.

|/ 0uu 1|0|
1i `1V11i!
JIansIaicd U julic Kosc
JDI VOik I8 QuDl8hCU wIlh IHC 8UQQOIl O lhC ICHCh IDI8liy O
\OlUIC L0HIIC 8lIOH8 Uu LIVIC.
DI8 DOOk !8 8uQQOIlCU Dy IHC ICHCh PuI8liy OI OICI_ P8II8 88
Q8II O IDC UI_C8s QIO_I8uuC DC8UCU OI lHC ICDCD HD888y ID
ODUOD Oy IBC D8lIIuI I8Dq8I8 Uu bOy8uHC HI.
l:ocrte gol:t |otero:te
KPU8LiQUE FkANAlsE
ODIIHUUu
DC OVCI uIUID_
11 3OIk O8U
LODUOD C I 7
aaaccamvvmbcc/ccm
1 88I 2bth OIICCI
CW OIk
l 10100
II8l uDI8DCU I8DCC 2000 uDUCI lDC lIIC 1 IcrJvr: st/ar:
C 2000 UIlIOD8 L8ICC
_I8D U8H8|8IIOD O 2003 _uIC O8C [DlIOUuCIIOH C 2003 _OHD
PuII8_C
H_I8D II8H8|8lIOH uI8l QuDI8HCU 2003 Dy LODIIDUuu
HI8 Q8QCID8Ck CUI!IOD QuDI8HCU 2001
bCQIIDICO 201
A II_DlS IC8CICU. O Q8II O lDI8 QuDIC8IIOD m8y DC ICQIOUuCCU OI
lI8D8HII!CU IH 8Hy lOIH OI Dy 8Dy uC8H8 ClCClIOHIC OI uCCH8HIC8|
IDCuU_ QDOlOCOQyID_ ICCOIUID_ OI 8Hy IDOID8l!OH 8IOI8_C OI
IClIICV8 8y8ICH wIIHOuI QIIOI QCIuI88IOH ID WIIlID_ IOH lHC
QuDI8DCI8.
DIIlI8D LIDI8I L8I8O_UID_ D tDDIC8lIOH 8I3
^ C8l8O_uC ICCOIU OI lDI8 DOOk I8 8V8u8DC lIOu
lDC III8h LIDI8Iy
OD 82b1 608 1 [8IOD8Ck
0 82b1 731U 9 [t8QCID8Ck
_C8CI Dy DOOkD8 LlO bOy8lOD CIl8.
tIIDlCU 3HU DOuDU !H LIC8I DIIl8IH Dy DIUUC8 LlU IH_8 yDD OtOlk
Cn/n/s
1taos/a/ct`s tc::
At/ ao4 I:at. ao to/tc4a:/tco
ohn Armitagc
A !i tilcss Art
Silcncc on Jrlal
^c/:s
Lt//tcra
Io4:v

?O
b1
'/
O
'
1ra/s/a/r s ]ra:
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
julic Rosc
20O2
.r/ an1 1ar.
an tn/rda:/tn
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
Io/tcJe://co
\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
Io/tcJ://co
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
Io/t:Je://:o
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

i:tic rc|usals Virilio unJcr-

stanJs as a thought- provoki ng cnquiry i nto a
lrccdom o| scicntihc cxprcssion that i

at rcscnt as
l i mi tlcss as |rccJom o| arti sti c cxprcssi on. Hc
Jcclarcs his unqualihcJ oosi tion t o thc apcar-
ancc O a ' transgcnic art' that is tolcrablc ncithcr
within i ts own scl|-Jcsignation nor as thc starting
point |or a contcmplativc rclationship bctwccn thc
spccics . Lxploring thc hycrmoJcrn 'cult o| pcr|or-
mancc' in a gcnuinc human racc JircctcJ by thc
global magnatcs o| sport, hnancc anJ thc mcJia,
\irilio i s aJamant on thc subjcct o| his qucstioning
l2
I/tc4c:/tc
o| a biologically contrivcd ' supcr-humani ty' l acking
aJcquaic cihical proccJurcs or limiiations. Jo bc
surc, hc wants io turn his back on thc |ashionablc
scicniihc anJ ar.istic idca o| thc human boJy as a
tcchnologically assis tcJ survival unit that has out-
lastcd i ts usc|ulncss . Rcjccting what Arcndt i Jcnti-
hcd as thc banality o| cvil' ai work in Nazis m and
morc latcly i n Iol Iot' s Cambodi a anJ clscwhcrc,
\iri lio concl udcs A Iitilcss Art' with plca to
condcmn thc transgrcssions o| conicmporary art.
In ' Silcncc on Jrial ' , though, hc challcngcs whcthcr
all that stays silcnt is judgcJ to conscnt, to allow
without a murmur o| complaint thc contcmporary
conditions o| audio-visual ovcrload
tcurc ou 1rtal
In this cssay \irilio is |or thc most part involvcJ
with cxposing a silcncc that has los t iis ability to
spcak' , with a muiism that takcs thc lorm o| a
ccnsorship o| silcncc in an agc awash with thc
obsccni ty o| noisc. Lnrcstricicd ' Son ct Lumicrc'
cvcnts and ' livc' art cxhi bi ti ons, |or i nstancc,
currcntly ood many s ocial and cultural spaccs.
\irilio rccognizcs such occasions as illustrations o|
thc disappcarancc o| rcprcscntation anJ thc moior-
izcd rcgimc o| spccd i n contcmporary art thai

At/ coJ I:at
conrms thc s ubsti t uti on o| thc acs t hcti cs ol
appcarancc by thc acsthcti cs o| di sapcarancc
Assuming a historical pcrspcctivc, hc poi nts t o thc
prcviously ncglcctcd signi hcancc o| thc appcarancc
and imposi tion o| talking picturcs oi ' talkics' in thc
l 92Os. In lact, i n \irili o' s opi nion, i t was in this
pcriod that citizcns who indicatcd si|cncc as a modc
o| articul ati on wcrc hrst j udgcd to asscnt to thc
di mi nishing powcr o| si lcnt obscrvation and thc
incrcasing suprcmacy ol thc audio-visual. I n our
day, howcvcr, thc qucsti on according to \irilio is
whcthcr thc work o| art is to bc considcrcd an objcct
ihat mus t bc l ookcd at or l i s t cncd to. r ,
altcrnativcly, givcn thc rcducti on o| thc posi tion ol
thc art lovcr to that o| a componcnt i n thc
multimcdia acadcmy' s cybcrnctic machinc, whcthcr
thc acsthctic and cthical silcnc c o| art can conti nuc
to bc uphcld.
\idco and conccptual art havc bccn incrcasingly
important conccpts o| \irili o' s work on thc audio-
visual torrcnt o| thc mass mcdi a and thc digital
contamination o| thc imagc cvcr sincc T/: At/ cf //:
Mc/cr l 995) . Ncvcrthclcss, it appcars in ' Silcncc on
Jri al ' that \iri l i o' s i ntcrprctation o| thc ncw
in|ormation and communications tcchnologics o|
' hypcr-abstraction' , such as thc Intcrnct, i s shaping
ncw |orms o| thcorctical cxploration that arc
+
I/c4c://c
ncccssitating an altcrnativc aroach to his rcvious
writi ngs on thc spccd ol light . Ior in this cssay
\irilio also contcmplatcs thc spccJ o| sound. As hc
Jcscribcs i t , thc contcmporary tcchniquc o| ai nting
with sound, l acking Egurcs or i magcs, hrst cmcrgcJ
in thc l atc ninctccnth and carly twcnticth ccnturics
i n thc works ol Wagncr and Kandinsky, Schwittcrs,
Mondri an anJ Moholy-Nagy. 8ut, |or \i rilio,
rcscnt-day sounJ art oblitcratcs thc charactcr o|
visual art whilc concurrcntly advancing thc com-
municati on racticcs o| thc global aJvcrtising
industry, which havc assaultcd thc art worlJ to
such a dcgrcc that i t is at prcscnt thc ccniral dogma
o| thc mul ti media acaJcmy. Icolc toJay, |or
cxaml c, havc to cndurc t hc rcssurc o| thc
' ambi cnt murmuring' o| inccssant muzak at thc
art gall cry, at work or at thc shoing ccntrc.
