Photo: Juergen Teller

Long read Slavoj Žižek, through Juergen Teller’s lens, speaks about the future of the left, revolutions and Pluribus

Vogue Adria organized a meeting in Ljubljana between one of today’s greatest thinkers and one of today’s greatest photographers, Slavoj Žižek and Juergen Teller.

Teodora Jeremić May 8, 2026

Žižek, wearing sunglasses, in an almost ideal, screensaver-like landscape resembling a desert, drinks Coca-Cola. “Ah, the perfect commodity.” The scene is followed by an explanation of how Marx was the one who first explained that a commodity is never a simple object we merely buy and consume, but always reflects an invisible surplus value that makes something special. Then comes the point about how Coca-Cola plays with our needs and perception, establishing itself as special and necessary, while in reality it does not do what it promises, it does not quench thirst but rather produces more of it. This is immediately followed by a discussion of desire, and the fact that its greatest paradox lies precisely in its need to remain insatiable and to be constantly reproduced, an ideal consequence of postmodern society and its, as Slavoj puts it, imperative to enjoy, in which enjoyment becomes a distorted, almost perverse duty for each of us. On my way to Ljubljana, as I was thinking about how I would explain in a minute to someone who had never heard his name who Slavoj Žižek is, I realized I would almost certainly show that person this scene from the film The Pervert’s Guide through Ideology, because it is the first thing that comes to mind (I know, I know, probably because of Coca-Cola), but also one of the outstanding examples of how analogies and arguments in his mind build upon one another at the same speed at which they are spoken, which is what makes him one of the most remarkable thinkers and philosophers of today. I would even dare to call him the most remarkable, not because many other names lack equ