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The large-scale painting ›People’s Justice‹, a work by the artist collective Taring Padi, originally intended as an agit-prop artwork in Indonesia two decades ago, was publicly exhibited in Kassel in 2022 at the international art exhibition ›documenta fifteen‹. Public criticism declared the large-scale image to be an anti-Semitic machination and scandalized the art exhibition as a whole as marked by anti-Semitic activism. Taring Padi’s large-scale painting was first covered, then completely removed. – In our paper, we analyze the political problematic that set the matrix for the scandal and the organizational ethical aporia of a diffusion of responsibility: the organization of the art exhibition sought to maximize the curatorial freedom of the artist collectives, but in doing so increased the risk of dramatic reputational damage. Then we develop the specifically aesthetic problematic that the novel genre of ›post-autonomous art‹, so characteristic of ›documenta fifteen‹, makes particularly high demands on the ability to reflect on the difference between art and politics, as well as on cultural identities and differences, when post-autonomous art operates in multicultural contexts. These high demands affect not only the artists and curators, but also the real and virtual audiences of an open multicultural art exhibition. We identify some reasons why the high demands were not well met in the staging of ›documenta fifteen‹. Then we develop some suggestions within the normative framework of discourse ethics that reveal the deep normative aporias of such exhibitions and their difficult discourse culture and can be prospectively helpful. Finally, we briefly summarize the characteristic difficulties and aporias we have elaborated and end with an outlook on Aline Caillet’s art-philosophical concept of a specifically aesthetic responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Tambora volcano erupted in Indonesia in 1815 with the highest intensity ever measured in Modern Times, this had consequences for the whole world. This paper will not deal with the negative consequences such as climate deterioration or crop failures, but with a positive side effect: the increased atmospheric opacity caused by the volcanic eruption made observations of sunspots easier. At that time, the now confirmed assumption that there is a connection between sunspot activity and climate was discussed. Regular observations were required for confirming this hypothesis. At the Benedictine monastery in Admont (Styria) the first meteorological measurements were carried out by the monk and physicist Gotthard Wisiak in the years 1814-1818. During his recordings, which were carried out three times a day, Wisiak noted various climatic elements and sunspot phenomena. The latter form the focus of this contribution. Although Wisiak's observations fall within the so-called "Dalton Minimum" (ca. 1790--1820), a period of low sunspot activity, the year 1816 was well suited for such observations because the maximum of solar cycle 6 was in that year. Wisiak mentioned the term sunspot 64 times in his records, including 9 times of explicit absence and 55 times of sightings of them. The recorded number of sunspots varied between 1 and 30. Also sunspot formations like an "army" (meaning a rather large group of sunspots) were mentioned. According to Wisiak's meteorological data, the observations of sunspots were in most cases carried out at conditions with high air humidity causing additional opacity. Quantitative comparisons with contemporary sunspot studies by Augustin Stark (Augsburg, Germany) and Thaddäus Derfflinger (Kremsmünster, Upper Austria) show overall consistency with the Admont observations especially for the period July to October 1816, despite different sophisticated instruments, topographical constraints at Admont, and the difference between primary (focus on astronomical monitoring) and secondary (focus on meteorological monitoring) sunspot observation activities. This contribution thus also gives new hints on the evaluability of historical sunspot observations in Austria based on primarily meteorologically oriented archive records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hegemonic discourses, which have been particularly influential in economic terms, environmental conflicts are mostly framed as conflicts about the adequate use and management of natural resources. However, the epistemic subtext of this approach is based on a specific concept of nature that takes nature as matter, as the opposition to culture or the human mind. With reference to Philippe Descola, this paper aims to show that Dayaknese concepts of nature on the island of Borneo, which are revitalized and negotiated within the context of indigenous political strategies, differ fundamentally from these hegemonic concepts -- even though they have to refer to some hegemonic epistemic premises in order to enter global discourses. The article illustrates this epistemic dimension by analyzing statements of John Bamba, director of an indigenous organization in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Furthermore, it demonstrates how indigenous knowledge in its epistemic totality is neglected by Western discourses on local knowledge in Kalimantan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]