Iurthcrmorc, thcir silcncc on such mattcrs is, in
\irili o' s tcrms, conncctcd wi th thc closing hasc o|
thc acs thctics o| Jisapcarancc that is al so thc
gatcway t o a ncw ' acsthctics o| abscncc' , an abscncc
whcrc thc silcncc o| thc visibl c is abolishcd by thc
sound o| auJio-visual multi mcJia. Howcvcr, as
\irilio makcs clcar, i n s truggling agai ns t thc
acs thctics o| abscncc i n thc namc o| thc silcncc o|
thc visibl c, i t i s imortant not to ovcrcmhasizc thc
si gni hcancc ol thc vi sual ci ncmati c i magc i n
l
At/ cJ I-ct
articular as a methoJ o| examining the owcr o|
sounJ. Irom his crsective, this is Juc to thc |act
that cinemati c images saturate human consciousncss
anJ arc more Jamaging than ohcn recognizeJ.
\irilio laces his hoes in the ' acciJent o| thc visi bl c'
anJ the annihilation o| the auJio-visual by a oli tics
o| silencc. ating the contcmorary crisis i n thc
lastic arts |rom the invention o| the talkies, he
i nsi st s t hat this is the basis o| the resul t i ng
conJcmnation o| human Jca|ncss anJ t hc marketing
o| sounJ that has given rise to the ' trauma o| the
car' . Lqual ly signiEcantly, \iri l i o is esecially
scetical o| the insertion o| scech into thc i magc,
owing to thc |act that the art lover raiJly bccomes
a casualty o| thc sccJ | sounJ anJ a risoner o| the
noise o| the visible. I t`is also imotant to kee in
minJ that |or hi m thc arts are rescntly transhxeJ
by a will to noise, a henomenon wlose objectivc is
the urging o| silcncc. Ior thcsc rcasons , as \irilio
unJerstanJs it, the turmoil i n contemorary visual
art is not the consequence o| the Jcveloment o|
hotograhy or thc cinema but the outcome o| the
creation o| the talkies . Such a dcclaration in
aJJi tion rel ates to his questioning ol the waning o|
oral traJitions that unsurrisi ngly |or \irilio entails
the ever ' tclepresent' talking image anJ the evcr
|ainter resence o| silent rcality. Jo say nothing,
i
I/tcJe://c
Jcclarcs \irilio, is not simply an act that lcaJs to
|car, to pitilcss art anJ to pi tilcss timcs, but also to
thc domi nation o| thc immcJiacy o| contcmporary
visual art by thc sonori ty o| thc auJio-visual .
I mpl i catcJ in \i rili o' s Enal thoughts about
contcmporary art' s losing grounJ to sonority on
account ol i ts immcdiacy is Ii s on-going rcsis tancc to
thc cnJ o| spontancous rcactions to works o| art anJ
thc continuing imposi tion o| thc conJitioncJ rccx
action. \irili o' s purposc at tIis juncturc is to Jisrupt
thosc graphic arts that unrcscrvcJly rcly on thc
spccJ o| sounJ. Jhis s tratcgy is typical o| \irilio' s
' pi ti|ul' artistic stancc anJ o| his prcccJing raJical
cultura| analyscs . In 1|: At/ c /|: Mc/ct and in
'Silcncc on Jrial ' , |or ins tancc, \irilio rcj ccts thc
scrcaming and strcaming multimcJia pcr|ormanccs
o| thc body ar.is t, Stclarc. As \irilio notcs, it is o|
|unJamcntal importancc that thc hypcrviolcncc and
hypcrscxuality that at prcscnt rulc thc scrccns o|
hypcrmoJcrni ty arc challcngcJ givcn that thcy arc
thc suprcmc instigators o| social i nsccurity anJ thc
crisis i n hgurativc art . Hc unJcrstanJs thc art o| thc
mass mcdia conscqucntly as thc most pcrilous clIort
yct to managc thc silcnt maj ori ty through a spurious
voicc convcycJ t hrougI publ i c opi ni on pol l s,
corporatc sponsorship anJ aJvcrtising. \iiilio thus
lamcnts thc craJication o| thc moJcrn 'man o| art'

At/ c4 I:ct
by hypcrmoJcrn contcmporary ariists such as
Stclarc. Such a loss to hi m is also an i njury to all
thosc who still ycarn to spcak cvcn whcn thcy
rcmain silcnt . \irilio is accorJingly looking to
uncovcr within thc clJ o| contcmporary art thc
|orccs i nvolvcJ i n ihc systcmatic tcrmination o| thc
silcncc o| thc visual anJ

thc gcs turc o| thc artist. 8y
cxplaining in ' Silcncc on Jrial ' that such |orccs plan
to cxtcnJ thc motorization o| art whilc rcmoving thc
scnsations o| thc human subjcct, \irilio concluJcs
that, |or hi m at lcas t, cybcrnctic art anJ politics
havc li mi ts that Jo not incluJc murJcr.
1/c acl/cltt Zut/ot|
Commcntators on \irilio' s At/ a4 I:ct might claim
that his powcr|ul spcculations on contcmporary
mcJia arc thc conj ccturcs o| a cri tic o| thc art o|
tcchnology who has lost hopc in thc ability o|
moJcrnism anJ hypcrmoJcrnism to cDcctivcly |acc
up to rising hypcrviolcncc anJ hypcrscxuality. His
works anJ i ntcrvicws as a rulc arc, howcvcr, vcry
much conccrncJ with circumvcnting thc Jangcrs o|
an inJiscriminatc acsthctic pcssimism. Yct it Jocs
appcar in ' A Iitilcss Art' anJ ' Silcncc on Jrial' as i|
hc is at timcs pcrhaps cxccssivcly Jisparaging o| thc
trcnJs anJ thcorics associatcJ with contcmporary

I/tcJc:/tcr
art anJ ll m, po|itics and thc accclcration o| thc
mass mcdia. In condcmning pitilcss art anJ tLc
rcccnt orJcal cxpericnccd by those sccking a right to
silcncc without implicd asscnt, hc is possibly rathcr
too cautious with rcgard to thc practi ccs o|
contcmporary art. As i n thc casc o| thc boJy artist,
Stclarc, \irilio' s criticism ol his work tcnds to
ovcrlook thc rcmarkablc and rcvolutionary qucs-
tioning o| thc convcntional principl cs o| thc
|unctioning o| thc human body that Stcl arc' s
mcJical opcrations and tcchnological pcr|ormanccs
signi|y. Ior \irilio, howcvcr, thc humiliation o| thc
art lovcr through thc imposition o| pitilcss i magcs
anJ car-spli tting sound systcms i n thc art gallcry
anJ clscwhcrc is not so much thc bcginning o| an
acs thctic Jcbatc as thc bcginning o| thc cnd o|
humanity.
