Weiblicher Akt 11: Love Sontag

Nothing is mysterious, not a single human relationship. Except love.

What appeals to our imaginations more and is yet as ineffable and as incomprehensible as love? Nobody knows exactly what it is and yet, to a great extent, it determines our lives. Following Marguerite Duras and Elfriede Jelinek, Maatschappij Discordia is consulting Susan Sontag (1933-2004). Both in her diaries – in which she describes her turbulent life – and in her other work, she is constantly reflecting on the gap between representation and truth, between image and reality. This raises the question: is ‘love’ only a figment that deludes us en masse? Does real love exist?

• Maatschappij Discordia was found in 1982 by Jan Joris Lamers, Matthias de Koning, Annette Kouwenhoven, and others. They focused on autonomous acting and free interactions with texts. Love Sontag is part 11 of the Weiblicher Akt series, which always starts from the female perspective. The five previous parts were presented at the Kaaistudio's.

The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is. – SUSAN SONTAG in The Benefactor