The African Metropolis and the aesthetics of superfluity

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Drawing on Achille Mbembe’s idea of superfluity as both quantity and a paradoxical hybrid of indispensability and expendability in a city’s life, this article maps out possible relations between aesthetics and politics, aiming to understand the often contradictory spectrum of cultural and artistic production in an urban context. Looking at recent negotiations of the African Metropolis in media culture, the article not only attempts to describe artistic practices as preoccupied with conspicuous spectacle but also to come to grips with a contemporary aesthetics that itself imagines the African Metropolis in a hysterical way, obsessed with thrills and a rush for the rush.</jats:p>