In thc samc way, thc thinking bchinJ \irilio' s
rcccnt wri tings on thc iJca o| a contcmporary
multimcJia acaJemy only adds to thc |ccling that hc
incrcasi ngly proposcs a typc o| cri ticism that is
antagonistic towards acaJcmia gcncrally. nc
dimcul ty with this sort o| s tratcgy is that i n orJcr
to opposc acccptcd thcorcti cal Jialogucs on art anJ
poli tics \irilio is obligcd to ignorc or to cngagc with
thcm and in botL instanccs thcrcby Jraw attcntion
to thc |act that Lis work cannot sus tain i tscl| without
l9
At/ aoJ I:at
such di scourscs . \irili o' s Ji lcmma, o| coursc, thcn
dcvclops i nto that o| both bcing ccnsurcJ |or his lack
o| |aili ari ty with the contcmporary acsthctic anJ
political Jiscussions that hc Ji saprovcs o| anJ |or
trying to placc his work outsiJc o| such Jclibcra-
tions. In othcr worJs, \irilio is |rom timc to timc in
dangcr ol s taging a Jcbatc wi th only himscl| in
attcnJancc. !orcvcr on thc look out |or innovativc
boJy artists anJ othcr multimcJia proccts that
cxpos c t hc hypcrmoJcrn conJi ti on, \i ri l i o is
pcrhaps wont to un|airly accusc thcm o| surrcnJcr-
ing to a stylc o| uncritical multimcJia acaJcmicism.
In so Joing hc can occasionally bc rcaJ as i| hc is
unawarc that a boJy artist likc Stclarc also criticizcs
mul ti mcdi a acaJcmicism as wcll as traJi ti onal
conccptions o| i Jcnti ty.
Stclarc' s thcorctical anJ applicJ tcchnological
rcvolutions i n thc EclJ o| contcmporary art also
|unction to trans|orm qucstions conccrning art' s
owcr o| cUcct
concciving o| pitilcss art anJ i ts Jca|cning mani|cs-
tati on as crucial charactcri stics o| thc prcscnt
hypcrmodcrn orJcr Hc i s, i n short, Jcvcloping a
s ti mulating moJc o| thcorizing in thcsc cssays,
which movcs away |rom that typically |ounJ in
contcmporary art. What is absolutcly vi tal |or
\irilio is thc tcchnological mcans by which con-
Z
I/tc4e:/tc
temporary art has abandoned its passion anJ sexual
|orce Converse|y, it is important to s tress that he is
undoubtedly ccncerned not to characterize con-
temporary art in opposi tion to theory or aes thetic
|ervour, but tc distinguish i t as a pi tiless anJ
emotionless reaction to the disastrous circumstances
o| hypermodernity. As a result o| such heartlcl t
aesthetic Jecl arations, \irilio is quick to si ngle out
the hypersexuali ty o| contemporary pornography as
the most recent source o| pitiless representati ons and
saJistic iJeas
Oiven that ccntemporary artists and specialists in
pornography have twisteJ pi tilessness anJ noise into
the rallying call o| a totally des t ructive anJ
increasingly non-representational regi me, it is
hardly surprising that \irilio senses that he must
dissoci ate his work |rom what might be calleJ the
' aesthetics o| Auschwitz' Here, \irilio is in |aci
paying attention to the reroJuction anJ globaliza-
tion o| the aesthetics o| Auschwitz i n the present
day. He thus nct only re|uses the collective Jelusion
that Auschwitz was a singular historical event but
also Adorno' s asertion that to write poetry a|ter i t is
barbaric. Virilio wants to recognize that in video
and hlm, J\ anJ on the Internet, Auschwi tz
inhabi ts us all as a |undamental i| o|ten represseJ
component o| contemporary processes o| cultural
2l
At/ a4 I:at
globali zation. JoJay, as a rcsult, urt, accorJing to
\irilio, con|ronts thc prcJicamcnt lrst iJcntihcd by
Waltcr 8cnjamin, that is, o| i magining that barbar-
i sm anJ wai|arc will supply thc artistic gratihcati on
o| a scnsc pcrccption that has bccn changcJ by
tcchnology' In jcoparJy o| prcoccupying i tscl| wi th
virtualizcJ scl|-absorption, contcmporary art, \irilio
argucs, as wcll as humani ty, has attaincJ such a
lcvcl ol' scll-alicnation' that i t can now cxpcricncc
its own dcstruction as an acs thctic plcasurc o| thc
Erst orJcr`.
s
As \i rilio i ntcrprcts i t in At/ a4 I:at, thc
outcomc o| contcmporary acsthciic anJ poli tical
thcorics anJ practiccs is that thc vicwcr o| art has
bccn convcrtcJ into a casualty o| a pi tilcss acsthctics
bcnt on thc sonorization o| cvcrytLing. In 'A Ii tilcss
Art' and ' Silcncc on Jri al ' , howcvcr, i t is not so
much \i rilio' s acsthctics o| Ji sappcurancc that takcs
ccntrc s tagc but rathcr his rcconsiJcrati on o|
twcnticth-ccntury art anJ cspccially its associ ations
wi th thc ruling auJio-visual rcgimc o| contcmporary
art. Rcj cction o| thc human boJy or i ts virtuali za-
tion, Jcclarcs \irilio, arc thc only altcrnativcs
prcscntcd to thc art lovcr by thc multi mcdi a
acaJcmy lcJ by boJy artists such as rlan anJ
Stclarc. !or him, thcsc anJ othcr artists anJ thc
multi mcdi a cvcnts thcy pcr|orm Ji sclosc thci r anti-
22
I/tcJc://c
humanism anJ lack ol rcspcct lor the body. \irilio
conJcmns pitilcss art anJ the Jcstruction ol silcnce
as a conscquencc ol his belicl that thc mutism
intri nsic to contcmporary boJy art s hows thc way to
the tcrrorizati on ol thc rcal boJy by thc virtual
boJy. \i rilio' s worJs ol warning to contcmporary
artists arc that to s top thinking about thc SeconJ
WorlJ War anJ Auschwitz is to lorget the reality ol
thc horror ol war and thc violencc o| cxtcrminati on.
It is to i gnorc thc responsi bIli ty to valuc thc boJy
anJ i ts alternating attachmcnis to sil cncc anJ noise
In cvoking this responsibility, \irilio explains that
hc cmploys his Christian humanist critiquc ol war,
alicnation and crucl ty in an artistic anJ poli tical
scnsc, perhaps C an at4:c/t: ol a lurthcr precise
obligati on to poctry or as an avarcness ol t!e
acsthctics ol Auschwitz HypcrmoJcrn art is lor
\i rilio a manilestation ol contcmporary acsthctics
that aspircs to celcbrate Nictzschcan violencc whilc
Jiscounting a crisis ol mcaning that is so prolound
that it is |ast bccoming inJistinguishablc lrom what
hc Jcscribcs in ' A Iitiless Art' as the cal| to murJer
anJ torturc'. Rcmember, asks \irilio, the 'mcJia ol
hatc in thc cx-Yugoslavia ol SloboJan Milosovic' or
thc ' ' ' JhousanJ Hills RaJio' ol thc Orcat Iakes
rcgion ol Alrica calling RwanJans to i nter-cthnic
genociJc' Iaced with such ' exprcssi onist cvcnts' , hc
23
At/ cc4 I:ct
answcrs, surcly wc can scc what comcs ncxt, looming
cvcr us as i t is . an :/c/( /:tct/s/ ct/ prcaching
suicidc and scl|-mutilation thcrcby cxtcnding thc
currcnt inlatuation with scarring and picrcing' .
Contcmporary art is thcn thc cxprcssi on o| all thosc
artis ts who takc |or grantcd that today' s trans|orma-
tion ol thc hcld o| acsthciics into a kind ol tcrroristic
pcr|ormancc also implics thc climination o| silcncc.
