Paul Virilio - Art and Fear
Paul Virilio - Art and Fear
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ohn Armitagc
A !i tilcss Art
Silcncc on Jrlal
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ImmcJlatcly ahcr Scptcmbcr l l an cvcnt t hat JlJ
not takc hlm by surprisc pcoplc who haJ always
JismlsscJ \lrilic as a pcsslmist startcJ plaguing him
|or intcrvicws Whcn I spokc to him at thc tlmc ln
!arls, whcrc a plan to blow up thc Amcrican
Lmbassy haJ jus t bccn JlsmantlcJ, hc saiJ. 'Jhcrc
arc no pcssimlsts, thcrc arc only rcalists anJ llars . '
A rcalist t o Ihc corc, \i rillo will always bc thc
hrst to makc ccrtaln conncctlons . Ior cxamplc,
othcrs bc|orc this havc attackcJ moJcrn art' s Jancc
o| thc scvcn vcils, thc stripping ol art' s subj ccts anJ
matcrlals Jown to thc barc boncs ol an insubstantlal
rcprcscntation. 8ut i t is \lrilio who namcs thc
proccss violcncc, plnpol nts thc lcar that sub tcnJs l t
anJ makcs thc conncctlon bctwccn this violcncc anJ
thc vlolcncc o| thc battlcEclds ol thc Orcat War, |or
cxamplc, whcn thc hrst abs tract canvascs appcarcJ
11
Ht/ c4 !:at
anJ thc human hgurc was lltcrally anJ hguratlvcly
blastcJ to Il ts; or thc horrlhc rcturn to a lltcral
lgurativc, with !r von Hagcns' rcal human corpscs
o| unknovn orlgln hllcJ wlth plastic prcscrvatlvc
anJ cxposcJ as anatomlcal art, at thc vcry momcnt
thc sci cntl lc communl ty ls bayl ng |or human
cmbryos to 'cnglnccr' . No onc clsc has traccJ thls
twin gcncalogy ol art anJ scicncc that has had so
much to Jo wlth thc ' routl nc horrors` o| tlc las t
hunJicJ ycars .
Somc pcoplc rcact baJly not only to \irillo' s
homc truths, but to thc gusto vi th vhich thcy arc
uttcrcJ. Whcn La Itc:cat: st/::: camc out ln
Irancc at thc cnJ o| 2OOO, \lrilio rccclvcJ thrcats
o| violcncc against his pcrson. Hc hclJcJ qucstlons
on talk-bacI raJlo |rom 'urt lovcrs' vho showcrcJ
him with rlghtcous spl tc. Jhat hak alonc constitutcs
proo| i| proo| wcrc nccdcJ o| thc pcrti ncncc o| what
hc has to say hcrc about contcmporary art anJ
tcrrorism, sllcnclng anJ noisc \irlllo docs not mlncc
worJs, whcthcr in convcrsatlon or cssay and thcsc
papcrs arc Ioth. So i t ls lmpossiblc not to takc a
stanJ, whatcvcr that might bc.
nc plvotal Jlchotomy in what |ollows nccds
cxplaining hcrc. You will scc I usc ' pi tilul' anJ
' pi tilcss ' throughout, as
\
irlllo Jocs, anJ havc kcpt
thosc tcrms cvcn whcrc a morc sympathctlc Lngllsh
'1I1
Ttaos/a/ct`s ta::
worJ might sccm callcJ |or bccausc i t is not. 1hc
opposltlon bctwccn bclng |ull o| pl ty piti|ul anJ
bcl ng absolutcly wi thout i t, is crucial to thc
argumcnt AnJ bcing |ull o| pity can also havc thc
pcjorativc scnsc ol bclng pathctic, somcwhat con-
t cmpti bl c, as opposcd to i ts positivc scnsc o|
compassionatc. So, apologics to 8ob ylan |ans
whcn hc pos up as ' a pi t i |ul musician ar
cxccllcncc' . 8y thc tlmc you comc to that phrasc,
you knov that ' pl ti|ul' mcans ' human' ln our |onJ
cxprcssion, as wcll as, ycs, ' pathctic' . Jhc shorthanJ
ls truc to |orm anJ hopc|ully vorks in thc Lngllsh, as
ln thc Ircnch, to covcr a lot o| tcrrl tory i n jus t a |cv
s trokcs.
7
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Iaul \irilio is now rccognizcd lor his thcorizing ol
acsthctics and politics throughout thc Lnglish-
scaking vor|d. Thc translation and publication ol
At/ aoJ I:at dds considcrably to his discussions ol
contemporary art and thc politics ol human silcncc.
Jhcsc arc both subccts that \i rilio is incrcasingly
anxious about. In divcrsc rcspccts \i rilio lccls
alicnated liom thc ' pi tilcss' way in which twcnty-
hrst-ccntuiy artists, unlikc twenticth-ccntury mod-
crn artis ts, sccm incapablc ci thcr ol undcrstanding
thc lull horior ol human violencc or remaining
silcnt. Creatly i ntcrcs tcd i n cvcry kind ol crcativc
depaiturc, i n thesc two cssays on 'A Iitilcss Art' and
Si l cncc on Jri al' \i rilio broadcns his carli cr
deli bcrati ons on t hc acsthctics ol disappcarancc' .
I n parti cul ar, hc is i ntercstcd in rc-cvaluating
twcnti cth- century thcories ol modcrn art and
At/ aoJ I:at
duration, thc spokcn word and thc right to stay
silcnt in an cra that is incrcasi ngly shapcd by thc
shrill sonority ol contcmporary art.
Lvcn s o, \i rilIo' s qucsti oni ng o| twcnti cth-
ccntury t hcorics ot modcrn art, thc rcmoval o|
silcncc and thc contcmporary art that has issucd
|rom such prcmiscs and practiccs cannot bc under-
stood as a post-structuralis t rccction ol humanism
or thc rcal human body Raihcr, i t must bc
intcrprctcd as thc scarch |or a humanism that can
|acc up to thc contcmpt shown towards thc body in
thc timc o| what \irilio labcls thc ' sonorization' thc
artis tic production o| rcsonant and noisy sound-
scapcs) ol all vi sual and virtual rcprcscntations .
\irilio clucidatcd this rcccntly conccrning rlan
and Stclarc, both vorld-:cnowncd multimcdia body
artis ts . Spcaking in an intcrvicw cnti tlcd ' Hypcr-
violcncc and Hypcrscxuali ty' , \irilio casti gatcs
thcsc lcading mcmbcrs o| thc contcmporary ' multi-
mcdia acadcmy' whilc discussing his i ncrcasing
constcrnation bc|orc thcir pitilcss acadcmic art that
also i nvolvcs thc condcmnation o| a silcncc that has
bccomc a kind o| ' mutism
.
.
As hc put i t, anti-
human body art ' contributcs to thc way i n which
thc rcal body, and i ts rcal prcscncc, arc mcnaccd by
vari ous kinds o| virtual prcscncc' .
As an cldcr Ircnch thcorist born in Iaris in l 9J2,
2
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\irilio is inJcbtcJ to his cxcricncc o| thc ScconJ
World War. Rcscmbllng thc \i cnncsc Actlonis ts o|
thc l9oOs hc cannot Jctach his thought lrom thc
cvcnt o| Auschwit z. \irilio is thcn conti nually
rcsponsivc to thc most |rightcnlng and cxtrcmcly
horriEc |caturcs o our cpoch. I t was, though, thc
Sccond World War, anJ, l n particular, thc tragcdy
o| thc Nazi conccntration anJ cxtcrmination camps
that cJucatcd \irilio about thc Jcpths o| human
violcncc. r, morc prcciscly, thc catastrophc o| thc
Nazi Jcath cams cncouragcJ him to rcspcct thc
human body anJ lts capacl ty |or silcncc. !n dl Dcrcnt
ways, thcn, \irilio is |orging and translorm| ng our
unJcrs tanJing o| thc cthical Jllcmmas associatcJ
with silcncc and thc subscqucnt acstheti c conl cts
li nkcJ to thc sonori zation o| ihc auJio-visual within
thc shcrc ol contcmporary art
Jhrough ocring his Christian assistancc to thc
homclcss o| pos t ScconJ WorlJ War Iaris, whilc
simul tancously proJucing thcorctical cri tiqucs o| thc
Jchumanizin charactcristics o tota| war, \irilio
graJually Jiscovcrcd his humanism. Crucial to this
Jiscovcry is an asscssmcnt o| thc acs thctics anJ
cthics o| human pcrccption, an asscssmcnt that
\irilio bcgan to piccc togcthcr. Yct no simplc
appcascmcnt with thc ninctccnth-ccntury situation
o| inJustriallzcd modcrnization was posslblc. Jhis is
At/ cJ I:ct
bccausc, lor \irilio, it was through thc carnagc ol
thc Iirst and ScconJ \\orld Wars that moJcrn art,
lrom Ccrman Lxprcssionism and ada to I talian
Iut uri s m, Ircnch Surrcal i s m and Amcri can
Abstract Lxprcssionis m, haJ dcvcl opcd hrs t a
rcaction to alicnation and scconJ a tastc lor anti -
human crucl ty.
' Jo writc poctry altcr Auschwitz is barbaric`,
wrotc Jhcodor Adorno, a statcmcnt that \irilio
bclicvcs cvcn Adorno would now havc to acknow-
lcJgc as an unJcrcstimation, givcn thc incrcasing
pacc ol artistic dcspcration, thc catastrophcs ol
modcrnity and thc crisis i n modcrn art.
+
Spcllbound
by human violcncc, \irilio considcrs that contcm-
porary artists havc abandoncd thcir lunction ol
conti nually rcasscssing thc crcativc practiccs and
scnsibili tics , imagination anJ cul tural mcaning ol
thc aJvanccd socictics. In contrast IO Nictzschc,
Sartrc or Camus, \i rilio claims that hc is anxious to
study thc varictics ol lilc anJ thc contcmporary art
ol thc crisis ol mcaning that ni nctccnth- and
twcnti ct h- ccnt ury artists havc shapcd anJ thc
gcnoci dc that homicidal rulcrs havc in rcality
commi ttcd. Connccting a multiplicity ol artistic,
philosophical and political rcsourccs, \irilio is
crucially cngrosscd in cxamining thc rcvolution that
contcmporary art is prcscntly undcrtaking through
1
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i ts cspousal o| tcrroris tlc acsthctic proccJurcs anJ
thc prcmedl tatcJ tcrminatlon o| thc cnunciatlon ol
sllcncc.
Jhc assau|ts on slgns anJ sllcncc that \i rilio
obscrvcs ln contcmporary art wcrc alrcaJy JcaJly ln
i ntcnt by thc l 95Os. Ior him l t l s not a matter o|
wl tncsslng a rcal murJcr but morc cxactly thc
murJcr o| slgns o| artlstic plty in thc namc o|
|rccdom o| artlstlc rcprcscntatlon Contcmplating
thc unwrlt tcn anJ nlghtmarlsh halluclnatlons o|
ninctccnth- anJ twcntlcth-ccntury art anJ tcrror,
\irlllo is apprehcnsivc not to ovcrlook that thls was
a hlstorical cpoch that slmultaneously admlnls tcrcJ
thc l mplosion o| thc avant-garJc anJ thc mono-
chromatic and thc cxploslon o| nuclcar wcapons ln
glorious Jcchnicolor.
\lrlllo thlnks , |or cxamplc, that thc nlhllls tlc
scnsibili tlcs o| ninctccnth-ccntury Russlan lntcllec-
tuals cannot bc dlvorccJ |rom thc gravc Jlsarray to
bc |ounJ today i n thc aJvanccJ Jcmocracl cs.
Iurthcrmorc, twcntlcth-ccntury art, through its
cxpcctation o| thc contcmporary poll tlcs o| hatc,
has aJJeJ to thc down|all o| pltl|ul art and to thc
risc o| a pl tilcss art that privilcgcs hot colours ovcr
colJ anJ thc sonorlzatlon o| all carll cr sllcnt
l magcry. \lrilio l s also critlcal o| thc contcmporary
worlJ o| revulslon rcprcscn tcJ i n Ncw Ocrman
b
t/ co4 I:ct
Iainting anJ managcJ by an art markct captivatcJ
by annlhilation. ctcrml ning thc scnsltlvltlcs ol
toJay`s artlsts l n thc manncr o| Ocrman Lxprcssion-
ism, contcmporary art JisJains thc silcnt pity ol
ninctccnth- anJ twcnticth-ccntury lmagcs ol thc
b| ooJshcJ ol battl c. In i ts placc, accorJing to
\irl| io, as wc shall scc l n thc ncxt scctlon, pl ti l css
art cmbraccs scJuctivc J\ imagcs ol carnagc.
