The (legal) person and the legal form. Seminar with Sven Lütticken. Chapter I

As part of the Studies Constellation, the Museo Reina Sofía Study Directoship’s annual fellowship, art historian and theorist Sven Lütticken leads the seminar The (Legal) Person and the Legal Form: Theoretical, Artistic, and Activist Commitments to foster dialogue and deepen the hypotheses and questions driving his research project.

This project, titled Unacting Personhood, Deforming Legal Abstraction, explores the dominance of real abstractions—such as exchange value and legal form—over our processes of subjectivation and asks how artistic practices can open up alternative ways of representing or performing the subject and their legal condition in the contemporary world.

The seminar consists of eight two-hour sessions, divided into three chapters throughout the academic year. While conceived as non-public spaces for discussion and collective work, these sessions complement, nourish and amplify the public program of the Studies Constellation.

This first chapter of the seminar, composed of four sessions, serves as an introduction to the fundamental issues of the research concerning theoretical, artistic and activist engagements with the legal form. It includes four sessions dedicated respectively to: the legal form, through the work of French jurist, philosopher and lawyer Bernard Edelman, with particular attention to his Marxist theory of photography (translated into German by Harun Farocki); the (legal) person, via contributions from Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito, academic, social justice activist and writer Radha D’Souza, and visual artist Jonas Staal; land, through the work of researcher Brenna Bhandar —specialist in the colonial foundations of modern law and the notion of property— and artist, filmmaker and researcher Marwa Arsanios; and international law, through the work of British writer China Miéville.

Through these and other readings, case study analyses and collective discussions, the seminar aims to open a space for critical reflection on the ways in which the law —both juridical form and legal form— is performed and exceeded by artistic and activist practices, as well as by theoretical and political approaches that challenge its foundations and contemporary projections.

Participant Selection

Participation is free until capacity is reached (20 people). To apply, please send an email to centrodeestudiosmuseoreinasofia.es before 21 September 2025 providing full name, participation modality (in-person or online) and motivation: what motivates you to enroll in this study group? (max. 3000 characters) and what research questions do you engage with in your professional practice? (max. 3000 characters).
Particular consideration will be given to applicants whose backgrounds and interests align with the seminar’s content, as well as to their commitment to regular attendance to all sessions.

Programme
The (Legal) Person and the Legal Form: Theoretical, Artistic and Activist Commitments. Chapter I

Monday September 29, 2025, 6pm to 8pm
The Legal Form
Bernard Edelman

Thursday October 2, 2025, 6pm to 8pm
The (Legal) Person
Roberto Esposito and Radha d’Souza/Jonas Staal

Monday, 6 October 2025, 6pm to 8pm
Land
Brenna Bhandar and Marwa Arsanios

Thursday October 9, 2025, 6pm to 8pm
International Law
China Miéville

Language: English
Deadline for submissions: September, 21, 2025
For more info: https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/activities/sven-lutticken-seminar-1