As a constant critic o| thc art o| tcchnology and thc
currcnt attack on rcprcscntation, \irilio is intcnscly
uncasy about thc dcvclopmcnt o| pitilcss art. Hc
challcngcs i ts claim to a |rccdom ol cxprcssion that
dcmands thc implosion o| acs thctics, thc cxlosion o|
orcad and thc unlcashing o| a worldwidc art o|
nihilism and a politics o| hatc \irilio thus looks to
rcclaim a poignant OJ piti|ul art and thc politics o|
silcncc |rom an art world cnchantcd by its own
cxtinction bccausc to rc|usc pity
continuation o| war. 8ut, morc than this, in thc pagcs
that |ollow, hc sccks to go bcyond thc gatcs o| pi tilcss
art and thc prosccution o| silcncc ln ordcr to cxplorc
thc acs thctics o| Auschwitz, thc sourcc o| all our
contcmporary art and |cars.
21
ohn Armitagc
2OO2
H 1t/t|ss Hr/
1t/t/ss .r/
Jhis pitilcss ccntury, thc twcnticth.
Albcrt Camus
1his cvcni ng wc arc not going to talk about picty or
impicty but abcut pity, thc pi ti|ul or pitilcss naturc
o| contcmpora.y art' . So wc will not bc t alking
about prolanc art vcrsus sacrcd art but wc may wcll
tacklc thc pro|anation ol lorms and bodics ovcr thc
coursc o| thc twcnticth ccntury. !or thcsc days whcn
pcoplc gct down to Jcbat c thc rcl cvancc or
aw|ulncss o| contcmporary art, thcy gcncrally |orgct
to ask onc vita| qucstion. Cc/:ctc at/, sat:, |a/
:e/:octc //| a|a/?
In an unpvbl i shcd intcrvi cw wi t h !ranois
Rouan, jacquc|i nc Lichtcnstcin rcccntly rccountcd
her cxpcricncc.
27
At/ aJ I:at
Whcn I visi tcd thc Muscum at AISCHWIJZ, I
stood in lront ol thc display cascs. What I saw
thcrc wcrc imagcs |rom contcmporary art and I
louno that absolutcly tcrri|ying. Iooking at thc
cxhiIi ts ol sui tcascs, prosthctics, childrcn' s toys , I
di dn' t |ccl |ri ghtcncd. I di dn' t collapsc. I wasn' t
conlctely ovcrcomc the way I had bccn walking
around thc camp. No. I /|: Aas:ao, I saJJ:( |aJ
/|: /mjt:ss/ I aas / a oas:a :/:ota at/. I
took thc train back, tclling myscll that thcy had
won' Jhcy had won sincc thcy' d produccd lorms
ol pcrccption that arc all o| a piccc with thc modc
o| dcstruction thcy made thcir own.
What wc will bc asking this cvcning will thus takc
up whcrc acqucli nc Lichtcns tcin lclt o. did thc
Nazi tcrror losc thc
_
ar but, i n thc cnd, win thc
pcacc Jhis pcacc bascd on ' thc balancc o| tcrror'
not only bctwccn Last and Wcst but also bctwccn
thc |orms and gurcs ol an acsthctics o| disappcar-
ancc that would comc to charactcrizc thc wholc hn
dc siccle.
'Jc hcoa/z: c:s: /s / a/c:tsc//z: :s: tc
at//t`, thcy say.
:
Hasn' t thc univcrsality o| thc
cxtcrmination o| bodics as wcll as ol thc cnviron-
mcnt , lrom A\SCHWIJZ to CHLRN8YL,
s uccccdcd i n J:/aatz/ as to a//|a/ by shattcr-
2H
A I////:ss At/
ing our cthic and acsthctic bcarings, our vcry
pcrccption ol our surroundi ngs
At thc dawn o| i ndustrial modcrni ty, 8audclairc
dcclarcd, `1 c //: ace4 co4 //: /oq: . ` How can wc
lai l to scc that, i n thc wakc o| thc hccatomb o| thc
Orcat War, whcn 8raquc and uo ix |ound
thcmsclvcs on cpposi tc sidcs o| thc trcnchcs i n thc
mud o| thc Sommc, modcrn art lor its part |orgot
about thc wound and conccntratcd on thc kni|c
the bayonct with thc likcs o| skar Kokoschka,
'//: s:c/:/-a/:/4t ct//s/` , bclorc moving on through
thc Ocrman Lxprcssi onism ol D:t S/et to thc
\i cnncsc Actionism o| Rudol| Schwarzkoglcr and
his cohorts in thc l 9GOs .
ARJ MA\IIT or Artist Maudit What can you
say, mcanwhilc, about thc likcs ol Ri chard Htlscn-
bcck, onc o| thc |ounding |athcrs ol ada, who told
a 8crlin audicncc in l 9 l 8, at a con|crcncc on thc
ncw trcnds i n art, ' Wc wcrc |or thc war. ada today
is still lor war. Li|c should hurt 1/:t: /s oc/ :ce/
:te:/'`
:
Jhc rcst is history. Jwcnty ycars latcr thc
' 1/:c/t: c Cte:/` would not bc thc onc dchncd by
Antonin Artaud but by Kaa, that prophct o|
doom o| thc mctamorphosis cngi nccrcd by thc
camps, thc smashing to smithcrccns ol humanism.
Jhc slogan ol thc !irst !uturist Mani|cs to o| l 9O9
'Jct /s // act/4`s co( /j/:o:` lcJ dircctly, though
zJ
t/ cJ I:ct
thirty ycars latcr this timc, to thc showcr block o|
Auschwitz-8i rkcnau. And 8rcton' s ' Surrcal i sm' ,
|ollovlng hot on thc hccls o| aua, cmcrgcJ lully
armcd lom thc hrcworks o| thc Orcat War whcrc
common rcali ty was suddcnly translgurcd by thc
magic o| cxplosivcs and poison gascs at Yprcs and
\crdun.
A|tcr that, what i s lc|t o| AJorno' s pompous
pronounccmcnt about /|: tcst|///p att/t
c:m acr A\SCHWIJZ Not much at thc cnJ o|
thc day, |or cvcrything, or almost cvcrything, kickcd
oD at thc turn o| a pi tilcss and cndlcssly catastrophic
ccntury lrom thc JIJANI C in l9l 2 to CHLR-
N8YL in l 98G, via thc crimcs against humanity o|
HI RSHI MA and NAOASAKI , whcrc onc o| thc
painti ngs i n van Oogh' s ' Starry Night' scrics wcnt
up in thc nucl car blas t .
!crhaps at this uncturc i t i s worth rcmcmbcring
!aul Cclan, thc Ocrman poct who committcd
suicidc in !aris i n l 9O, thc samc ycar that paintcr
Mark Rothko did i n Ncw York .. 8ut why stop
thcrc i n art' s dcath roll, |caturing as i t Jocs a
constant suicidc ratc |rom thc scl|-dcstruction o|
\inccnt van Oogh, ' thc man wi th thc missing car'
You would think thc drivc to cxti nguish thc
suDocati ng cul turc o| thc bourgcoisic consistcd
spccihcally i n cxtcrminating oncscl| i nto thc bargain
30
A I///|:ss At/
thc dubious bargain o thc art markct thus
giving idcas, |or wani ol cul tural idcals, to thc grcat
cxtcrminators o| thc twcnticth ccntury!
Rcmcmbcr what !ricdrich Nictzschc adviscd.
S/o/y jcct /p. 4/:!' Jhi s cxtrcmis t simplihcation
in which ' ornamcnt is a cri mc' , has s taycd with us
throughout thc history ol thc twcnticth ccntury,
lrom thc pointlcssly rcpcatcd assault on thc pcaks o|
thc Chcmin dcs amcs i n l 9 l J to thc gcnocidc
pcipctratcd by thc Khmcr Rougc i n CamboJia in
thc l9JOs .
