To Become a Seer: Deleuze on Art, Politics and Resistance

This is a deep dive into Keren Shahar’s article, To Become a Seer: Deleuze on Art, Politics and Resistance, which examines the philosophical intersections of art, aesthetics, and politics through the lens of Gilles Deleuze’s thought. The author argues that modern capitalism and representational thinking limit human vision to superficial clichés, effectively masking the "intolerable" realities of the present. By analyzing the work of painter Francis Bacon, the text explores how art can function as a "seer" that renders invisible forces and intensities sensible. This process of capturing forces is framed as a creative form of political resistance rather than a mere reaction to existing power structures. Ultimately, Shahar suggests that by breaking through mediated screens of perception, art and philosophy can together invoke new collective modes of existence and alternative futures.