French Literature Reviews - 2026
C. de Toledo, A. Imhoff, K. Quiros, The Potentials of Time. Art and Politics
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
The Potentials of Time - Art and Politics
Camille de Toledo, Aliocha Imhoff, Kantuta Quiros
Publication date: 12/09/2016 Publisher: Manuella Editions ISBN: 978-2-917217-80-1 EAN: 9782917217801 Format: Paperback No. of pages: 287 p.
The prevailing regimes of knowledge and power by which we are governed are essentially regimes of constraint, debt, and finitude—regimes that foster an apocalyptic obsession and the systematic disqualification of what could be, what should be, what might be... What this world lacks is a principle of expansion. It is precisely this "principle of expansion" that the authors seek to establish across every scale of existence, both individual and collective. In this sense, "potential thinking" responds to these dark times, to this long winter of the early twenty-first century.
The "potential proposition" can be understood as an effort to structure hope, to furnish it with reasons, forms, and forces. What temporalities, what relationships to worlds and to becomings does "potential thinking" enable us to establish?
What ethics, laws, and modes of existence are already potentially at work in our present? Transforming our relationship to what is presented to us as reality, reshaping our connection to time, and redefining transmission are among the pathways explored and developed here, further enriched by an index of the words and concepts that structure this potential philosophy.
By striving to define this proposition and articulating it through artistic, theoretical, and poetic voices alike, this book contributes to our shared endeavor to affirm possibilities and possible futures, and to transform our modes of existence, habitation, and governance.
This book is part of a broader movement aimed at the reconstruction of futures—a movement evidenced by various practices at the heart of both the art world and contemporary thought—with the goal of reclaiming politics and retaking possession of life and the future. It is precisely these multiple repertoires of art and theory that the concept of the potential seeks to set in motion.
Discussions surrounding temporal regimes and political alternatives frequently engage with the ways contemporary societies conceptualize history, debt, and the horizon of the future. Within European intellectual traditions, the critique of dominant power structures often intersects with aesthetic inquiry, drawing upon artistic and poetic vocabularies to reimagine collective existence. Works addressing the intersection of art and philosophy typically examine how imaginative practices can challenge prevailing conditions and articulate alternative modes of governance and habitation.
Readers interested in contemporary philosophy, the intersections of art and politics, and theoretical approaches to time may find it relevant. Published by Manuella Editions in 2016, The Potentials of Time - Art and Politics features contributions by Camille de Toledo, Aliocha Imhoff, and Kantuta Quiros. The 287-page paperback explores potential thinking through artistic, theoretical, and poetic voices, incorporating an index of concepts and pathways for transforming our relationship to reality, transmission, and possible futures.