Avant-gardc artists, likc many poli tical agitators,
propagandists and dcmagogucs, havc long undcr-
stooJ what JLRRRI SM would soon populari zc.
i | you want a placc i n ' rcvolutionary history' thcrc is
nothl ng casicr than provoking a ri ot, an assault on
propricty, i n thc guisc ol art.
Short o| committing a rcal crimc by killing
innoccnt passcrs-by with a bomI, thc pi tilcss
contcmporary author ol thc twcnticth ccntury
attacks symbols, thc vcry mcaning o| a ' pi ti |ul' art
hc assi mil atcs to ' acadcmicism`. Jakc Ouy cbord,
thc !rcnch Si tuationist, as an cxampl c. In l 952,
spcaking about hi s I//o U//|cc/ Icg:s, which
mountcd a dclcncc o| thc Marquis dc Sadc, cbord
claimcd hc wantcd to kill thc cincma '/::acs: // acs
:cs/:t /|co /////og css:t-|)`.
3 l
At/ ao4 I:at
A ycar latcr, in l 95S, thc SIJ\AJINI SJS
would not hcsitatc to cxtcnd this attack by trashing
Charlic Chapli n, //qc/ a:/ct at :v:://:o::, vili|ying
him as a scntimcntal |raud, mastcrmind o| miscry,
cvcn a jtc/cas:/s/!
All this vcrbal dcliri um sccms so oblivious o| its
own ccntury and yct condcsccnds to prcach to thc
rcst o| thc world i n thc namc o| |rccdom o| artistic
cxprcssion, cvcn during a his torical pcriod that
ovcrsaw thc sctting up o| thc /a/ar:: /:ttct along
with thc opcning o| thc laboratorics o| a scicncc that
was gcari ng up to programmc thc cnd o| thc world
notably with thc invcntion, in l 951, o| thcrmo-
nuclcar wcapons. I t corrcsponds cqually to //: ac/c-
J/ssc/c//cr //: acao/-atJ:s, thc cnd o| thc grand
illusion o| a cJ:to// sa:ao/:. You would think it was
not so much /t:ss/cr/s that l aid thc |oundations
|or thc lattcr as thc o/////s ot lhc calamitous
i ntclligcntsia o| ninctccntl-ccntury Russia, with
mcn likc Nctchacv dccrccing that onc had to ' |orgc
|ull stcam ahcad i nto thc mirc' . . . And hc was not
talking about Jurncr' s Ka/o, S/:c ar4 S::J 1/:
Ct:a/ |:s/:tr Ka//aaj) , thc pai nting that pavcd thc
way |or Monct' s I mprcssionism.
I nscparablc |rom thc suicidal s tatc o| rcprcscnta-
tivc dcmocracics, thc art o| thc twcnticth ccntury has
ncvcr ccascd dangcrously antlcipating or at lcast
Jz
A I////:ss At/
saluting |rom a|ar thc abomi nation o| thc dcsola-
tion ol modcrn timcs with thcir cardboard cut-out
dictator that kccps popping up, whcthcr it bc Hi tlcr
or thc Iuturist ' , Mussolini, Stalin or Mao Zcdong
And so thc cmblcmatic hgurc cmcrgcs not so
much ol Marccl uchamp as Charlic Chaplin or
8onnard, pi tilul paintcr par cxccllcncc, as was
Claudc Monct, that miraclc-workcr o| a B/s/e
Ss, which is not quitc thc samc as thc onc rising
ovcr thc laboratorics o| LS ALAMS.
Jhc ncw Ccrman painting, naturally, rcprcscnts
currcnt scnsibili ty in Ocrmany and it rcally
lrightcns mc. Jhc Ancicnts invcntcd and rcprc-
scntcd thc world o| wi tchcs, but thc world o| Hatc
is a modcrn invcntion, thc invcntion ol Ccrmany,
sprcad out ovcr thc canvas Jhc dcmons o| gothic
picturcs arc child' s play whcn it comcs to thc
human, or, rathcr, inhuman, hcads ol a humani ty
bcnt on dcstruction !urious, murdcrous, dcmo-
niacal hcads not in thc stylc ol thc old mastcrs
but in complctcly modcrn manncr. scicntihc,
choking with poison gas Jhcy would likc to carvc
thc Ocrmans ol tomorrow out o| lrcsh mcat . .
So wrotc thc grcat art dcalcr, Rcne Cimpcl, in his
diary o| '?. Cimpcl was to disappcar in thc
NL\LNOAMML camp twcnty ycars latcr on Ncw
33
Ht/ a4 I:at
Ycar' s Day, l 9+ . . . Jhoroughly convinccd o| thc
lcthal charactcr ol thc works ol skar Kokoschka,
Lmil Noldc or thc sculptor, Lchmbruck, Cimpcl
gocs on to tcll us that thcrc ncvcr has bccn any such
thing as old-mastcr art or modcrn or contcmporary
art, but that thc ' old mastcr' shapcd us, whcrcas thc
' contcmporary' arti st shapcs thc pcrccption ol thc
ncxt gcncrati on, to thc point whcrc no onc is ' a|:a4
c//:/t //e: {ct // at: /|:tt //:, :a:/ ac4 ::: 4a,`.
How can wc not subscribc to this statcmcnt o| thc
blccding obvious i| wc comparc thc h|tccnth-ccntury
IlL1H 0I HllC^C^ with thc sixtccnth-ccntury
Iss:/:/m //at/::: o| Matilis Cruncwald both
pi tilul vorks thc ' cxprcssronism' o| thc Ccrman
master o| thc polyptych illustrating thc atrocity ol
thc battlcs and cpidcmics o| his timc i n thc manncr
o| cromc 8osch

Joday wc could apply this obscration about lack
o| anticipation to ' issucs' such as thc ' contaminatcd
blood aDair' in Irancc and thc allcgcd) non-
culpabi lity o| thc poli ticians i n chargc at thc timc .
Wi thout harking back to acqucs Callot or cvcn
Irancisco dc Coya and ' thc miscrics o| war' o| thc
Napolconic cra, wc might rcmcmbcr what !icasso
said whcn a Ccrman i ntcrrogatcd him in l 937
about his mastcrwork, CLLl^ICH. '1/a/`s ,cct
Jc/o, c/ o/e:!`

A It/t/:ss At/
I so-callcd cld-mastcr art rcmaincd 4-s/tc/t::
right up until thc ninctccnth ccntury with !mprcs-
sionism, thc art o| thc twcnticth ccnt ury bccamc
'os/tc/t::` in thc scnsc that it is contcmporary with
thc s|c//:tt ]-:/ o| mass socictics, subj cct as thcy
arc to thc ccnditioning o| opinion and MASS
MLIA propaganda and this , with thc samc
c/t -v/t:ts cvidcnt in tcrrorism or total war
At thc cnd o| thc millcnni um, what abstraction
oncc tricd to pull o is i n |act bcing accomplishcd
bclorc our vcry cycs: thc cnd o| RL!RLSLNJA-
JI\L art and thc substitution ol a countcr-culturc,
o a !RLSL^JAJI \L art . A s i t uation that
rcinorccs thc drcadul dccli nc o| t:t:s-/c/t::
4:o:tc in |avour o| a dcmocracy bascd on thc
rulc ol opinion, i n anticipaiion o| thc immincnt
arrival o| :/t/sc/ 4-:tcy, somc kind o ' dircct
dcmocracy' or, morc prcciscly, t:s:/c/t:: multi-
mcdi a dcmocracy bascd on automatic polling.