. tlt/c Zrl
In cxplainlng thc acsthctics o| Jlsappcarancc i n
moJcrn rcprcscntatlvc art, \irl|io charactcrizcd l ts
thcorics as abstract, bcing conccrncJ to acknow-
lcJgc that l t ls vanlshlng.
JoJay, Jcscribing ' a
pi tilcss art`, hc illustratcs its prcmiscs as ' prcscnta-
tivc`, a rccogni tion that rcprcscnt ativc art is
hnishcJ. 8ut whcrc do \irilio`s rathcr cxtraorJinary
accounts dcvclop` What Jo such asscrtions dcnotc`
In ccct, hc is voicing a Joubt prcviously |cl t by him
in 1|: At/ c /|: Ac/ct anJ 1|: Io[ta/tc Bc/.
that, unJcr thc l nucncc ol ncw inlormatlon anJ
communications tcchnologics, Jcmocratic institu-
tions arc Jisappcaring as thc kcy locations whcrc
po|i tical rcprcscntation opcratcs.
-
\irllio writcs o|
thc cmcrgcncc o| public opinion anJ thc appcarancc
o| a ' virtual` or ' mul timcJia Jcmocracy` that is not
i
Io/tc4a:/tcr
just obli tcrating Jcmocracy but also thc scnscs o| thc
human body, with thc growth o| hypcrviolcncc anJ
an exccssivcly and pcculi arly scxlcss pornography.
Hc argucs tha. instcad o| producing a mcrcilcss art
o| prescntation, wi th i ts livc J\ imagcs o| gcnuinc
torment and aggrcssi on, i ts wrctchcJncss, scl|-
Jcstruction, dishgurcmcnt, cxtinction anJ abhor-
rcncc, contcmporary artists shoulJ rcclaim thc
cvacuatcd spacc o| thc art o| rcprcscntation, thc
spacc o| symbolic yct cruci ally sympathctic imagcs
o| violcncc.
I n consiJcring thc art o| rcprcscntation, \irilio is
sccking a dcbatc ovcr thc status O ncgaiionism in art.
Jhc associations bctwccn contcmporary acsthctics
and modcrn cthics also pcrmit him to introJucc thc
problcm o| compassion. !or \iiilio, this entrusts the
acsthetics o| |car with thc task ol dctccting a typc o|
immeJiacy and a systcm o| rcprcscntation totally
Jissimilar to prcscntational art . Jhis i nJicatcs that
contemporary artists ought not to maintain thcir
conccntration on a chaotic and hcartlcss |orm o|
pcrception. Jhc artistic suprcssion o| sympathy,
prcjuJiccJ by thc attack o| mcdical scicncc on the
body and its subscqucnt prcscntation, presupposcs
that thc Jcad arc o| conccrn only whcn cithcr
vi olating somc cxi sti ng prohi bi ti on or o|Icring
thcmsclvcs up as images o| torturc. Indicrcnt to
J
At/ co4 I:ct
thc scnsi tivc attitudc to thc body, rcscntational art
opcns up acsthcti c |orms that |or \irilio arc
dissimilar to thosc o| thc \icnncsc Actionists, cvcn
i| somctIing o| thc Actionists' scl|-sacrihcial and
violcnt artistic racticcs cndurcs. Jaking thc pocti c
truth o| brutal rcality out o| thc loop, today' s l cthal
prcscn ta tional art o| scicn tihc voycurism is powcrlcss
to cxprcss thc actual cxtcnt o| human crucl ty.
Yct, as \irilio rooscs, thc acsthctics o| dis-
apcarancc also ocrs a mask to thosc artists who
rc|usc to rccognizc i ts transgrcssions. Hc justiLcs this
vital conccption by way o| his contcntion that thc
dcravi t y o| conicmorary art commcnccd in
advcrtising bc|orc trans|crring to thc cvcryday
craving |or murdcr that also brings into bcing thc
totalitarianism ol unqucstioning bclicl. As a rcsult,
contcmorary art docs not chcck mass mcdiatcd
nihilism but rathcr assumcs that thc rcrcscnta-
tional tcchniqucs o| thc acs thctics o| disappcarancc
will pcrsis t i n |urthcr dcbasing our cntirc ' hypcr-
modcrn' or ' cxccssivc' i dca o| humanity.
lor his
part, \irilio rc|uscs to tolcratc an acsthctics that
i mlics thc di sacarancc o| cvcry tyc o| art cxccpt
prcscntational art. I n insisting on i ts dccctivc
closcncss, \i rilio is objccting to a rcscntational
art that sccks out thc total dcstruction o| carc|ul
vicwcr contcmplation. Challcnging thc thcori cs o|
U
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the Canadian media mystic Narshall McIuhan,
anJ parti cularly McLuhan' s concept o| an ' absolute
preseni' , \i rii o advances the i dea ihai ii is
impossibl e to eradicate the comarative anJ the
momeniary i n questions concerning the analogical
experience o| events. In other vords, \iri lio has no
plans io become a theorist who surrenJers to the
lure o| a lilc liveJ in the immediacy o| mass
mediaed despair
Hence, when \irilio consiJers the aesthetics o|
disapearance, he assumes that the responsibility o|
aitisis is to reccver rather ihan discard the material
that is absent and to bring to light those secret codes
that hi de |rom view inside the silent circui ts o|
Jigi tal and genetic technologi es. I t is through the
idea o| ihe demise o| a kinJ o| transiiory imaginary
that \irilio expounJs his percetion o| the nihilism
o| current technology. He judges, |or example, thai
since genetics has now become culture, artisis also
have starteJ tc converse in the idiom o| ' counter
nature' , but |or ihe benelt o| the perlormative goals
o| eugenics . In so Joing, \irilio argues ihai artists
critica|ly |ail to apreciate what ethical concerns are
at risk i n the genetic |actories o| |ear \irilio meets
such ethical dilemmas head-on when he describes
his aestheti cs ol disappearance as a concetion that
can be characterizeJ as 'pure nature' . Jhis is owing
J
At/ c4 1ct
to thc |act that, in his vicw, and cspccially |ollowing
tIc translormations litcrally taking shapc in gcnctics,
culturc and scicncc arc now |rcc o| almost all human
scruplcs . Oivcn that acsthctics and cthics arc ailing,
\irilio adviscs that artists show mcrcy on both,
whilc combating thc globalization o| thc tcchno-
scicntiEc propaganda o| cloning, thc ncw scicncc o|
human disappcarancc.
Ior Iim, no cthical |orccs or cvcn thc acsthctics o|
disappcarancc can rationalizc a tcchnosci cncc that
has bccomc thcatrc a|tcr thc timc o| total war or in
tIc rcscnt pcriod whcrc thc will to cxtcrminatc
rcigns suprcmc. Such occurrcnccs, contcnds \irilio,
ncccssitatc thc Jcnunciation o| thc pitilcssncss o| a
contcmporary art that combincs with cugcnics and
cloning whilc inconsidcratcly and scl|-consciously
connccting to thc rcpulsion o| thc Nazis' cxpcri-
mcntation hrst on animals and thcn on Lumans Jhc
signi hcancc o| thcsc cpisodcs is cstablishcd through
thc |act that thcy scrvc to corroboratc that Nazi
critcria arc at thc prcscnt timc thc |oundation on
which scicntists and artists scck to cstablisI a ncw
humanity. As \irilio maint ains, thc scicntihc |orma-
tion o| humans is today a ccrtainty whosc mcanings
arc tcchnologically dctcrmincd, calling to mind not
thc natural labour o| procrcation but thc artihcial
work o| scicntilic crcation in which thc dcvclopmcnt
I/tcJc:/tc
o| eugenics wiIhout |rontiers is well under way.
Intensely attentive to post-human developments,
\irilio has nonetheless realized that any cultural
poli tics that secks out restrictions to a |reedom o|
aesthetic represcntation devoid o| |rontiers con|ronts
a dimcult task. As he explains it in 'A Iitiless Art' ,
auer violating the ' /a/ccs o| suocating bourgeois
cul ture, we are now supposed to /t-a/ //- /-/, the
unicity o| humankind' . I n \irili o' s terms , then, and
owing to the i mpending explosion o| genetic
bomb' o| scientinc excess, the ' counter culture' o|
nature ' will be to biology what the atomic bomb
was to physics' .
\irilio is also anxious to determine how extreme
artists and scientists are willing to think and act
be|ore making an obj ecti on, |or example, to ' snu
li terature. Jhis is because |or him the i mulse to
torture i magincs a readi ness to ruin the evaluation
o| the art lovcr, to ' derealize' contemporary art,
theatre and dance. \irilio thinks that today' s artists
ave no l onger abl e to as certai n the genuine
cIaracter o| Uawed and shattered boJi es or the
Jegree o| sel|-hatred at work i n their creations. In
his view, snu|l literature is the gateway to snuD
videos and snu dance, given that pi ty is excluded
|rom the outset . \irilio is, however, unconcerned
with insti tuting an alternative declaration to that o|
JJ
At/ aoJ !:at
AJorno' s conccrning thc writing o| poctry that will
stanJ up to thc barbarism moving wi thin thc
aJvanccd socictics aucr Auschwi tz. Jo bc morc
rccisc, hc is archcnsivc to say thc lcast about a
|rccJom o| cxprcssion that |caturcs a call to murJcr.
Conscqucntly, \irilio qucsti ons a poli tical corrcct-
ncss that prcsuposcs a tcrroristi c, suiciJal anJ scl|-
mutilating thcory o| art . Making links bctwccn
contcmporary art anJ gcnctically moJihcJ sccJs
bcaring thc labcl ' tcrminator' , hc is trying to lnJ
an imagc ol piti|ul art that cxists outsiJc o| thc
conJi ti ons o| bio- or ' nccro- tcchnology' . Rc|using
tcchnoscicntihc ' succcss' at any pri cc, \irilio insists
on a cul t ural cri tiquc o| sci cntihc cxcri mcnt,
tcchnologica| i nhumani ty anJ Jc|ormity.
Such moral anJ ar
.
|
\ith thc abundant s tock ol human
cmbryos at thc cnJ o| thc twcnticth ccntury this is,
a|as, a Jonc Jcal . .
ut s tay tuncJ to what thc Ccrman gcncticist
wcnt DH to say in l 91O. ' Rcscarch on twins
ccnstitutcs thc spccihc mcthod lor stuJying human
genetics . '
|
Jwo ycars latcr, AJol| Hi tlcr maJc
Lugen Ii schcr an honorary mcmbcr o| thc ' Scicn-
tihc Scnatc' o| thc \chrmacht, hc was succccdcJ as
head o| thc ILO by !ro|cssor tmar von \crschucr,
a specialist i n twins . . .
Irom that momcnt, ALSCHWIJZ-8IRKLNAL
occamc O rcscarch l aboratory unJoubtcJly uniquc
in the worl J, thc laboratory o| thc ' I nsti tutc ol
0
At/ aoJ I-at
Anthropology, Human Cenetics anJ Lugenics' Jhe
name o| Irolessor \erschuer' s assi stant was osel
Mengel e. You know the rest
:^
As recently as l 998, the 8ritish meJical weekly
T/: Iao:-/ conJemneJ the initiatives o| the Lur-
opean \ni on anJ the Lni teJ States in trying to
i ntroJuce a total ban on the practice o| human
cloning A year later, the edi tors were still argui ng
that ' the creati on ol human bei ngs' haJ become
' i nevitable' , regarJless . Jhe edi tors o| the IonJon
publication wrote that.
Jhe medical community will one Jay have to
aJJress the care o| anJ respect loi people created
by cloning techniques Jhat Jiscussion haJ better
begi n now, bc|ore the newspaper heaJlines roll
over the i nJivi
nsequences ol
this con|usi on between IRCRLAJI N anJ
CRLAJI N, o| the Jemiurgic pretensions o| a
eugenics that no longer has any limits. Now that
o:J/:a/( ass/s/-J tc:t-a//co Ol thc embryo has leJ to
-o://:a/( tctaoo-J :t-a//co o| the double, the gap
a1
A I////-ss At/
bctwccn HLMAN and JRANS HIMAN has bccn
closcJ Lst as thosc olJ Ncw Agc disciplcs haJ
hopcd, and tIc cc|cbratcJ 8ri tish revicw T/- Lao:-/
can arrogate to itsel| thc cxorbi tant right to rcmovc
thc tcrm INHLMAN |rom our vocabulary'
Sir Iancis Oal ton, thc unrcdccmcd cugcnicist, is
back in thc lanJ o| his cousi n arwi n. r--Jco c{
a-s//-//: :xt-ss/ca now knows no bounds. Not only is
cvcrything |rom now on ' possib|c' . I t is ' i ncvi tablc' '
Thanks to thc gcnetic bomb thc scicnce ol
bio|ogy has bccomc a maj or art onl y, an
LXJRLML ART.
