Art and war. Artistic interventions from Rubens to Joseph Beuys. Bloodstream ornament and rising from ruins. The paradox of alienation through cultural proximity

We have become accustomed to declaring the sphere of the arts as a peaceful counterforce to quiet cultural struggles and bloody wars of subjugation, even extermination. A craving for recognition and opportunism, which has repeatedly proved successful, are turning more and more artists into cultural warriors. It is therefore necessary to present the inner logic of the culture wars as clearly as possible and then demand that artists, philosophers and intellectual scientists open up a way out of the culture wars for their contemporaries: Asserting cultural identity is only possible if you know what you want to differentiate yourself from.