In thc cnd, modcrn art' was ablc to glcan what
communications and tcl ccommunications tools now
accomplish on a daily basis . thc ts: : c/jo: o| thc
body, ol thc hgurc, wi th thc major attcndant risk o
s/-c/t: hypcrvi olcncc and a boom i n porno-
graphic high-|rcqucncy that has nothing to do with
scxuali ty: H ocs/ e/ c/ /|: -v:-ss tc/|-t /|c /|: tt:,
as Hcraclitus warncd.
3o
Ht/ ac4 Isat
Joday, with cxccss hcapcd on cxccss, dcscnsitiza-
tion to thc shock ol i magcs and thc mcani nglcssncss
ol words has shattcrcd thc world stagc !IJ!LLSS,
contcmporary art i s no longcr impropcr. 8ut i t
shows all thc impropri cty ol prolancrs and torturcrs,
all thc arrogancc ol thc cxccutioncr.
Jhc intclligcncc ol RLIRLSLNJAJI N thcn
givcs way to thc stunncd mullct clIcct ol a ' prcscncc'
that is not onl y wcird, as in thc days ol Surrcalism,
but i nsul ting to thc mind. Jhc wholc proccss ,
morcovcr, implics that thc ' i magc' sumccs to givc
art i ts mcaning and signihcancc. At onc cxtrcmc thc
arti st, likc thc journali st, is rcdundant i n thc lacc-o
bctwccn pcrlbrmcr and vicwcr.
' Such a conccption ol in|ormation lcads to a
disturbing lasci nation wi th i magcs /o:4 //::, with
sccncs ol violcncc and grucsomc human intcrcs t
storics ' , I gnacio Ramonct writcs on thc impact ol
tcl cvi si on on thc pri nt mcdi a ' Jhi s dcmand
cncouragcs thc supply o| |akc documcnts, sundry
rccons tructions and conj uring tricks . '

8ut surcly wc could say thc samc today o| art
whcn it comcs down to it Jakc thc cxamplc ol thc
NLW ^L\RJ! C RLALI SM ol adman and
col l cctor, Charlcs Saatchi , as rcvcalcd i n thc
London and Ncw York) cxhibition, ' Sscsa//cc` ,
wi t h i ts lusi onjconlusi on ol thc JA8LI and
U
A I////:ss At/
somc sort o| would-bc avant-gardc art . Yct thc
conlbrmlsm o| abcction i s ncvcr morc than a habi t
thc twcntl cth ccntury has cnoycJ sprcadi ng round
thc globc.
Hcrc, thc brutallty is no longcr so much almcd at
warni ng as at destroyl ng, pavi ng thc way |or thc
actual torturing ol thc vicwcr, thc listcncr, which
will not bc long ccming thanks to that cybcrnctl c
artc|act. /|: //:ta:/t:: ::4-/a:/ :tt/aa/ t:a/t.
I| thc contcmporary author is rcdundant scc
Iicasso on Ca:tst:a and i| thc suicidc ratc has only
kcpt accclcrating ln cultural circlcs to thc point
whcrc l t will socn bc ncccssary to sct up a WALI !
JHL !LLRAJ CMM\NL ! S\I CILS
ln muscums tc match thc wall o| thc |cdcratcJ
communards o| thc Iaris Communc in Icrc Lachaisc
ccmctcry) , thcn makc no mistakc. |hc art lovcr' s days
arc numbcrcd!
Jhis is how Rothko put i t . ' I studicd thc hgurc.
nly rcluctantly did I rcali zc l t di dn' t corrcspond to
my nccds . Lstr |cao t:t:s:o/a/tco, ct :, :ao/
oa///a/t //' . Shot o| all moral or cmoti onal
compromlsc, thc paintcr sccks to movc ' /caat4s /|:
:/t/oa//co ca// c/s/a:/:s /:/a::o /|: a/o/:t ao4 /|: t4:a,
/:/a::o /|: /4:a eo4 //: co/cck:t' .
Jhis is thc radiographic tri umph o| transparcncc,
tbe way raJi ation c| thc rcal l n archi tccturc today
1
At/ a4 I:at
gocs hand in glovc with thc cxtcrmination o| all
i ntcrmcdi arics, o| all that still rcsists rcvclati on, purc
and simplc
8ut this suddcn \LRLX!S\RL o| thc work,
as o| thosc who look upon i t, is accompanicd by a
violcncc that is not only ' symbolic' , as bc|orc, but
practical, sincc it aDccts t hc vcry i ntcntionality o|
thc pai ntcr. ' Jo thosc who hnd my paintings scrcnc,
I' d l i kc to say that I |a:: /ta:4 /|: cs/ a/sc/a/:
:/c/::: / ::: saat: ::/t:/t: ||:/t saga::' , Mark
Rothko con|csscs bc|orc proving thc poi nt by
turning this rcprcsscd |ury against himscl| on a
ccrtain day in Icbruary, l 9 O.
Jhi rty ycars on, how can wc |ail to |ccl thc
conccntration o| accumulatcd hatc in cvcry squarc
mctrc o| thc ' uncivi
[
citics' o| this hn dc sicclc Co
onc night and chcck out thc bascmcnts or undcr-
ground parking lots o| suburban council cstatcs , all
that thc clandcstinc RA\L !AR 1ILS and 8ACK-
RM brothcls arc onl y cvcr thc /catts/ /tats o
so to spcak!
Aucr having ' only rcluctantly' abandoncd thc
hgurc on thc prctcxt ol not mutilating it, thc
Amcrican paintcr thcn chosc to cnd this li|c hi mscl|
as wcll by cxcrcising thc most nihilistic o| lrccdoms
o| cxprcssion. that o| SLL!-LS1R\CJI N.
I | Ood dicd i n thc ninctccnth ccntury, accordi ng
3H
H I////:ss At/
to Nictzschc, what is thc bct that thc victim o| thc
twcnticth ccntury will not turn out to bc thc :t:a/ct,
thc author, this hcrcsy o| thc hls torical matcri alism
o| thc ccn tury o| machincs
8ut bc|orc wc bid thc Artist |arcwcll, wc should
not |orgct |or a momcnt that thc words IIJY and
IILJY arc consubstantial somcthlng thc mcmbcrs
o| thc Holy l nquisi tion obviously ovcrlookcd . . .
Ict' s not rcpcat thclr crimcs, lct' s not bccomc
oga//cc/s/s cet/.
1c sg:t a/// ct /c a///: a///` Jhat is a
qucstion that conccrns both cthics and acsthctics, as
was clcarly intuitcd by Cericault, thc man who
madc his |amous ' portrai ts o| thc insanc' at La
Salpctricrc Hospital in !aris ovcr thc winter o| l 822
at t hc invitation o| onc r Ocorgct, |oundcr o|
' social psychiatry`. Cericault' s portralts wcrc mcant
to scrvc as classi hcatory scts lor thc ali cnl st' s
studcnts and assistants .
rivcn by a passion |or immcdiacy, Cericault
sought /c s:/: //: mc:/ whcthcr o| madncss or
dcath livc Likc thc cmcrgcnt prcss, hc was
cspccially kccn on human i ntcrcst storics such as thc
wrcck o| thc M:4asa, that JIJANI C o| thc pai nting
world . .
Jhc art o| painting at thc timc was alrcady busy
JJ
At/ aoJ I-at
trying to outdo mcrc RLIRLSLNJAJIN by
olIcring //- :-, t-s-e:- c //- -:-o/, as instantancous
photography would Jo, |ollowcd by thc IHJ-
I! N! SH and thc hrst cincmatographic ncwsrccls o|
thc Lumicrc brothcrs and, ul timatcly, thc LI\L
C'LRAOL oDcrcJ by CNN.
