In Defense of Sloth: An Eclectic and Entertaining Series of Presentations About that Most Philosophical of Vices: A PRIMER

Theories and polemics about sloth have figured widely in Western thought in the work of artists, philosophers, and cultural critics as diverse as Aquinas, Nietzsche, and Malevich, as well as Marx, Kierkegaard, and Wilde. In Dante’s Purgatorio, for example, sloth is described as being the “failure to love God with all one’s heart, all one’s mind, and all one’s soul.” A more secular viewpoint on sloth is provided by Paul LaFargue, Karl Marx’s son-in-law, who authored the influential The Right to be Lazy(1883) and tirelessly campaigned for a three-hour work day. Likewise, in his manifesto “The Praise of Laziness” (1988), Zagreb-based artist Mladen Stilinovic suggests that Western artists are too preoccupied with promotion and production, and are thus less artists than producers.

The project has been organized in conjunction with Slought in New York, an archival exploration into the activities of the Philadelphia-based Slought Foundation, on display from November 29-December 15, 2007 at Zone:Chelsea Center for the Arts. The “In Defense of Sloth” project is collaboratively organized by Aaron Levy, Slought Foundation, and Sina Najafi, Cabinet Magazine, in association with undergraduate students in the 2007-2008 Russell Bergman Foundation Curatorial Seminar in the University of Pennsylvania Departments of English and Art History.