Jhis helps makc scnsc o| thc titlc ol that Hcinrich
Hcinc I nstitutc con|crcncc, 'Jhc Llimi nation ol
Naturc as a Jhcmc i n Contcmporary Art' . It also
makcs scnsc cl thc rcccnt innovation not only ol a
CLNJLR CLLJIRL, opposcd to thc culturc o|
thc bourgcoisic, but also o| an art that is lrankly
CLNTLR-NATLRL, pcJJ|i ng as it Jocs a
cugcnics that has hnall y tri umphcJ ovcr all
prcuJicc absolutcly, in spitc o| thc numbcrlcss
horrors ol thc waning ccntury.
Havi ng |tk-o //- /a|ccs ol sLoLatlng bourgcois
culturc wc ac ow sLpposcd to |t-ak //- /-/o, thc
uni ci ty o| humanki nJ, through thc i mpcnJing
cxplosion o| a gcnctic bomb that will bc to biology
what thc atomic bomb was to physi cs.
oo
At/ aoJ I-at
Ic Jco`/ oc/- ///-ta/t- c/ acto aoJ ;
--//os, they say. AnJ they are probably right . 8ut
how lar Jo we go in the oppositc Jirection` As lar as
SNL!F JIJ\HI, in which the conlormism
ol abj cction innovates an acaJemicism ol horror, an
ohcial art ol macabre cntertainment In thc \ni teJ
States, to take one example, the torturing ol the
human boJy by sharp instruments secms to have
become the prelerreJ image ol advertising, accorJ-
ing to the la// /t--/ ctoc/ ol 1 May 2OOO.
Hi t over the heaJ by such meJia bluJgeoning,
the art lover is surely alreaJy the victim ol what
psychiatris ts call /oa/t-4 J-o-o/. Which is the hrst
step in an accelerateJ process ol Jerealization,
cont emporary art accepti ng the escal ati on in
extremism anJ thee|ore i n insignihcance, with
signihcance going the way ol the heroic' nature ol
olJ-|ashioncJ omcial art, anJ obsccnity now excccJ-
ing all bounds with Sl\!! M\ILS and Jcath,
livc . . .
Let' s turn now to contemporary thcatre anJ
Jance, in particular the work ol choreographer,
Mcg Stuart. Since the carly l 99Os, Stuart has been
taking her stage perlormance to the limi t . In
D/t-J S/ o| l 99 l , the Jancer' s skin lookeJ
like it was straining to contain a boJy in the proccss
o| dislocating i tsell i n a brutal vision ol automatic
0i
A I////-ss At/
scll-mutilation. evastateJ boJies seemeJ like so
many panicky signs o| a live spectacle in which ' the
catastrophic intensity conJenses a terri|ying serenity
at the eJge ol the abyss' as you coulJ read in the
press apropos 5tuart' s most recent work, A-///-,
conceiveJ with the i nstallation artist, Ann Hamilton.
!n work like this, cverything is Jance, Jance
i nvolving ' bodies wi t hout hanJs, twi steJ legs ,
wavering i Jenti ty cxpressing who knows what sel|-
hatreJ
,
.
.
Auer the SNI!! \I L, we now have
the SN\!! ANCL, the Jance o| Jeath ol the
slaughterhouses o| moJernity.
Whether AJorno l i kes i t or not, the spectacl e o|
abection remains the same, aher as be|ore Ausch-
witz. 8ut i t has become politically incorrect to say
so. All i n the name o| |reeJom ol expression, a
|reeJom contemporary with the terroris t politics
oseph Ooebbcls JescribeJ as ' the art o| making
possible what seemeJ impossiblc
,
.
:+
ut let' s Jispel any Joubts we might still have.
cspite the current negationism, |reedom ol expres-
si on has at least onc limi t . //- :a// /c ocJ-t aoJ /ct/c-.
Remember the o-4/a c/a/- in the ex-Yugoslavia o|
SloboJan Milcsovic` Remember the ' JhousanJ
Hills RaJio' ol the Oreat Lakes region o| A|rica
calli ng Rwandans to inter-ethnic genocidc` Con-
lronteJ by such ' expressionis t' events, s urely we can
J1
At/ aoJ I-at
sec what comes next, looming over us as it is . ao
c:/a//y /-ttct/s/ ct/ preaching suiciJc anJ sell-
mutilation thcreby extenJing thc current inlatua-
tion vith scarring anJ picrcing. r el se ranJom
slaughtcr, the coming ol a JHANAJ!HI L!A
that woulJ revive t he now logotten lascist slogan.
'IlA IA A|IB 7A!
At this point we might note the project ol the
mul ti national Monsanto JesigneJ to genetically
programme crop sterilization anJ designated by
thc tclling name, ' JLRMINAJR' . Are wc still
talking bi otechnology here` Aren' t we really talking
about a lorm ol o-:tc-/-:/oc/cg aimeJ at ensuring
onc li rm' s monopoly`
Jhanatophilia, necro-technology anJ one Jay
soon, teratology . . . Is this genetic trance still a
science, some new al chemy, or is it ao -x/t-o- at/
!or conhmation we neeJ look no luther than
thc HarvarJ MeJical School where Malcolm Logan
anJ CliU`ord Jabin reccntly crcateJ a mutation that
says a lot about the lunJamentally exprcssionis t
nature o| gcnetic enginecring.
Aer locating a gcnc that secmeJ to play a
Jecisive role in the lormation ol a chickcn' s
hinJlimbs, Logan anJ Jabin took the raJical s tep
ol i ntroJucing the gcne i nto the genome ol a virus
oH
A I////-ss At/
whlch they then inected l nto thc developing
wlngs ol a chicken embryo to test the lunctlon ol
h
.
t e gene.
Some weeks later, thls JLRAJIO! CAI break-
through made headll nes.
1he chicken' s wi ngs have undergone major
translormatlons and now look llke legs, wi th the
wlng twis ted l nto a posi tion suitable lor walki ng
anJ thc hngers plvoting to lacilltate pressure on
the ground. Jhe placement o| the muscles i s
radlcally dlDerent, too, bet ter adapted to the
specl hc lunctlons o| walking
.
But this monster ls not yet perlect, however, lor l ts
KaUaesque
_
etamorphosis is incomplete . . . Jhe
' lour-leggeJ chicken' is in lact an experimental
lallure worthy ol leaturing ln the bes tlary ol a
)erome 8osch' Alter the ' octor Strangeloves' ol the
a.omlc bomb, voila ' !rankenstein' , no less . //-
ocos/-t /as |-:co- //- ://o-t/:a/ /ct/;co //- s/c
occtoa//cos AnJ lt won' t be long belore human
gulnea pigs are used instead ol animals i n luture
experi ments.
Let' s hear it |rom those trylng to denounce this
drl|t ol -a-//: -xt-ss/ca/so, lrom the lnsi de.
0J
At/ aoJ I:at
Jhc dazzl c ol succcss is goaJi ng bi ologi s ts
i mplacably on, cach obstaclc ovcrcomc lcaJi ng
thcm to takc up thc ncxt challcngc a challcngc
:::o t:a/:t, :::o oct: /osao: Wc shoulJ notc that il
this challcngc is not mct, thc conscqucnccs will
not bc |cl t by thc biologists alonc but also by this
i mprobablc anJ unccrtain chllJ whosc blrth thcy
will havc cnablcJ i n spitc ol cvcrythi ng.
So writcs Axcl Kahn apropos ' mcJically asslstcJ pro-
crcation' . Kahn concluJcs, ' Lvcrything in thc hlstory
ol human cntcrprisc woulJ inJicatc that this hcadlong
rush into thc luturc will onc day cnJ i n cat-astrophics
i n botchcJ attcmpts at human bcings . '
.
How can wc lai l hcrc to dcnouncc yct anothcr
lacct o| ncgationi sm. that o| thc Jclibcratc ovcr-
looking ol thc |amous NIRLM8IRC CL, sct
down in l 91 i n thc wakc ol thc horrors thc Nazi
doctors pcrpctratcJ` ' Jhc Nurcmburg CoJc cstab-
lishcJ thc conJi tions unJcr which tcsts on human
bci ngs could bc conductcJ, i t is a lunJamcntal tcxt
lor modcrn mcdical cthics ' , as Axcl Kahn rightly
rcminJs us . . . Jhcrc is not a hint o| rcspcct lor any
ol this i n thc contcmporary trial s. Whcn will thc
Nurcmburg Codc bc applicd to mcJically assis tcJ
procrcation . . . to thc attcmpts at crcating a human
bcing` ' asks Kahn, as a gcncticist and mcmbcr o| thc
o0
A I////-ss At/
Irench National Lthics Committcc, by way ol
conclusion
I///:s ct c-s//-//:s? Jhat is inJccd t hc qucstion at
t hc dawn cl t hc mi l l cnni um. I | lrccJom ol
SCILNJI II | cxprcssion now actually has no morc
limits than |rccdom o| ARJI SJI C cxprcssi on,
whcrc wi l l /o/coco/ cnJ in luturc
Acr all thc grcat pcriods o| art, acr thc grcat
schools such as thc classical anJ thc baroquc, acr
contcmporary cxprcssionism, arc wc not now hcaJ-
ing lor that t-c/ /tcos-o/: ct/ i n which cvcry
pharmacy, cvcry laboratory will launch its own
' lilcstylcs' , its own transhuman lashions A chimcrical
cxplosion worthy ol |caturing i n somc luturc Sc/co c
^-+ B-c////-s i| not in a Mes-co cLc-o/: t/.
As onc critic rcccntly put it. ' 3t//s/s /c:- //-/t |// /c
sc c/cc/ //- /cas ooc/ct- c/ ///s io J- s/s:/- ' What is
urgcntly rcquircd is ' /c J/o- c o-a t-/c//cos// /-/a--o
s]-:/-s, co- //c/ /s oc/ :co:-/:-J /o //- /ccJ-J /-tos c
|-s//c//p'
?6
It i s not cntircly irrclcvant to poi nt out hcrc that
il ' cxtrcmc sports ' camc bclorc ' cxtrcmc scicnccs' ,
thcrc is a good rcason lor this, onc that has to Jo
with thc cul t ol pcrlormancc, ol ct/ cr ct/`s sc/-, thc
brcaking ol rccords ol cvcry imaginablc ki nJ.
Whcn i t comcs t o t hc i ngcs ti on o| ccrtai n
i
Hr/ coJ I-ct
subs tances by top-level sportspeople, number ol
trai ners are alreaJy asking about l imits . ' We are at
the begi nn| ngs o| biological reprogramming yet we
Jon' t know how lar we are not going to be able to
go. ' 8eyonJ the Jrug tests anJ meJical monitoring
that champions are alrcaJy subject to, the general
l ack ol gui Jel i nes opens the way to geneti c
mani pul ation anJ cellular enhancement as wel l as
Jopi ng on a molecular level. According to OerarJ
i ne, heaJ o| the ' Mobile 8iological Ini t' launcheJ
by the !rench Minister ol Youth anJ Sport.
Sportspeople are manageJ by an entourage who
are unJer more anJ more pressure lrom the meJia
anJ their hnancial backers . I| the current Jebate
isn' t settleJ pretty swihly, a person will only have
to ask i n orJer to be programmeJ to win.
' T/: css-o/(-//o: :/co/co /s c/tsaJ //: 4tca/o
/cct4. Soon we will even be able to i ntervene wi th
preci si on on energy levels anJ mechani cal, mus-
cul ar anJ neurol ogi cal el ements ' , one expert
claims . Alter al l , t he Oerman emocratic Republic
Ji J it in the l 9Os using synthetic hormones, but
these lelt a trace. Jhanks t o genomics, you can now
enter the human system i n the same way as you
break i nto a comput er bank without leaving any
trace at all .
o2
A I////-ss At/
' JLe lack ol guiJelines requires us urgently to
Jehne ao -///:a/ |cco4at: //a/ acc/4 oa/- :/-at a/a/
.co-s coJ-t //:taj aoJ aa/ /s cc/ c|ceo4s' .
! l we Jo not put in place some sort o| coJe that
woulJ extend what was covereJ by the Nuremburg
CoJe i n the area o| experimentation on top-level
sports people, the lympic Oames ol the year 2u2u
or 2OSO, say, will be mere ao-s //- /taos-o/. :/t:cs
in which the magi cians o| the human genome will
holJ up |or cur appl ause the exploits o| the s/a4/co
cJs o| a tri umphant super-humanity.