! NJLRACJI \IJY was actually born i n thc
ni nctccnth ccntury wi th thc tclcgraph, ccrtainly,
but also and cspccially with clinical clcctrici ty,
which i nvolvcd pl anti ng clcctrodcs on thc laccs o|
thc human guinca pigs uscd in such ' mcdical art' as
practiscd by r uchcnnc dc 8oulognc Jhc rcccnt
uchcnnc cxhibi tion at thc
_
colc dcs 8caux-Arts,
!aris, aimcd no lcss than to ' rchabilitatc' uchcnnc' s
work, though thi s Ia Salpetricrc Hospital photo-
graphcr was no morc than an cxprcssionis t ol thc
passi ons' lor whom hi s pati cnts' laccs wcrc only cvcr
l aboratory matcrial that cnablcq him to practisc
' //:- aaa/oj' .
AlrcaJy i n thc cightccnth ccntury ust prior t o the
Ircnch Rcvolution, this con|usion o| :c/J-|/ccJ-Jo-ss
with a ocJ- c-t:-//co that allowcd thc doctor or
surgcon to diagnosc illncss duc t o t hc ability to
rcprcss cmotion pi t y had contaminatcd thc
artistic rcprcscntations o| ' naturalistic' paintcrs and
cngravcrs. acqucs Agoty, |or instancc, as a pai ntcr
and anatomi st on thc trai l o| ' thc invisiblc truth o|
+U
A I////-ss At/
boJics ' , wavcrcJ bctwccn an cngravcr' s burin anJ
an autopsy scalpcl ln hls work.
8ut thc truly dcclslvc s tcp had t o walt untll much
morc rcccntly, tlll l 998, with ' T/- Act/J LJ/-s'
cxhl bl tl on at thc thc Mannhci m Mus cum o|
Jcchnology anJ Work Landcsmuscum Ir Jcchni |
unJ Arbcl t) , whcrc cl osc to o,d vlsltors rushcJ
to contcmpl atc ?0 human corpscs prcscntcd by
Onthcr von Hagcns
Jhc Ocrman anatomls t actually has lnvcntcJ a
proccss lor prcscrvlng thc dcad and, ln particular,
lor s:c///o thcm, by pl astlnatlon, thcrcby taking
thlngs a lot lurthcr than thc mcrc cmbalmlng o|
mummlcs . StanJlng tall llkc statucs ol antlqulty, thc
aycd cadavcrs clthcr branJlshcd thclr skl ns llkc
trophlcs ol somc klnJ or showcd oU thclr l nnarJs ln
imltation ol Salvador ali' s l-ocs J- A//c a///
Jtaa-ts
+
As solc cxplanatlon, r von Hagcns rcsortcJ to
thc modcrn buzzword. ' I/`s a|cc/ |t-ak/o //- /as/
t-a/o/o /a|ccs' , hc says . . . A kind o| sllJc occurs as
a rcsult ol this Mannhclm tcrrorl st manllcsto, j us t as
it Jocs wlth thc cxhlbl ti on ' S-osa//co' ln LonJon anJ
Ncw York. it wlll not bc long bc|orc wc arc lorccJ to
acknowlcdgc that thc Ccrman Lxprcsslonlsts who
callcJ lor murJcr wcrc not thc only avant-garJc
artists. 8y thc samc tokcn so wcrc pcoplc llkc Ilsc
+
t/ aaJ I-a
Koch, thc blonJc romantic who, i n l 9S9, settleJ ln a
gloomy vallcy ncar Wclmar whcrc Oocthc oncc
llkcd to walk and whcrc, more to thc poi nt , hc
drcamcd up hi s MLIHI SJIHLLLS //a/ s/t//
//a/ 4-o/-s a//. Jhc l ace was Buchenwald.
Jhc woman thcy would call ' thc 8ltch og o|
8uchenwald' actually enj oyed acsthctic aspiratlons
pretty similar to those o| the good r von Hagcns,
|or she haJ certai n Jctal uccs sportlng t at toos
skinncd so that shc could turn thcir sklns lnto
various objects o| art brut , as vell as lampshaJes .
' T/- a/o/-t |t/os //s |c/y a/// //o ]/ts/ aaJ
ct-ocs/' , wrote Iaul \alery. !n thc coursc o| the
l 9GOs anJ l 9 Os , thc pal ntcrs ol thc A/-o-t
Hk//co/socs, or Vicnnesc Acti onism, woulJ |ollow
thls Jictum to thc Icttcr using thcir own bodl cs as
thc ' support surlace' o| their art
Hermann Nl tsch' s rgles Mys tcrlcs Jhcatrc
' masscs' , in whlch he sacrihceJ anlmals l n a blooJ,
and bawJy ritual , wcrc |ollowcd by what no doubt
takcs thc cakc as thc most extreme casc ol A\J-
A-!L by any artlst. Jhe story gocs that Rudol|
Schwarzkogler actually dlcd altcr a bout o| castration
he l n|llctcJ on himscl| Juring onc ol hls pcr|ormancc
icces that took placc wlthout c slnglc vlewcr in the
/c/s :/cs bctwccn thc artist anJ a vlJco camcra.
Jhi s ls JLRMI NAL ARJ t hat no l onger
12
H I////:ss Ht/
rcqui rcs anythlng morc than thc showdown bctvccn
a torturcd body and an automatlc camcra to bc
accomplishcd.
At thc closc o| thc twcnticth ccntury, wlth
Stclarc, thc Australlan adcpt at ' body art' , thc
vlsual arts Schopcnhaucr wrotc wcrc ' /|: sas:os/co (
/|: c/ //c/rg` woul d turn lnto a hcadlong rush
towards pain and dcath |or indivl dual s who havc
gradually dcvclopcd thc unconsldcrcd habi t o|
leavlng thclr bodlcs not so mucL ' to scicncc' as to
somc sort ol cllnlcal voycurlsm harklng back to thc
hcyday o| a ccrt al n r josc| Mcngcl c who
pcrlormcd cxpcr i mcnts wc al l know abou t ,
ALSCHWIJ/-8I RKLNA\ |or a timc bccomlng
/|: |/g:s/ g:o://: /a/cta/c / /|: act/J.
i +
' Immcdiacy i s a |raud' , Iathcr ictrlch 8onhcr
dcclarcd bc|orc dl sappcaring in thc camp at
Ilosscnburg ln l 915 Wcll, art is cvcry blt as
much o| a |raud as amncslac lmmcdlacy.
Il ' :::/|/og ts ta/:4 |j /tg|//og' , as Hcracll tus
suggcs t cd

thc IHJ- !I NI SH l mposcs t hc
instantanclty o| i ts violcncc on al l thc various
' artls tic rcprcscntatlons' and modcrn art, likc war
8LIJZKR!LC l s no morc than klnd o|
cxhlbitionism that imposcs l ts own tcrrorlst voycur-
lsm. that o| 4:a/|, //::.
1J
At/ aoJ I-at
By way o| ll l ustratlng thc path thc /o/- at/
has takcn l n thc twcntlcth ccntury, l ct' s look at two
typcs o| |uncrary lmagcry back to back, though
thcsc arc scparatcJ by almost 2, OOO ycars Jhc hrst
arc thc |amous IRJRAIJS ! JHL !AY\M
l n \ppcr Lgypt , t hc s ccond, t hc IHJ-
!I NI SHLS ol thc Juol Slcng Mcmorlal l n Ihnom
Icnh, whcrc thc Angkar thc govcrnmcnt o|
' cmocratlc Kampuchca' had thousands o|
l nnocents e/ /c J-a// /o :/J |/J, womcn anJ
chlldrcn li rs t . . carc|ully photographlng thcm
bc|orchanJ.
l l
I n Lgypt at thc Jawn o| Wcs tcrn history, pcoplc
|orccJ thcmsclvcs to drag thc dcccascd out o|
anonyml ty anJ l nto thc public cyc as an l magc
ln ordcr to ldcntl|y t/t -ss-a//a/ |-/o. In CamboJia
at thc golng Jown ol a pl ti l css ccntury, //-
]/c/cta//: /J-o// //- J-/a/o-- 0S /-J |t- //
a-t- e/ /c J-a//.
