz deals with knowledge in all its facets: its emergence, its history, its mediation, the hierarchies associated with it, the question of its objectivity, different models and systems of knowledge. The object of investigation of the sociology of knowledge as a branch of sociology is a similar one – but the methods and results of artistic and scientific research are fundamentally different. The lecture from the perspective of the sociology of knowledge will have a tense relationship to the exhibition by Mariechen Danz.
Prof. Dr. Hubert Knoblauch (*1959 in Friedrichshafen) studied in Constance and Brighton. He taught and researched at various universities: 2000-2002 Professor of Sociology of Religion at the University of Zurich. Since 2002 Professor of General Sociology at the Technical University of Berlin. Research interests in sociological theory, sociology of knowledge, communication and religion, thanatology, video analysis and qualitative methods. Relevant publication: Sociology of Knowledge. Constance: UVK 2005 (2nd ed. 2010).
A lecture to the exhibition “Mariechen Danz. cube cell stage”.