Lthical bounJary, aes thetic bounJary ol sport as
ol art. Without limits, there is no value, without
value, there |s no esteem, no respect anJ especially
no pi ty. 4-a// /c //- t-t--' You know how it goes . . .
AlreaJy, more or less cvcrywhere you turn, you
hear the worJs that precede that |atal habituation
to the banalization ol excess . !or certain philoso-
phers the boJy i s al reaJy no more t han a
phenomenon ol memory, //- t-ooac/s c ao at:/a/:
|c], anJ the human being, a mere bipeJ, |ragile o|
desh anJ so slow to grow up anJ Je|enJ i tsell that
the species should not havc surviveJ . . .
Jo make up lor this lack, this native i nhrmi ty' as
they cal l i t, echoing a phrase useJ by Leroi-
Oourhan. man inventeJ tools, prostheses anJ a
whole technological corpus without which he woulJ
o3
At/ aoJ I.at
not have survived . . . 8ut this is a res trospective
vision i ncapabl e ol coming to terms with t he
outrageousness o| t he time t hat is approachi ng.
Ocicault, Iicasso and al i , Oalton and Mengele . . .
\\ho comes next`
Where will i t enJ, this impiety o| art, o| the arts
and crahs ol this transhguration' that not only
lulhls the dreams ol the Oerman Lxpressionists but
also those ol the !uturis ts, those ' hate-makers' whose
destructiveness Hans Magnus Lnzensberger has
dissected.
Remember Mayakovsky' s war cry, that blast o|
poetic premoni tion. ' Iet your axes Jance on t he
bald skulls o| the well-heeled egoists anJ grocers.
Ki ll' Kill ' Kill ' ne good thing. their skulls will
make perlcct ashtra\s.
:+
Ashtrays , l ampshaJes, quotiJi an objects anJ
prostheses ol a li|e where the banality o| evil, i ts
ordinariness, is |ar more terri|ying than all the
atroci ties put together, as Hannah Arendt noted
while observing the trial o| Adoll Lichmann in l 9G l .
\nder the reign o| Iol Iot' s emocratic Kam-
puchea, the hopes o| the poet ol the ctober
Revolution were satisleJ yet again, though it was
with spades, not axes , that the sell-mutilation ol a
social body ol nearly two million Cambodians was
perpetrated. ' Jhe murderers did not use hrearms .
o1
A I////-ss At/
1hc silcncc, thcy kncw, aJJcd lurthcr to thc climatc
ol tcrror.
.
Jhe silencc ol the lambs s till requi reJ the silcnce
ol thc cxccutioncrs . Jhc silcncc ol an untroubl cJ
conscicncc, such as that enjoycd by a so-callcJ
political scicncc' now JisowncJ by lormcr revolu-
tionary' Icng-Sary who toJay Jcclarcs, apparcntly
by way ol cxcusc, Jhe world has changcJ I no
longer bclicvc l n thc class strugglc. Jhc pcrioJ lrom
| 9I 5 to l 99 was a lailure. \c went lrom utopi a to
barbari ty. '
::
Mcanwhile, Juol Slcng has bccomc a muscum a
gcnoci Jc mascum. Jhc sinistcr Camp-S2 l Sccurl ty
mcc 2 l ) , wherc the gaolcrs wcrc tecnagcrs, oHcrs
vlsitors a tour ol thc gallcry ol photographi c
portral ts ol i ts mul ti tudinous victims . Hcrc, contrary
to the Ocrman cxtermination camps, thc bodics
have disappcareJ, but thc laccs remal n . . .
oo
t/n: n 1rta/
't/n: n 1rta/
R-oc/e/o s//-o/, oca //-t-`s c /-sscoct jcc/ A/c/ oct-
/oo-J/c/- ac//co Jctc//ca?' , !aul \alery noteJ i n
l 938, shortly belore t he trageJy o| t he camps, the
silence ol thc lambs . . .
Tc s-c/ or /c t-oc/a s//-o/. are they to sonori ty
what /c s/ca or /c //J- are to visibili ty` What
prosecuti on ol meaning is thus hi JJen behinJ the
prosecution ol sounJ` Has remaining silent now
bccome a Jiscreet lorm o| assent , o| connivance, in
the age ol tle sonorization ol images anJ all auJio-
vis ual i cons` Have vocal machi nes' powers o|
enunciation gone as |ar as the Jenunciation o|
silence, ol a silence that has turneJ i nto MIJI SM`
It might be appropriate at this j uncture to
remember oseph 8euys whose work, S//-e:-, parallels,
not to say cchoes, LJvarJ Munch' s l 883 painting,
7/- :t-co Jhink ol the sys tematic use o| lel t i n
cJ
At/ aaJ I:a
!euy' LonJon installations o| l 985 with the gallery
spaces waJJeJ llke so many S\NIRF
IOMS, precisely at a time when the Jealening
cploslon o| the AII- \ISIAI was to occur
along with what is now conveni ently labelleJ the
crlsis ln moJern art or
more exactly, //: :co/:octa
a/ //: :t/s/s c o:ao/o, that NNSLNSL Sartre
anJ Camus were on about .
Jo better unJers tanJ such a heretlcal point o|
vcv about the programmeJ Jemise ol the \! CLS
I SILLNCL, think o| the perverse l mplicatlons o|
the :c/ca//ca //os origlnally shot l n 8LACK
^I WHI1L, to cite one example, or the use o|
monochromatlc hlm l n photographing acciJents, ol l
spl l ls. Jhe lack ol colour l n a hlm segment or
snapshot ls seen as thc tell-tale slgn o| a LILCJ, a
hanJl cap, the loss o| colour o| the rising tiJe unJer
the elIccts o| maritlme pollution . . .
Whereas i n t hc pas t , engravl ng enrichcJ a
pal ntl ng' s hues wlth l ts velvety blacks anJ the
ral nbow array o| l ts greys , 8IACK anJ WHIJL
are now no more than traces o| a JegraJation, some
premature rui n.
us t like a yelloweJ photograph ol t he JeceaseJ
mountcJ on their t omb, the MNCHR
MAJI C segment merely signals the obscurantlsm
o| a bygone era, the JwinJling ol a herolc age in
J
S//-o:- co Tt/a/
which the \I SI N MACHINL haJ yet to reveal
the IANCHRMAJ! C rlches ol Jechnlcolor . . .
gauJy, brash AC!ACLR
|
over-prlvllcging hot
colours to the Jetri ment ol colJ. 8ut surely we can
say the samc thl ng about the sonorl zation ol what
were once s//:o/ //os.
NowaJays everythl ng that remal ns sl l ent l s
JeemeJ / c .cos:o/, to accept wl thout a worJ ol
protest t he backgrounJ nolse ol auJio-vlsual im-
moJeratl on that l s, ol the ' optlcally correct' ut
what happens as a result t o t he SILLNCL ! JHL
VISI8LL unJer the relgn ol the AII-\I SI8LL
cpitomlzeJ by /:/::/s/co, wllJly overrateJ as tcle-
vlsion is` How can we appIy the lesson ol Iaul
Valery' s aphorlsm l n conslJering the questlon, not
ol thc s//:o:: cat/ so Jear to AnJre Malraux, but ol
the LA!NLSS ol the contemporary arts in the age
ol the mul timeJia
S//co:- oc |co:t /as a :c/::. It LSJ IJS \!CL
hal l a century ago. 8ut thi s mutlsm has now comc t o
a heaJ . . . Jhe volccs ol sllence have been sllenccJ,
what ls nov regarJeJ as obscene is not so much the
image as thc sounJ or, rather, the lack ol sounJ.
What happens to the WRL ! SI LLNCL
once the hrst SN LJ LIMI RL proJuctions are
stageJ, again unJer the aegls ol Malraux, l nvaJlng
J
At/ aoJ I.at
as they Jo the monumental spaces o| the MeJi ter-
ranean Jhe son et lumicre' phenomenon has been
|olloweJ most recently by the craze i n museums as
venues lor live shows, though you woulJ be harJ-
presseJ to beat the calamitous NICHJ I JHL
MI LLLNNI IM, when the mists ol the Nile \alley
suJJenly broke up a jean-Michel arre concert.
Aher the Jea|ening |el t o| 8euy' s LonJon i nstalla-
tion, IIICHJ, they manageJ to bring SMC to
the loot o| the pyramiJs .
I Jon' t want t o avoiJ telling a s tory, but I want
very, very much to Jo the thing \alery sai J to gi ve
the sensation wi thout the boreJom o| i ts convey-
ance. ' Jhese worJs o| !rancis 8acon' s, taken lom
aviJ Sylves ter' s interviews wi th the artis t anJ
quoteJ as a leaJ-in Ior the ' AcJ.to S/at/s' exhibition
at the Museum ol MoJern Art in New York, l 999,
beautilully sum up t he current Jilcmma. t he less you
represent, the more you push the simulacrum ol
RLIRLSLNJAJ!N'
8ut what is thi s ' situati on' concealing i| not t he
:co/ta://co //o. | t hi s t.a/ //o. that eHaces all
Juration, exclusively promoting i nsteaJ the t.s.o/,
the Jirectness ol the immeJiacy ol ZLR JIML . . .
a contraction o| the LI\L anJ ol LIIL, which we
see once more at work i n the recent appeal ol //:.
s/cas, whi ch are to Jance anJ choreography what
/2
S//:o:: co Tt|a/
the video ins tallati on alreaJy was to Iernand
Leger' s J::/co/:a/ a||:/.
All in all, the invention ol the C!NLMAJ-
ORAIH has raJically altered the experience ol
:xcsct: /|o:, the whole regi me ol temporality ol the
visual arts !n the ni neteenth century, the aesthetics
ol CI NLMAJ! C Ji sappearance promptly sup-
plan t ed t hc m ul timillenni al aes thetics ol t he a ppear-
ance ol thc SJAJ!C.
nce t he photogram hi t the scene, i t was solely a
matter ol mechanically or electrically proJucing
some kind o| t:a/| g::/ to get people to lorget the
lack ol any subject as the hlm rolleJ past .
Yet one crucial aspect o| t hi s mutation ol t he
seventh art has been t oo l ong ignoreJ anJ t hat is the
arrival ol the JALK! LS. !rom the end ol the l 92Os
onwarJs , the iJea ol accepting the absence ol words
or phrases, ol some kinJ o| Jialogue, became
unthi nkabl e.
:
Jhe so-callcJ /|s/:o/o :cocr/ ol
Jarkened ci ncma halls requireJ that HLAR!NC
and \! SI N be o:/tco/;:4. Much later, at the enJ
ol the century, ACJ!N anJ RLACJl N si mi -
larly woulJ be put i nto i nstant |o/:ta:/|co thanks to
the leats ol ' tele-action' , this ti me, and not just
raJiophonic ' tele-llstening' or ' tele-vision' .
Curi ously, i t i s i n the era ol t he Oreat epressi on
t hat |ollowcJ the Wal l Street Crash ol l 929 that
At/ coJ I`ct
SI LLNCL WAS IIJ N JRIAL in Lurope as
in the Ini teJ States Irom that moment , WH-
L\LI SAYS NJHI NC I S ILLMLD J
CNSLNJ. No silence can express Ji sapproval
or resi stance but only consent . Jhe silence ol t he
i mage is not onl y ANI MAJLD by the motori za-
ti on ol hl m segments, i t is al so LNLISJLO i n t he
general acqui escence i n a JJAL ARJ the
seventh art whi ch, they woulJ then cl ai m, con-
tai ned al l the rest .
uring t he great economi c crisis whi ch, i n
Luropc, woulJ enJ i n Nazi JJALI JARIAN-
I SM, sil ence was alreaJy no more than a lorm ol
abstention. Jhe trenJ everywhere was towarJs t he
s/o//aa:cs synchronization ol image anJ sounJ.
Whence the major poli tical role playeJ at the time
by cinematic NLWSRLLLS, notably those pro-
duced by !ox-Movietone in the Lni ted States and
by I! A in Cermany, which perlectly prehgured
televisual t/o: //o:.
AlongsiJe booming raJiophony anJ the //:: ta///:s
ol Nuremburg anJ elsewhere, the talkies would
become one ol the instruments o| choice ol the
cdgling totalitarianisms . !or Mussolini, //t :aotta
aas //: ocs/ ca:/ a:aco //tt: aas, lor Stali n, at the
same moment i n ti me, //: :/o:oa aas //t ocs/ :://::
/cc/s ct s//tt/o //: oass:s.
