Left: Fuck Theory; right: Molly Crabapple (photos courtesy Postmaster Gallery)
I don’t know who they are, but the person who goes by the pseudonymous Fuck Theory (FT) has a compelling way about them. FT blends a general no-bullshit approach to the world (“fuck”) with a deep knowledge of Western intellectual history (“theory”), while still managing to be positive and life-affirming.
“One way or another, this will all play out,” FT wrote in Artforum in December, with “this” referring to Donald Trump and the current political mess. “In the meantime, steer away from the things that feel unnecessary or make you anxious, and toward the things that bring you joy and feel important. What else is there to do?” That piece is a “syllabus for the end times”; at Postmasters Gallery, FT has organized a series of “lectures for the end of the world.” Each one is read by a friend serving as a stand-in for FT, and each considers problems in recent intellectual history alongside possibilities for moving beyond anxiety and thinking differently about the world.
This Sunday’s — the last in the current series — will be read by artist, activist, and writer Molly Crabapple and will take on Marx’s theory of base and superstructure. That’s not, admittedly, a topic I’ve ever cared much about, but at a time when pretty much the only emotion I can feel is anxiety, I’m hopeful that FT and Crabapple can help talk me down.
When: Sunday, February 12, 4pm
Where: Postmasters Gallery (54 Franklin Street, Tribeca, Manhattan)
More info here.
