Author

Timotheus Vermeulen

Follow

Pioneering cultural theorist

Timotheus Vermeulen is one of the leading theorists of post-millennial culture and aesthetics, and the co-author of the landmark essay, “Notes on Metamodernism,” which set the agenda for thinking about how culture might go beyond postmodernist disorientation. The metamodern, he argues, “oscillates between a modern enthusiasm and a postmodern irony, between hope and melancholy, empathy and apathy, unity and plurality, totality and fragmentation.” This oscillation provides a way to recover depth, meaning and metaphysics itself from the shards left by postmodern critiques of Enlightenment truth and reason.

Vermeulen is Professor of Media, Culture and Society at the University of Oslo. His latest book is Plastic Time: Gesture on Screen (SUNY, 2026).

https://www.timotheusvermeulen.com/

Timotheus Vermeulen is one of the leading theorists of post-millennial culture and aesthetics, and the co-author of the landmark essay, “Notes on Metamodernism,” which set the agenda for thinking about how culture might go beyond postmodernist disorientation. The metamodern, he argues, “oscillates between a modern enthusiasm and a postmodern irony, between hope and melancholy, empathy and apathy, unity and plurality, totality and fragmentation.” This oscillation provides a way to recover depth, meaning and metaphysics itself from the shards left by postmodern critiques of Enlightenment truth and reason.

Vermeulen is Professor of Media, Culture and Society at the University of Oslo. His latest book is Plastic Time: Gesture on Screen (SUNY, 2026).

More Articles

Close-up of piano keys, showcasing the contrast between white and black keys, with a focus on textures and details of the instrument.

Silence Reigns

A painter depicts a large bird on canvas while seated near an easel, with an egg resting on a table beside him.

Art is not reality

Julian Spalding

The Emperor’s New God

A preserved shark in a glass tank, surrounded by green-tinted liquid, showcasing contemporary art practices.

The Emperor's New Art

A vibrant collage of various photographs showcasing a diverse range of themes, colors, and subjects, creating a visually rich tapestry.

Beeple and nothingness

A crowd views a famous self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh, featuring his distinct features and expressive brushwork, framed and displayed in an art museum.

William Hirstein

The evolution of aesthetic experience

The world as will and streams

Portraits of Friedrich Nietzsche and Karl Marx against a colorful abstract background. Nietzsche on the left, characterized by a distinctive mustache, and Marx on the right with a thick beard.

Marx and Nietzsche: how art can save us

A futuristic robotic hand poised to paint with a brush, demonstrating the intersection of technology and creativity through digital art.

Dustin Stokes, Elliot Samuel Paul

Computer creativity is a matter of agency

Three women with dark hair, depicted in a minimalist style, engage with a book releasing swirling letters and symbols, set against a rich red background.

Art doesn't make us better humans

A banana with two strips of silver duct tape crossing over it against a white background.

Jonathan Loesberg

Banksy, Beauty and Bananas

A vibrant arcade scene featuring classic arcade machines, vintage TVs showing game graphics, and colorful neon lighting.

James Tartaglia

Life, Death, and Pacman

A digital illustration depicting a destroyed urban landscape with collapsed buildings and smoke rising against a light background. The scene conveys a sense of devastation and desolation.

Art and the reality of war

A contemplative figure with glasses smoking, set against a dreamy, abstract background.

Jean-Luc Godard: philosophy and film

Illustration contrasting a colorful, organic brain with flowing lines and a dark, digital brain with circuit patterns, symbolizing the intersection of creativity and technology.

The artist is dead, AI killed them

Abstract geometric composition featuring intersecting lines in red, blue, and yellow against a light background, resembling the style of Piet Mondrian.

Julian Spalding

The curious case of the upside down Mondrian

Two individuals wearing futuristic helmets and black outfits, set against a colorful galaxy background.

James Tartaglia

Daft Punk and Metaphysics

Colorful swirls of pink and blue smoke against a black background, creating an abstract and vibrant display.

Beauty has always been gender-fluid

how the arts can save your life

Susan Magsamen, Ivy Ross

How the arts can save your life

A man in a suit balances two scales, one with people and the other seemingly overburdened, against an orange sky, symbolizing justice and inequality.

Morality shouldn't matter to artists

A close-up of a colorful, expressive painting depicting a face with prominent features, conveying emotion through vibrant brush strokes and abstract colors.

Art, essence and mortality

A stylized illustration of various musical instruments, including a violin, flute, tuba, and percussion stand, set against a warm yellow background.

Omari Edwards, Kathleen Higgins

Music, grief, and philosophy

David Bowie in a vibrant, metallic outfit with bold stripes, striking a dramatic pose against a bright red background.

Alienation fuels imagination

A colorful collage featuring two individuals holding vintage cameras against a backdrop of vibrant, abstract paint strokes in pink, yellow, and blue.

We must stop thinking photographs depict reality

Portraits of the ancient philosopher Aristotle on the left and the American author Emily Dickinson on the right, with vibrant, colorful backgrounds.

Magdalena Ostas

Poetry is philosophy

A monochromatic portrait of a woman with her face obscured by a vibrant arrangement of flowers, creating an artistic and surreal effect.

Filippo Contesi

Beauty beyond the subjective and objective

A vibrant abstract painting of a musician playing a trumpet, highlighted by bold colors and geometric shapes.

Kathleen Higgins

Pinker vs Nietzsche: Is music the basis of language?

FINAL Heidegger

Mathilde Nielsen

Heidegger, poetry, and the cure for technology

art can never represent reality

Art is never a representation of reality

theres no such thing as AI art

Derek Matravers

There's no such thing as AI art