71
S//-o:- co Tt/a/
No H|I7II0I or II0IA|A^DA STA1I!LL
without the :cos-ose/ ca-t c{ //- /a/k/-s. nce you
have the talkies up anJ running, you can get walls ,
any olJ animateJ image whatever to talk. Jhe J-a4
too, though, anJ a// a/c t-oc/o s//-o/. And not just
people or beings , either, but things to boot'
7/- s:t--o aesa-ts jcet -:- a//o, /o cd:an:-' , as
rwell put it. Yet though the walls may well talk,
|rescos no lcnger can. Jhe seventh art thus becomes
a \LNJR! LQLI SJ ARJ Jelivering i ts own
oracles . Like the !ythi an prophetess, the i mage
speaks, but , more specihcally, i t aosa-ts the silence o|
the anguisheJ masses who have lost their tongues
As a certain poet put it, ' C/o-oa o-:-t /as |--o
SIII^T, cr( DIAF.
Jhose Jays are long gone. No one is waiting any
more lor the RL\LLJIN, only |or the ACCI-
LNJ, the breakJown, tha t wi l l reJuce this
unbearable chatter to silence.
I n ol Jen Jays a pi ani st useJ to punct uate
segments ol old burlesque movies, now the reali ty
ol sLenCh OI everyJay li|e neeJs to be subti tleJ in
similar vein, the A\I -\I S\AL aiming to put
paiJ t
the s//-o:- c:/s/co i n i ts entirety.
Al l you have to Jo is Jump your mobile phone
anJ grab your inlra-reJ helmet Jhen you are reaJy
to go wanJering arounJ those museums where the
1J
At/ aoJ I-at
s:cnJ-/ta:/ amply makcs up lor thc /oa- /ta:/ ol thc
picturc-rail .
Iocs art mcan listcning or looking, |or thc art
lovcr` Has contcmplation ol pai nting bccomc a
rccx action and possibly a CY8LRNLJI C onc at
that`
\ictim o| thc tcs-://co s//-o:-, contcmporary
art long ago madc a bid lor J/:-t-o- in othcr
words, to practisc a CNCLIJLAL I\LRSI N
bclorc opting |or :co:-t-o:-.
Surcly that is thc only way wc can i ntcrprct thc
Cubists' ncwspapcr collagcs or thc latcr, post- l 9 l 8,
coll agcs and photomontagcs o| Raoul Hausmann,
say, or his 8crlin adaist conlrcrc, ohn Hcarthcld,
not to mcnti on thc Ircnch adaists and Surrcalists,
among othcrs .
I n a dccidcdly hn dc sicclc world, whcrc thc
automobilc qucstions i ts drivcr about thc lunction-
ing o| thc handbrakc or whcthcr thc scatbclt is
bucklcd, whcrc thc rc|rigcrator is gcaring i tscll up to
placc thc ordcr at thc supcrmarkct, whcrc your
computcr grccts you o| a morni ng with a hcarty
' hcllo' , surcly wc havc to ask oursclvcs whcthcr thc
silcncc ol art can bc sustaincd |or much longcr.
Jhis gocs cvcn |or thc mobilc phonc crazc that i s
part and parccl ol thc samc thing, si ncc it is now
ncccssary to /ocs- s//-o:- in rcstaurants and placcs
JU
//.a:. ca Tt/a/
o| worship or conccrt halls . nc Jay, lollowing thc
cxampl e c| the campaign to combat ni coti nc
adJiction, it may well bc nccessary to put up signs
o| thc ' Sllcncc Hospital' varicty at thc cntrance to
museums and cxhibition halls to gct all thosc
' communication machines' to shut up anJ put an
cnJ to thc all too numerous cul tural exerciscs in
SLN anJ II OHJ.
Machinc |or s../a, machinc |or /.at/a, once upon
timc, machinc |or ///ak/a vcry shortly with thc
boom in all things 4///a/ anJ thc programmcJ
abanJonmcnt o| thc aaa/c.. How will //. s//.a:.
//. //a//. sa:.s at/ subsist , this silcnce that scems
to tcrri|y thc makcrs o| motors o| any kinJ, |rom thc
logical in|crcnce motor o| thc computcr to thc
rcsearch cnginc o| thc nctwork o| nctworks All
thcse qucstions that toJay rcmain unanswcred makc
LNICMAS o| contcmporary cthics anJ acsthctics .
With archi tccture, alas, the jig is alrcaJy up.
Archi tectonics has becomc an ae4/c-:/sa/ at/, thc
only questicn now bcing whcthcr it will shortly go
on to become \! RJ\AL ARJ. Ior sculpture,
cvcr s i ncc can Jl ngucl y anJ his ' 8achel or
Machincs' , this has been mcrcly a risk t o bc run
As |or painting anJ t hc graphic arts, |rom thc
momcnt \IL ARJ hit thc sccne with thc notion
o| thc installation, i t has bcen impossible to mcntion
7 7
At/ aoJ I-at
CNCLIJIAI ARJ without picking up thc
backgrounJ noisc o| thc mass mcJia bchind thc
worJs anJ obccts ol thc art markct .
Ii ke JINNIJIS, whcrc a ringing in t hc cars
pcrccived in thc abscncc o| cxtcrnal noisc soon
bccomcs unbcarablc, contcmporary art's ]t:s-:e//co
c s//-o:- is in thc proccss o| lastingly polluting our
rcprcsentations .
Having Jigcs tcJ thc critical impact o| Marccl
uchamp' s rctinal art, l ct' s hcar what !rcnch critic,
Iatrick \auJay, haJ to say a littlc morc rcccntly.
Jhc passagc |rom imagc to photography anJ thcn
to cincma and, morc rcccntly still, to viJco anJ
Jigi tal computcr graphics, has surcly haJ thc ccct
o| rcnJcring pa(nting magnilccntly ://|a/a/t-
Iainting has Enally bccn rclcascJ |rom thc
i magc-making |unction that till !hcn morc or lcss
conccalcd its truc csscncc. NotwithstanJing thc
' ncw' hgurativc art, it is not too |ar-|ctchcJ to scc
i n thc moJcrn avatar o| painting a o/s- a oe o| i ts
csscncc that is rcsolutcly I CNCIASJI C.
At those worJs, you coulJ bc |orgivcn |or |caring
that thc waxing twcnty-hrst ccntury wcrc about to
rcproJucc thc Ers t ycars o| thc twcnticth, albcit
unvi ttingly'
\nder thc guisc o| ' ncw tcchnologics' , surcly
78
S//:o:: o Tt/a/
what is rca|ly at work hcrc is thc actual CLNINO,
ovcr anJ ovcr, o| somc SIILR-, no, HYILR-
A8SJRACJIN that will bc to vi rtual rcali ty
what HYILR-RLALISM was to thc photographic
shot. Jhis is happcning at a ti mc vhcn somconc likc
Kouichirou Lto, |or instancc, is gcari ng up to
launch SIN CRLAJLRLS on thc ! nternct
along with his own mcta-musical ambicnt music'
What this mcans is a stylc o| painting not only
a///e/ c-s but also a///e/ /oa-s, a ocs/: //-
s/-t-s a///./ soJ, prcscnting thc symptoms o| a
|//oJ/e that would bc thc cxact countcrpart to thc
s//:o:- //- /am|s. Spcaking o| thc paintcr Jurncr,
ccrtain ninctccnth-ccntury acsthctcs such as Hazli tt
dcnounccd thc advcnt o| '/:/ct-s o///o, aoJ ::
//k:` . You can bct that soon, thanks to Jigital
tcchnology, :/::/t-a:s//: music will gcncratc ncw
|orms o| visual art. L/::/t-//: computcr graphics
will similarly crasc thc dcmarcation lincs bctwccn
thc dicrcnt art |orms .
ncc again, wc will spcak o| a JJAL ARJ
onc no longcr inJcbtcJ to thc cincmatograph, that
art which supposcdly containcd all thc rcst. Jhanks
to clcctronics, wc will invcnt a OL8AL ARJ, a
' singlc art' , likc thc thinking that subtcnds thc ncw
in|ormation and communications tcchnologics .
Jo takc an cxamplc, think o| thc inucncc o|
J
At/ aoJ I.at
Wagncr on KanJinsky in l 9 l O, whcn thc vcry Erst
A8SJRACJ canvascs cmcrgcd, or think o| thc
inucncc o| Kurt Schwittcrs whose |tscaa/. was
composcd o| oral sounJs . . . Jhcn, o| coursc, thcrc is
thc i nucncc o| jAZZ on works likc thc ' 8roadway
8oogic Woogic' o| Ncw York bascd MonJrian, an
arti st who would not havc a tclcphone in thc housc
Juring thc ycars l 91O to l 912 . Lnlikc Moholy-
Nagy, who was alrcady making JLIL-IAINJ-
!NCS twcnty years carlicr using thc crank phonc to
issuc i nstructions at a distancc to a sign paintcr . .
anJ invcnting pictorial ! NJLRACJ!\!JY i n thc
proccss.
All this intcraction bctwccn SLN, LI CHJ
anJ ! MACL, |ar |rom crcating a ' ncw art' or a o.a
t.a// to borrow thc namc o| thc l 95O Iaris salon
JcJicatcd to Ircnch paintcr Hcrbi n' s gcomctric
abstraction only Jcs troys thc naturc o| art,
promoting instcad its communication
Morcovcr, somconc likc AnJy Warhol makcs no
scnsc as an artist i n thc uchamp mould unlcss wc
unJcrstanJ thc dynamic rolc playcJ not only by
sign pai nting, but morc cspccially by advcrtising,
that last ACALMI C! SM that has graJually
invadcJ thc tcmplcs o| :/a/ at/ wi thout anyonc' s
batting an cycli J. So littlc ocncc has it givcn, in
|act, that whcrc ' Campbcll' s Soup' not so long ago
U
S//:a:: ca Tt/a/
turncd into a a/a//a, toJay Iicasso has bccomc d
:ct.
Las t aut umn, thc 88C bcgan broaJcasting
rccorJi ngs o| murmurs anJ convcrsation noiscs
Jcs tincd |or thc omccs at thc big cnd o| town whcrc
cmployccs complain about thc rcigning Jcathly
silcncc.
' Wc' rc trying to gct a backgrounJ o| ambicnt
sounJ' , cxplains O spokcsman |or thc 8ritish station
' Jhcsc oDccs arc so quict that thc slightcst noisc,
s uch as thc phonc ri ngi ng, Ji s t urbs pcopl c' s
conccntration which, o| coursc, can lcaJ to stu-
5
ups
!ollowing thc muzak that is pipcd through shops
anJ supermarkcts, l ct' s hcar it |or AM8I LNJ
M\RMLRINO, //: :c/:: //: :c/::/:ss! Alcr thc
promoti on o| domcs t i c cons umcri s m via thc
cuphoria o| raJiophony, it is now proJuction that
hnds i tscl| bcc|cd up wi t h a sound backdrop
Jcsigncd to improvc omcc li|c . . .
Similarly, ovcr at thc IompiJou Ccntrc in Iaris,
thc post-rcnovation rcopcning cxhibi tion, which
was callcJ ' L: T:os ://:' or ' T/o:, Ias/' was
undcrscorcd by a sound piccc composcJ by Hcincr
Oocbbcls.
Hcralding thc coming proli|cration o| //:: s/cas n
muscums, silcncc has bccomc iJcntihcJ with Jcath
U
Ht/ aoJ I`at
. . Jhough i t is truc enough that thc deaJ toJay
oance and sing thanks to thc recordlng process .
' Death rcpresents a lot o| money, it can cvcn makc
you a star' , as Andy Warhol |amously quipped.
on' t they also say that, on the night o| New Year' s
Lvc 2OOO, the ' ISJ-MRJLM' duo o| 8ob
Marley anJ his daughter-in-law, Lauren Hill, could
bc hearJ all ovcr New Y ork`
-
n thc eve o| the ncw millennium, the acsthetlcs
o| Jisappcarancc was completcd by the acsthctlcs o|
abscnce. !rom that momcnt, whoevcr says nothing
consents to ceJc their ' right to remain silcnt' , their
|rccdom to listcn, to a oc/s:-a//o tc::ss that
simulatcs oral exprcssion or convcrsatlon.
