Christoph Schlingensief

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This book focuses on the late German artist Christoph Schlingensief's theatre work, which subversively merges art, politics, and everyday life, revitalizing the concept of the political in art. It introduces the pluralistic notion of phantasmagoria to decode Schlingensief's theatrical vision, highlighting its political radicality while maintaining a critical ambivalence towards explicit political intentions. The author traces Schlingensief's artistic lineage as a filmmaker without formal theatre training, noting that his work defies conventional frameworks like postdramatic theatre, Regietheater, and established categories of political theatre such as Brechtian, community, and agit-prop theatre. Instead, his creations draw from the performative gestures of historical and post-Cold War avant-gardes, as well as the happenings and event-based practices of the sixties. The book includes comprehensive case studies of six diverse theatrical and activist events, illustrating Schlingensief's immediate responses to contemporary social and political issues and his eclectic use of artistic influences across various genres: Rocky Dutschke '68 (1996), Save Capitalism: Throw the Money Away! (1999), The Berlin Republic - or the Ring in Africa (1999), Hamlet (2001), Atta Atta - Art Has Broken Out! (2003), and the Church of Fear (2003).