today’s inspiration_Symbiotic seeing_Olafur Eliasson_Kunsthaus Zürich_Zürich_Swiss

Zusammenleben … und wehe ich sehe Symbiose

Symbiosis (Greek syn / sym, together; bios, life) in psychology describes certain forms of addiction among humans. The term symbiosis originally comes from biology and describes here evolutionarily developed forms of functional coexistence of alien species for mutual benefit. Transferring it to human relationships, the term usually has a negative meaning, assuming that successful life is measured by the degree of independence and personal individuation. In this way, symbiotic relationships are seen as an inferior, development-inhibiting or downright damaging way of life, in which adult independence and maturity are missed in favor of satisfying infantile needs.

Erich Fromm introduced the term for psychoanalysis to describe a harmful human relationship pattern. He defines the psychological symbiosis as “union of an individual self with another self (or with some other power outside of oneself) in such a way that everyone loses the integrity of his self and both become completely dependent on each other.” (The Escape from Freedom, 1941). Such relationship patterns are discussed against the general sociological and socio-psychological background of the authoritarian character as a decaying form of human development.

Olafur Eliasson’s exhibition ‘Symbiotic seeing’ could be considered as an invitation to further evolve the perception of symbiosis assuming that “perception is not something that happens to us, or is in us, it is something we do” (exhibition ‘symbiotic seeing’, research wall, room 4,  Kunsthaus Zürich).

Charlotte Gainsbourg

https://www.kunsthaus.ch/