8ut Ji d anyone i n thc past ever lrct about thc
vcry parti cul ar si l cncc o| the \I SI 8LL, best
cxempli|ied by thc pictorial or sculptural image
Jhink o| what August Wilhelm Scllcgcl once wrotc
about Raphael ' s Dt:sJ:o AaJcoaa. ' Jhe eDect is so
immcdiate that no words spring to mind. 8csidcs,
what usc arc words i n the |ace o| what oDcrs l tsel|
with s uch luminous obviousness '
Joday, when thc A\I- \lSI8LL o| thc mass
media rcigns, beamcd out twenty-|our hours a day
sevcn days a week, what remains o| that g::/
/o:J/a ol visual rcprcscntation` A:J/a t:s:o/a//co
dominatcs cverywhere you turn.
Z
Si/-a.- ca Tt/a/
Struck ' Jcal and ' Jumb' ovcr thc coursc o| thc
waning century, thc visual arts havc takcn a
battcri ng, not only |rom the ao/oa/-J /oa-, but
cspccially |rom thc JALK! LS.
Rcmcmbcr, too, what t hc poct said whcn hc
insis tcd on thc |act that so-calleJ SILLNJ cincma
was only cvcr LA!, thc hrs t cincma-gocrs ol thc
darkcncJ movic halls bcing lcss awarc o| thc actors '
lack o| worJs than o| thcir own Jca|ncss. Jhc early
Jevotcc o| thc scvcnth art o| ci ncmatography
translatcJ thc silcncc o| thc movics into thcir own
imaginary handicap, thcir pcrsonal limitation i n
sccing wi thout hcaring what thc characters up on
thc screcn wcrc saying to cach othcr.
Yct has anyonc evcr expcri cnccd this -://o
/atto/ looking at a painting reprcscnting singcrs or
angclic musicians HarJly' So why Ji J thc aes-
thctics o| the animatcd imagc s uJdcnly Jisable the
vicwcr o| silcnt Elms, rcnJcring strangcly dca| a
person hi thcrto not Jca| in thc slightest
' Looking is not the samc as cxpcricncing' , I sabcllc
Adj ani reckons and shc woulJ know whcn it comes
to looks AJj ani hcrc gocs onc |urthcr than Ka|ka,
who cxprcsscd hi s spcciEc anxicty to hi s lricnd,
Oustav anouch, somc time in the ycars betwecn
l 9 l O and l 9 l 2.
H3
At/ aoJ I.at
' C/ocoa 4/s/t|s coc`s :tstco. Jhc spccJ o| thc
movcmcnts anJ thc rapiJ changc o| imagcs |orcc
you to look continuously |rom onc to thc ncxt.
1ct s/// Jc.s oc/ oas/.t //c /:/t.s, // /s //. /:/t.s
//a/ as/.t jct s///. Jhcy hood your conscious-
ncss. 1/c :/o.a /o:c/:.s ///ojct y.s /o/c oct,
a/co |ct. // a.t. oak.J. '
' Jhat is a tcrriblc thing to say' , anouch saiJ.
' T/. y. /s //. a/o4ca //c sc/, a Czcch provcrb
says . '
KaUa noJJcJ. ' II LMS ARL I RN SH\J-
JLRS. '
\hat can you say about the ' talkics' anJ about
thc sco4-/ta:k that puts thc Enishing touchcs on thc
cDcct o| mastcry o| thc /a. /ta:k, cxccpt that thcy
arc a lot morc harm|ul than pcoplc rcalizc` Must wc
whccl in raJiophony anJ tclcphony yct again to
cxplain ' thc acciJcnt o| thc visiblc' that gocs by thc
namc o| thc A\I -\I S\AL`
8car in mi nJ emeny' s bit o| chronophoto-
graphy in which a man mouths ' c t ' aimc' to a
camcra that only rccorJs thc movcmcnt o| his lips .
Wc' vc all sccn thc smilc o| thc Mona Lisa, hcrc you
can scc thc smilc o| Lticnnc-ulcs Marcy' s prct ty
niccc as a prcl uJc to hcaring s pccch cnunciatcd in
|ront o| a microphonc.
H1
S//:o:: :o Tt|a/
Jhe contemporary crsrs i n the plastic arts
actually s tarteJ here, a/// //: :oo:/a//:o //: /a:
:{ //: TA1II1S ao4 //: ::o::o//ao/ 4:oo:/a//:o :{ :t
4:a{e:ss. Ycu Jo not lenJ speech to walls or screens
with impunity not wl thout also attacking the
|resco and mural art anJ, ulti mately, the whole
panoply o| the parietal aesthetlcs o| archi tecture
every bl t as much as painting
Auer the :, o:|///;:4 by the whipping past o|
hlm sequences JenounceJ by Kaa, l t is the turn o|
the :at, /tasoa//;:4 suJdenly by l maginary Jea|ness .
Victim o| the war ln which the un|olJing o| tl me is
speeJeJ- up, t he hel d o| percept i on s uJJenl y
becomes a real |a///i:/4, wi th l ts barkeJ commanJs
anJ i ts shrleks o| terror, whence the quest |or the
SCRLAM as |or ILAR conJucteJ by the Ocrman
Lxpressionists throughout the traumatic years o| the
l 92Os onJ | 93Os when the 4/sa/:a//:o ://: s:/:o::
:{a/o//os woulJ usher in the impending tyranny o|
mass communications tools
Jhis bes.owing o| speech upon images, upon the
whirling rush o| hlm, meant unwi ttingly triggeri ng a
phenomenon o| panic ln which the auJlo-visual
woulJ gradually leaJ to this silence o| the lambs
whereby the art lover becomes the victim ol sounJ, a
hostage o| the sonorization o| the vlsible. I n his l 9 l O
tract I/t/s/ Ia/o//o. T::/o/:a/ Aao:s/:, Marinetti,
U3
Ht/ c4 I-at
a|ter all , JeclareJ, ' ur sensations must not bc
whispereJ, we will make them sing anJ shout upon
our canvases i n Jea|ening anJ triumphant |an|ures . '
Jhe key term here i s this WL Wl LL, expressing
the triumph o| the will to wipe out //- :c/:-s cs//-o:-
through the oi n o| those |amous ' noi se-making
machines' that heraloeJ the ravages causeo by the
artillery o| the Oreat War.
Ano so the upheaval i n the graphic arts i s not to
be chalkeJ up to photography or even to cinemato-
graphy so much as to the JALK! LS. As a contrast,
both sculpture anJ architecture were able to Jream
up and el aborate the myriao metamorphoses o|
their representations anJ this, |rom the beginning
in |act, thanks to a certain ci ncmatic aesthetic
' Jo commanJ, you must hrs t o| all speak to the
eyes ' , Napolcon 8onaparte JecreeJ. ' Jhe cinema
means put ti ng your eyes i nto uni|orm' , KaUa
con|rmeJ. 8etween these lwo compl ementary
assertions, oral culture has slowly evaporateJ. Jhe
art o| speaki ng has boweo out be|ore the ' talking'
cinema and the oratorical power o| the political
tri bune has been Je|eateJ by mcJia cul ture. !rom
now on, what speaks is the i mage any image, |rom
billboarJ i mages to images at home on the box.
\herever JLLLIRLSINCI has taken over
Ho
S//-o:- co Tt/a/
|rom IKLSLNCL, whcthcr physica| or graphi c,
silcncc sprcads, cndlcssly dccpcning.
Having bccn wircd |or sounJ at thc cnJ o| thc
l 92Os in l 927, to bc prccisc, with thc mm T/- a;;
S/o-t thc cincmatograph has not only pullcd
blinkcrs ovcr vicwcrs ' cycs or iron shuttcrs, as
Kaa would s ay. ! t has also, according t o Abcl
Oancc, so/-d /ck/o bc|orc going on to rcndcr thc
visual arts hoarsc anJ thcn swihly Jumb
8y inJircctly promoting t hc rlsc o| JJ ALI -
JARIANISM, cmocratic Ocrmany' s ' si|cnt prosc-
cution' prompt|y authorizcJ cvcz kind o| o-a/tcot.
8car in mind thc con|cssion o| thc Ocrman prics t,
Iathcr Nicmollcr. ' Whcn thcy arrcstcd thc gypsics, I
saiJ nothing. Whcn thcy arrcstcd thc homoscxuals,
I said nothing. Whcn thcy Jcportcd thc cws, I saiJ
nothing. 8ut whcn thcy arrcstcJ mc, thc othcrs said
nothing. '
Larly warning signs o| thc pitilcss naturc o|
MLRN JIMLS as portraycd by Charlic Cha-
plin, thc visua| arts o| that historical pcrioJ ncvcr
ccascd 1RJ\RINO IRMS bc|orc making
thcm Jisappcar in abstraction. Similar|y othcrs
woulJ not ccasc JRJ\RlNC 8IES a|tcr-
warJs to thc tunc o| thc scrcams o| thc torturcd
prior to thcir asphyxiation insidc thc gas chambcrs .
n that notc, lct' s hcar thc tcs timony o| \alcska
Ar/ aaJ I.at
Ccrt, thc actrcss who s tarrcJ in Ccrman hlmmakcr
C. W. Iabst' s l 925 ' strcct' Elm, cj/.ss S/r../.
J /cck.J //k. a cs/.t //a/ aas o::./. I woulJ scrcw
my acc up into a grimacc o| inJignation onc
minutc, thcn quictly Jancc thc ncxt. 8y juxtapos-
ing insolcncc anJ swcctncss, harJncss anJ charm,
without any transition, ! rcprcscntcd |or thc Erst
timc somcthing charactcris tic o| our ti mcs .
/os/a////. Jhis was in l 9 l , tow
_
rJs thc cnd o|
thc var. Jhc aJaists did thc show as a matincc
i n 8crlin anJ thc high point o| thc programmc
was a racc bctwccn a typcwritcr anJ a scwing
machinc. Ocorgc Orosz was thc scwing machinc.
! Jaa..J /: //. s:coJ c//. /ac oa://o.s.
, +
^ s till hgurc coming to li|c, silhoucttcs, shaJows
apping about. thc :am.ra c|s:cta haJ alrcaJy bccn
thcrc, Jonc that with thc i nvcntion o| visual
pcrspcctivc. 8ut an animatcJ imagc, onc that talks,
calls out to you . . . Jhis was thc birth o| a sonorous
audi o-vi sual pcrspccti vc that |ar outJi J vhat
instrumcntal music haJ alrcady donc |or thc his tory
o oral culturc. SuJJcnly Ilato' s cavc bccamc thc
Sybil' s lair anJ thcrc was not a thing thc visual arts
coul d Jo about this suJJcn i rrupti on o| t hc
AI! -VlSI8IL.
\hcn ^l olson, t hc whitc singcr who mimickcd
HH
S//s:s co 1t/a/
thc movemcnts o| a b|ack singcr, launchcJ his
cclcbratcd ' Hs//c Aaj` i n thc hrst talking hlm, in
l 927, hc was answcring thc unarticulatcJ scrcam o|
LJvarJ Munch. I n l 883, two ycars bc|orc thc
Lumicrc brothcrs invcntcJ cincma, Munch had
tricJ to pu up thc paintcJ imagc with a sort oI
SLN RLLIL!, which was until that momcnt
thc solc provi ncc o| music anJ i ts attcnJant
notations.
Similarly, arounJ l 9 l O, ncw| hatchcJ abstrac-
tion woulJ typi|y thc biJ |or s/a/ scoct/a//c in thc
pictorial rcalm. Hcrc' s thc way KanJinsky put i t .
'Jhc clcarcr t hc abstract clcmcnt o| |orm, t hc purcr,
thc morc clcmcntary, thc sounJ. '
An aJept o | thc thcn vcry rcccnt Jiscovcrics in thc
psychology ol pcrccption, this pionccr o| abstraction
woulJ scck to clcar thc hcld o| all thc |ormal
rc|crcnccs o| hgurativc art. In thc pcculiar manncr
o| thc 8erlin Schoo|' s CLS1A1 THLCKIL, Kan-
Jinsky woulJ tirc|cssly pursuc ' thc right |orm' .
pictorial |anguagc ' that cvcryonc can unJcrstanJ' .
I t is worth noting i n this regard that, contrary to
thc romanti c notion prcviously cxprcsscJ by Schlcgcl,
art's most scrious Jrawback is i ts immcJiacy, its
abili ty to bc pcrccivcJ a/ a /a:s.
\hilc thcatrc anJ Jancc thosc arts involving
immcJiatc prcscncc still JcmanJ prol ongcJ
UU
At/ a4 1sat
attcntion, wc sum up thc visual arts immcdiatcly, or
as good as . Jhc vcry rcccnt dcvclopmcnt o| RLAI-
J!ML computcr imagery only cvcr acccntuatcs this
cDcct o| iconic stupc|action.
\hcncc contcmporary art ' s shrillncss i n i ts bid to
bc hcard at//ca/ 4s/a, that is, at//ca/ s:ssst/a/t
a//s/tc, without rcquiring thc onlookcr' s prolongcd
rccction and instcad going |or thc conditioncd
rccx, |or a rcactionary and simultancous activity.
And strangcly, as 8ritish art historian, Norbcrt
Lynton, notcs .
Sincc thc thirtics, wc havc spokcn morc and morc
o|tcn also o| anothcr sort o| commi tmcnt. Wc
vant thc artist not only to givc himscl| vholly in
his art and to ]is art, vc also want him to
dcdicatc his rcsourccs to political progrcss . Ior
too long, thc argumcnt gocs, has art bccn an
ornamcnt and a divcrsion, thc timc has comc lor
thc artist to acccpt adult rcsponsibilitics and to
makc art a wcapon. At/ //a/ 4css c/ /s/ t //s //
4t:-t/s a//s/tc tc t/.
| o
Jhis dcclaration o| hostility towards thc pro-
longcd attcntion o| an NLKLR, who thcn
hnds him- or hcrscl| dchncd as MILIJANJ, i | not
MI LIJ ^R Y t a :ass, as t/t/a/t aats/ //s /aa
c//s st/s:s cat/ is typical o| a ' |uturism' |or vhich
UU
St/:o:: co Ttta/
war was thc world' s only hygicnc. I t could only cnd
up discmpowcring thc graphic arts duc to thcir lack
o| sound
Ior i| ccrtain works SIEAK, thosc that SH\T
and SCRLAM thci r pain or hatc woul d soon
abolish all dialoguc and rulc out any |orm o|
qucstioning.
Jhc way that prcssurc |rom thc mcdia audicncc
cnsurcs that crimc and pornography ncvcr ccas c
dominating A\!-\!S\AL programmcs so
much so that our scrccns havc rcachcd s aturation
point thcsc days, as wc all know thc blcak dawn o|
thc twcnticth ccntury was not only to inauguratc
thc crisis i n Egurativc rcprcscntation, but along with
it, thc crisis in sc:/a/ s/a/t/t wi thout whi ch
t-t:s:o/a|/:: dcmocracy in turn disappcars.
Jo thus voci|crously dcnouncc MERJA, //ts
/aa //: st/:o:: at/, and promotc instcad somc so-
callcd ' |rccing uQ o| spccch' , was to triggcr a systcm
o| in|orming that Ccorgc rwcll would l at cr
portray t o pcr|ccti on. NEWSILAK, t hc languagc
rwcll invcntcd in his novcl, ^/o:/::o-L/g/-Icsr,
bcauti|ully cxcmpliEcs not only thc /toa/s//: :/t://s o|
thc cmcrgcnt totalitarianisms, but also thc crimcs
and misdcmcanours o thc aa4tc-:/saa/ /aogaag: o| t hc
MASS ML!A and, in particular, thosc o| ths
9 l
At/ aa4 I:at
4:aaa:/a/c /:/:sct::///aa:: wc scc bcing installcJ all
ovcr thc worlJ.
\hilc psychoanalytical cul turc managcJ to bring
artis ts up to spccJ with talcs |rom thc !RL!IAN
! VAN, twcnticth-ccntury poli tical cul turc woulJ
cmbark on thc rocky roaJ o| trying to control thc
silcnt majoritics. 1 MAKL SMLNL JALK
would sudJcnly bccomc a major rcquircmcnt with
thc advcnt o| thc poll anJ tclcvision ratings sys tcms .
Jhc impcrativcs o| s/a/: s::at/ anJ thosc ol
a4::t/ts/ag bccomc inJistinguishablc in iJcnti|ying
trcnJs i n puIlic opinion. AnJ s o contcmporary art
EnJs i tscl| JraggcJ kicking anJ scrcaming into this
cscalation i n thc usc o| invcstigativc anJ promo-
tional campaigns , cspccially i n thc Ini tcd Statcs,
whcrc sponsorship turns i nto manipulation, purc
anJ simpl c. Jhat is, until thc Saatchi aDair o
autumn l 999, whcn thc cxhibition ' o:asa//cr` at thc
8rooklyn Muscum, EnanccJ by C/t/s//:`s Ia/:taa-
//caa/, had thc unavowcJ aim o spcculating on thc
valuc o thc vorks on show.
I I
cspi tc Magri t t c and a hanJ|ul o| othcrs,
commcrcial imagcry ::t/a/ at/, :/saa/ at/ woulJ
wrcak thc havoc wc arc all too |amiliar wi th yct
which has or somc rcason provokcJ lcss o| an outcry
than that wrcakcJ by ' Socialist Rcalism' , thc omcial
art o thc Jcunct Sovict Inion . . . Jhc :c/: s/t/
92
St/:a:: ca Ttta/
iconography o| thc likcs o| Roy Lichtcnstcin taking
on thc noisy sound cccts o| thc !uturist machincs,
Mimmo Rotclla apci ng systcmatic billposting, ctc.
Why go on`
As |or AnJy Warhol, listcn to hi m. ' 1/: t:asca 1r
]ata/tag |/ts aa ts |::aas: I aaa/ /c /: a a:/ta:. '
i
Likc Hamlct rcintcrprctcJ by thc Last Ccrman
Jc|cctor Hcinc Mllcr, thc WARHL-MACHI NL
no longcr has somcthing t o say about t hc ' workcr' ,
but only about thc ' uncmploycd' .
Somcwhcrc bctwccn Antonin Artaud anJ Stclarc,
thc Aus tra|ian |c at/ts/, Warho| Jocs not b mucb
documcnt //: :a4 at/ prcccding thc cnJ o| his tory
as thc cnd o| thc man o| art. /: a/c s:aks :::a as /:
t:matas st/:a/.
Whcthcr what is at issuc is thc manual spccch ct
thc paintcr or thc boJily spccch o| thc mimc arti st or
Janccr, wc arc now |iving in thc agc o| suspicion
with doubt about thc crcativc |acu|tics o| nakcd
man holding sway.
With //: ta4t:/:a| c st/:a::, contcmporary a:t
can' t quitc shakc o thc acccusation o| passivity,
inJccJ, o| pointlcssncss . . . Jhc casc insti tutcd
against silcncc, citing thc cvidcncc o| thc works,
thcn cns in out and out conJcmnation o| that
tcaa: t: that was s till an cxtcnsion ol thc picty Ot
bygonc sacrcd art.
J
Ht/ ao4 1:at
Silcncc suddcnly s tops bcing indulgcd. hc who
says nothing is dccmcd to conscnt to st|: //s:q to
judgcmcnt o| thc artist on mcrc intcntion.
Accuscd o| congcnital wcakncss, thc silcncc o|
orms and hgurcs suddcnly turns into M\JI SM.
t hc mutism o abstraction or that o an indctcr-
minatc hgurativc art whosc victims wcrc to bc
Ciacomctti, 8acon and co.
' Jhc lcss you think, thc morc you talk' , Mon-
tcsquicu pointcd out. Surcly thc samc thing applics
to thc visual arts . 1/: ct: ca /a//, //: /:ss ca ato/!
Jhc hrst thing to go was cra|tsmanship, a victim
o industrial manu|acturing |rom thc cightccnth
ccntury onwards . ln thc twcnticth ccntury, i t was
art' s turn to ccl thc impact o| indus trial rcpcti tion
hcad-on.
\ictims o| an art that claimcd it containcd all thc
othcrs, with tclcvision ollowing hot on thc hccls o|
thc movics, thc visual arts havc slowly vanishcd
rom thc sct o| history and this, dcspi tc thc
unprcccdcntcd proli|cration o muscum proj ccts.
1/: at/ //: c/ct cincmatographic, vidco-
computcr graphic has hnally torpcdocd thc lack o|
MJRlZAJI l o| thc ' primary arts' . And I
don' t just mcan thc occanographic arts or thosc that
havc comc to light at Jhulc in Crccnland but also,
cqually, //: :s/at: //: at//s/ who, hrst and orcmost,
J+
S//:a:: co 1t/a/
brought his boJy with him. |a/:as :t]cs, all thcse
corporal arts whose vestiges remain thc actor anJ the
Jancer. Such motorization thus prehgures the dis-
astrous virtua|ization o choreography, thc grotesque
Jance o clones anJ avatars, the incorporcal sara banJ
o| somc :|ct:cgta|/: CY8LR-A8SJRACJIl
which will be t o Jance what the enccJing o| 4/g//a/
HY!LR-A8SJRACJIl has alreaJy been to ease|
painting.
Jhc Nazi assaul t on 4:g:o:ta/: at/ woulJ thus be
|olloweJ by the age o| :c]a/:t-g:a:ta/:4 at/, A\J-
MAJI I ARJ, c|canseJ o| any presence sa/ g:o:t/:
an acsthetic cleansing thercby perpetuating the
recent ethnic anJ ethic cleansing in the theatre o
the Balkans .
AnJ so, ater t he SACRL ARJ o| the agc o
Jivine right caat:| anJ ater the contemporary
IRIANL ARJ o| the age o| 4:c:ta we will look
on helplcss|y, or just about, as a IRIANL ARJ
emerges i n the image o| thc annihilateJ corpses o
ptaaa, anticipating the imminent cultura| acciJcnt
the imposition o some multimedia ' ocial art'
At/ /t:al4caa, contemporary with the Jamage
Jone by technoscientiEc progress. l| ' moJern art'
has been synonymous with the INISJRIAL
revoluticn, ' postmoJern art' is in eect contempcr-
ary wi th the INIRMAJIN revolution that is,
9o
At/ ao4 1:at
with thc rcplaccmcnt o| analoguc languagcs by
dlgi tal . thc computation o| s cnsations, whcthcr
visual, auJrtory, tactilc or ol|actory, / scaat:. Io
c//:t act4s. //tcag/ a :ca/:t t//:t
Acr thc likc, thc ANALO\S, thc agc o| thc
' |ikcly' CLNL or A\AJAR has arrivcJ, thc
industrial s/ao4at4tza/tco o| products manu|acturcd
in scrics combining with thc standardization o|
scnsations anJ cmoti ons as a prcl udc to thc
dcvclopmcnt o| cybcrnctics, wi th its attcndant
computcr o:/tcotza/tco, thc cnJ proJuct o| which
will bc thc virtual CY8LR WRL.
| s
I t might bc usc|ul t o notc, by way o| windlng up
thcsc |cw worJs, that thc hypothcsis o| ao a::t4:a/ to
ALS1HL1IC :a/a:s or in scicntiEc knowlcJgc in
thc agc o| thc in|ormation rcvolution is no morc |ar-
|ctchcd than thc hypothcsis o| thc a::t4:o| to !THIC
ca/a:s that shook Luropc in thc ag o| thc production
rcvolution . . .
\hat has rcccntly takcn placc in Austria i n thc
a|tcrmath o| thc tragcJy that has bccn playing out
|or tcn ycars l n thc 8alkans provcs yct again that
ILIJICS, likc ARJ, has limits, anJ that dcmo-
cratic |rccJom o| cxprcssion stops at thc cJgc o| an
abyss, on thc brink o| thc :a// /c at4:t l l ml ts
bli thcly crosscJ by thosc alrcaJy going by thc namc
o JHL MLIA I HAJL.
Ji
/s
Hr/ aud Iar: au |u/rcdar/tcu
l . I wuld likc to thank Ryan Bishop and \crcna
Andcrmatt Conlcy |or thcir valuablc commcnts
on an carllcr drah o| this Introduction. Jhc
cssays publishcd hcrc, ' A Iitilcss Art' and
' Silcncc on Jrial ' , wcrc originally givcn as two
talks by laul \irilio ln l 999 at thc Macght
!oundation i n Sai nt- Iaul -dc-\cncc i n thc
South o| !rancc. n \irilio' s conccpt o| thc
acs thctics o| disappcarancc scc Iaul \iilio T/-
A:s//://:s c D/sa-ataa::, trans. Ihilip 8citch-
man cw York. ScmioJcxt c) , l 99 l ) .
2 . ' Hypcrviolcncc and Hypcrscxuality. Iaul \ir-
ilio Intcrvicwcd by Nicholas Zurbrugg' , trans .
lcholas Zurbrugg, L://o: 15 autumnwintcr,
2OO | ) , pp. l O l 3 .
J 1
^c/:s
3 . I//4.
1. JhcoJor AJorno, ' Cultural Criticism and So-
ci cty' , in It/ss, trans . Samucl anJ Shcrry
\cbcr Cambri dgc MA. Jhc MI J Ircss,
l 9G7) , p. 31.
5. Virilio, T/: A:s//://:s D/sa]:ataa::.
G. Iaul Virilio, T/: At/ //: Ac/ct, trans . ulic
Rosc Minncapolis . \nivcrsity o| Minncsota
Ircss, l 995) , Iaul \irilio, T/: Iqctma//ca Bc/,
trans . Chris Jurncr LonJon Ncw York. \crso,
2OOO) .
7 . n \irilio' s hypcrmoJcrnism scc john Armi-
tagc cJ. ) Iaa/ l/t///c . Itc Ac4:to/s /c
[:tc4:to/s aa4 Bca4 LonJon. Sagc, 2OOO) .
8. Jhc tcrm ' banality o| cvil' was hrst coincJ by
Hannah Arcndt in Chaptcr J o| hcr L/:/aoa /o
j:tasa/: London. Icnguin, l 9GJ ) .
9. \altcr 8cnj amin, ' Jhc \ork o| Art in thc Agc
o| Mcchanical Rcproduction' , in I/am/oa//cas,
trans . Harry Zohn N cw York. Schockcn 8ooks ,
l 9G9) , p. 212 .
H t/t/ss Hr/
l . \npublishcd intcrvicw with acquclinc Lich-
tcnstcin anJ Cerard \ajcman conductcd by
!ranois Rouan, May l 997.
9H
^c/:s
2. Oabricl Ringlct, L` L:aa//: 4` aa ///t:-:as:sr.
Dt:a s:tat/-// /a|`a:: Iaris . Albin Michcl, l 998) .
3 . Ci tcJ in Orcil Marcus, L/s//:/ Tta::s. A S::e/
H/s/ c //: Ta:a//:// C:a/a Ncw York.
Harvard \nivcrsi ty Ircss, l 99O) , scc thc chap-
tcr, ' Lipstick Jraccs ' .
1. Jhc ti tlc o| thc |amous con|crcncc papcr
Jclivcrcd in Vicnna in l 9O8 by thc archl tcct ,
Adol| Loos.
5. Ci tcJ in RolanJ jaccard, ' La 8iblc du 8las-
phcmc' , L: Aca4:, 29 january l 999.
G. Rcne Oimpcl, jcataa/ 4`aa :c//:://caa:at, mat:/a4
4: /a|/:aax Iaris. Calmann-Levy, l 9G3) , p. <J<
. I//4. , p. 29 l .
8. I gnacio Ramonct, La ]taaa/: 4: /a :cmmaa/:a//ca
Iaris . Oalilec, l 999) , pp. l 9O 9 l .
9 . Iaul Virilio, T/: Iactma//ca Bcm/, trans . ChrIs
Jurncr LonJonNcw York. Vcrso, 2OOO)
l O. Lrnst Klcc, La A::/a: aaz/: :/ s:s :/://m:s Ar|es.
SolinActcs Sud, l 999) , pp. 2O1, 312.
l l . Jhis was among thc issucs JiscusscJ at ' Imagc ct
Iolitiquc' , a con|crcncc chaircd by Iaul Virili o
wi thin thc |orum o| thc ' Rcncontrcs intcrnatio-
nalcs Jc la photographic' , Ar|cs, l 99 Ar|es .
Actcs SudAIAA, l 998) .
l 2 . can-Christophc 8ailly, L`Acs/tc/: ma://:. :sscis
sat /:s ct/tat/s 4a Iajcaa Iari s. Hazan, l 998)
99
^c/-s
l 3 . As lor thc curious namc givcn to thc ' Musec dcs
arts prcmicrs' , quai 8ranly, Iaris. arc vc talking
lAJI\L or NAI\L art hcrc About an art
SA\ANJ or an art SA\\ACL
l 1. Antoinc dc Saint-Lxupery, I//c/- 4: a:tt- Iaris.
Callimard, l 982) , p. 85.
l 5. Scc Iaul \irilio, L/a4-s 4`tm]a:/, on thc work o|
!ctcr Klascn Iaris. Lxprcssions con tcmp or-
aincs, l 999) .
l G. ' Art, Ou cst ta naturc ' , a conlcrcncc hcld at thc
I nstitut Hcinrich Hcinc, Iaris, 8 March l 999.
l 7 . Axcl Kahn, Cc]t-s :cqct:s Iari s. lil, l 998) .
l 8. Lrnst Klcc, c]. ://. , scc thc chaptcr, ' \n genet-
iclcn d' Auschwitz' .
l 9. 1//4.
2O. I//4.
2 l . A dubious account o|josc| Mcngclc' s carccr has
rcccnt|y bccn Elmcd in Ccrmany.
22. j. -Y. Nau, ' T/: Lao::/ prcnd position sur |c
clonagc humaln' , L- Aco4:, l 5 january l 999.
!or thc cditorial quotcd, scc T/: Lao:-/, 353.
9 l 17 9 january, l 999) . Thc carlicr cditorial
condcmning Luropc and thc \SA |or wanting
to ban human cloning appcars i n Th- Lao::/,
35 l . 9O97 l 7 anuary I 998) .
23. C]. ://.
21. Scc R. 8oisscau in L- Aco4-, G March l 999.
I 0U
^c/:s
25. Citcd in Ciorgio Agcmbcn, C: a/ t:s/: 4` Aas:/-
a//z Iaris . Lc Scuil, l 999) .
2G. I|tJ.
2 7 . L/|ta/tca, l G March l 999.
28. Axcl Kahn, ' L' Acharncmcnt procreatil, L:
Aca4:, l G March l 999.
29. L/|ta/tca, 28 !cbruary l 999.
3O. Ca:s/-Iraa::, l 3 l 1 March l 999.
3 l Hans Magnus Lnzcnsbcrgcr, I:a///:/ag: Iari s .
Callimard, l 998)
32. I/tJ.
t/ur cu 1rta/
l . ` P subtractivc colour proccss devclopcd in
Ccrmany by Ag|a AC lor l G mm hlm in l J3G
and |or 35 mm mm i n l 910. Ag|acolor vas a
tripak colour proccss, in vhich thrcc cmulsion
laycrs, cach scnsitivc to onc o| thc primary
colours, wcrc laid on a singlc basc. ' . Konigs-
burg, T/: Cc/:/: I// 1/:/tcaa, 2nd cdn
Lcndon. 8loomsbury, l 997 ) , p. 8.
2. T/: jazz S/a:t, thc Hollyvood mm dircctcd by
Alan Crosland and s tarring singcr Al jolson,
marks thc cincmatograph' s cntry into thc agc o|
thc JALKILS, on 23 ctobcr l 92I thc datc
o| thc hrst public scrccning.
I 0 l
^c/:s
3 . Iatrick \auday, 'Y a-t-il unc pcinturc sans
i magc' , a papcr givcn at a scminar hcld by thc
Collcgc Intcrnational dc Ihilosophic, Iaris,
during its l 999 2OOO programmc.
1. Norbcrt Lynt on, 1/: S/c c Ac4:ta At/
LondonNcw York. Ihaidon, 2OO l ) , p. l 1,
|rom Chaptcr I , ' Jhc Ncw 8arbarians' origin-
ally publishcd l 98O) .
5. ' La 88C invcntc lc `Murmurc d' ambiancc' ' ,
Ca:s/-Itaa::, l o ctobcr l 999.
G. L- Itgatc, 1 january 2OOO.
7. August Wilhclm Schlcgcl, Ia/a/tags.
8. Custav janouch, Cca::tsa/tcas Ut// Iaa, trans.
Coronwy Rccs Ncw York. Ncw ircctions,
l 9I l ) , p. l oO translation modihcd) .
9. ' uit du cinema ct dc la dansc allcmandc
l 9 l O l 99O) ' , prcscntcd by anicl obbcls at
thc Cinemathcquc |ranaisc, Faris, l8 january
2OOO. \alcska Ccrt is quotcd by M. losscn in
thc show' s cataloguc.
l O. Norbcrt Lynton, c]. :t/. , p. 359, lrom Chaptcr
l 2, ' Jhc Artist in Modcrn Socicty' .
l l . Harry 8cllct, ' Christic' s, Saatchi ct lc musec dc
8rooklyn' , L: Aca4:, wintcr l 999.
l 2. Andy Warhol, quotcd in Norbcrt Lynton, c. :t/. ,
p. 291.
l 3 . ' Quitc apart |rom thc supprcssion o| dchnitcly
l 02
^c/:s
hcrctlcal words, rcduction ol vocabulary vas
rcardcd as an cnd i n itscl} and no word that
could bc dispcnscd vl th was allowcd to survivc
Newspcak was Jcsigncd not to cxtcnd but to
4tto/s/ thc rangc ol thought, and this purposc
was indircctly assistcd by cutting thc choicc ol
words down to a minimum. ' Ccorgc rvcll,
^to:/::o-L/g/-Icat London. Icnguin, l J89) ,
p. J l J hrs t publlshcd l 919) .
l 03
1t//t_ra]h
Adorno, J. l 9o7) , ' Cultural Cri ticism and Socicty' ,
i n It/sms, trans . S. Wcbcr and S. Wcbcr, Cam-
bridgc, MA. Jhc MIJ Ircss.
Arcndt, H. l 9o3) , !/:/aaa /a j-tasa/-m, London.
!cnguin.
Armi tagc, j. cd . ) 2OOO) , Iaa/ ltt///c . !tcm
Ac4-tats /c H-tc4-n/sm aa4 Lca4, London.
Sagc.
8ailly, j. - C. l 998) , L`Acs/tc]h- ma-//-. -ssa/s sat /-s
ct/tat/s 4a Iacaa, Iaris. Hazan.
8cllct, H. l O99) , ' Christic' s, Saatchi ct lc musec dc
8rooklyn' , L- Aca4-, wintcr.
8cnj amin, W. l 9o9) , 'Jhc \ork ol Art in thc P_c
o| Mcchanical Rcproduction' , i n I//amtaa//ns,
trans . H. Zohn, Ncw York. Schockcn 8ooLs .
Lnzcnsbcrgcr, H. M. l 998) , !-at//-/ag-, Iaris.
Callimard.
l Ub
Bt|/tcra/j
Gimpcl, R. l 9o3) , catoa/ 4`ao :c//::/tcoo:at, mat:/ao4
4: /a|/:aax, Iaris. Calmann-Levy.
jaccard, R. l 999) , ' La 8i bl c du 8lasphcmc' , L:
Aca4:, 29 january.
janouch, O. l 97 l ) , Cco::tsa/tcos at// Iaa, trans .
C. Rccs, Ncw York. Ncw ircctions .
Kahn, ^. l 998) , Cct:s :coctm:s, Iaris. Nil.
Kahn, A. l 999) , ' L' Acharncmcnt procreatil, L:
Aca4:, l o March.
Klcc
L. l 999) , La Ao::to: oazt: :/ s:s :t:/t:s,
Ar|cs. SolinActcs Sud
Lynton, N. 2OO l ) , T/: S/c Ac4:ta At/, London
Ncv York. Ihaidon.
Marcus, O. l 99O) , Lts/t:/ Tta::s. A S::t:/ Hts/c c
//: To:o/t:// C:o/a, Ncv York. Harvard \ni-
vcrsi ty Ircss .
Nau, j. -Y. l 999) , ' T/: Lao::/ prcno position sur |c
clonagc humai n' , L: Aco4:, l 5 january.
rwcll, C. l 989) , ^to:/::o-Ltg/-Icat, London.
Icnguin.
Ramonct, I. l 999) , La ]taoot: 4: /a :cmmaot:a/tco,
Iaris . Calilec.
Kingl ct, C. l 998) , L`L:aogt/: 4` aa /t|t::os:at. Dt:a
s:tat/-t/ /at`a:? Iari s. Albin Michcl.
Saint-Lxupery, A. dc l 982) , It/c/: 4: a:tt:, Iaris .
Gallimard.
l0o
L///tcgtc/j
\irilio, . l JJ l ) , T/: A:s//:/t:s Dtsa:ctco:c,
trans . I. 8citchman, Ncw York. ScmioJcxt c) .
\irilio, . l JJ5) , T/: At/ //: Ac/ct, trans . .
Rosc, Minncapolis. \nivcrsity ol Mi nncsot a
Ircss .
\irilio, . l JJJ) , L/eJ:s J` ta:/, Iaris. Lxprcssions
Contcmporaincs .
\irilio, . 2OOO) , 1/: Ioctmc/tco Bc/, trans . L.
Jurncr, Londonjcw York. Vcrso.
Zurbrugg, N. 2OO l ) , ' Hypcrviolcncc and Hypcr-
scxuali ty. Iaul \irilio Intcrvicwcd by Nicholas
Zurbrugg' , trans . N. Zurbrugg, Lj:/to:, 1o
autumnwintcr) , pp. l O l 3 .
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