In thc twlnkllng o| an cyc wc havc, on thc onc
hand, thc blrth o| thc ct/ta// ln al l lts humllity, lts
Jlscrctlon.
| :
n thc othcr, systcmatlc usc o| thc
t--;- tao- as a dcath scntcncc rcvcallng JHL
LK I LAJH
Jwo vcrslons o| an ' art' that !rcnch artist,
Christlan Boltanskl , has trlcJ to pul l o accordlng
to hls own lights ln orJcr to lcnJ oU |orgcttlng,
11
A I////-ss At/
ncgation. this s-s//-//: c J/sa]]-atao:- that, alas,
slmply provldcs a covcr |or thosc who s till, cvcn
now

rcjcct //- |o/- cat/.
I/ /s |-//-t /c |- ao c|-:/ cJ-s/t- //ao ]/, thcy say
. . Oncc thc provincc o| advcrtising, this adagc
surcly now bclongs to thc rcalm o| art, thc dcslrc to
consumc ylcldlng to thc Jcslrc to rapc or klll . I| thls
rcally is thc casc, thc acaJcmiclsm o| horror wlll
havc trlumphcJ, thc ]tcao- art o| modcrnlty bowlng
Jown bc|orc thc sa:t-J art o| con|ormi sm, l ts
prlmacy, a con|ormlsm that always spawns orJinary
cvcryday |asclsm.
How can wc lai l to scc that thc mask o| ocJ-to/so
has bccn conccallng thc most classlc a:aJ-o/:/so. that
o| an cndl cssly rcproJuccd standardlzati on o|
oplnlon, thc dupllcation o| 'bad |cclings' l dcntically
rcproducl ng thc Jupllcation ol thc ' good lcclings' o|
thc omcial art ol yorc`
How can wc ultl matcly |all to twig that thc
apparcnt implcty o| contcmporary art ls only cvcr
thc lnvcrtcd imagc o| sa:t-J at/, thc rcvcrsal o| thc
crcator' s i nl tlal qucstion. a/j /s //-t- so-///o /os/-aJ
o///o
!inally, just llkc thc mass mcdla, which no longcr
pcJJlc anything othcr than obsccnl ty and lcar to
satls|y thc ratings, contcmporary nihilism cxposcs
|hc drama ol an acsthctic o| dlsappcarancc that no
1o
At| aoJ I-at
longcr i nvolvcs thc domain o| rcprcscntation cxclu-
sivcly political, artistic, anJ so on) but our wholc
vision o| thc world. visions o| cvcry kinJ o| cxccss,
starting with advcrtising outragcs that cnsurc thc
succes dc scandalc without which thc conditioni ng
o| appcaranccs would i mmcdi atcly stop bcing
ccctivc.
And spcaking o| disappcarancc and dcclinc, notc
thc undcrhand way thc ocq paintcrs havc bccn
bundlcJ away. without wanting tO whccl out yct
again thc ' ouanicr' Rousscau, whosc mastcrwork,
lat, inspircJ Iicasso' s Cc-to/:a, think o| paintcrs
like \ivin or 8auchant .
Why t hc IrcuJian lapsc` Jhis discrcct climina-
tion o| paintcrs who ncvcr laid claim to any at/
sc:co|, whcthcr acadcmic or avant-garJc o wc
rcally bcli cvc that this trcnd o| art ' s towards
i ngcnuity suddcnly stoppcd in its tracks , J-:/J-4(
/cc /|c/ likc that /osoc //| -t//o , Raoul u|y
I t will not bc long bc|orc thc Jrawings o|
ki ndcrgartcn childrcn arc banncd, rcpl accd by
digi tal calligraphic cxcrciscs .
. :
Mcanwhilc, lct' s gct back to art' s |raudulcnt
i mmcdiacy, to thc IRLSLlJAJIl o| works that
supposcdly comc across as obvious to all and sundry
wi thout rcquiring thc i ntcrccssi on o| any |orm o|
rccction Hcrc' s Marshall McLuhan, that bucolic
1o
A I////-ss At/
prosatcur o| thc ' global vlllagc' . ' ] a- t-c/( aco/ /c
/oc+ +/c/`s c/o co /o //- t-s-o/, a- s/cc/Jts/ as/ //-
at//s/s, thcy know a lot morc than scicntlsts and
tcchnocrats s/o:- // //:- /o //- a/sc/c/- t-s-o/. '
Hcrc wc hnd thc samc llnc o| thought as Rcnc
Oimpcl ' s only, dc|ormcd by thc Canadian soclo-
logls t ' s mcdi a- hauntcd i dcol ogy. What ls this
A8SL\JL IRLSLNJ that ' absolutc' is surcly
tautologi cal ' ) l| not thc rcsurgcncc o| a classlcism
that alrcady lald claim to thc -/-toa/ t-s-o/ o| art,
cvcn golng so |ar as to |rcczc l t l n gcomctrlc
standards witncss thc Ooldcn Mcan) bcarlng no
rclationshi p to thc rclativc and cphcmcral naturc o|
analogical pcrccptlon o| cvcnts . Io]t-ss/co/so would
try to |rcc us from thcsc standards, on thc thrcshold
ol industrial modcrnity.
Contrary to appcaranccs, RLAL JIML thls
' prcscnt' that imposcs itscl| on cvcryonc ln thc
spccding-up ol dally rcality is , l n |act, only cvcr
thc rcpctition o| thc splcndld acadcmic lsolation o|
bygonc days A mass mcdla acadcmiclsm that sccks
tc |rcczc all orlglnality and all poctics i u thc incrtia
ol immcdiacy
Io-t//a /s c U cto c 4-sc/t' , Sal nt-Lxupery
claimcd, at thc cnd o| his li|c. Jhis gocs somc vay
tc cxplalning thc rcl cntlcss dcslrc not to savc
phcnomcna, as in thc past, but to shcd thcm, to
17
At/ aoJ I-at
s pnt t hcm away bchi nJ t hc art i hcc o| thc
mani pul ati on o| signs anJ signals by a J///a/
tcchnology that has now sunk i ts tccth i nto thc
whol c array o| artisti c Jl scl pllncs, |rom thc taking
o| photographs to thc capturl ng o| sounJs . Jhi ngs
havc rcachcJ such a pl tch that a //c/ musl ci an
par cxccll cncc llkc 8ob yl an can bcmoan thc |ac t
that
A// //- cs/: cc /-at //-s- Jas / s cs/ -/-:/t/:/g! You
can' t hcar the singcr brcathing anymorc bchlnd
this clcctronlc wal l You can' t hcar a hcart
bcatlng anymorc Co to any bar anJ llstcn to a
bl ucs group anJ you' l l bc touchcJ, movcJ. Jhcn
listcn to thc samc group on a C anJ you' ll
wonJcr whcrc th sounJ you hcarJ i n thc bar
JisappcarcJ to.
Thc Jcmisc o| thc rclativc anJ analogical charactcr
o| photographic shots anJ sound samplcs I n |avour
o| thc absol utc, Ji gi tal charactcr o| thc computcr,
|ollowing thc synthcsizcr, is thus also thc loss o| thc
poctics o| thc cphcmcral. !or onc bric| momcnt
It-ss/co/s l n palnting anJ l n musi c was ablc to
rctrl cvc thc Uavour o| thc cphcmcral bclorc thc
o/////s o| contcmporary tcchnology wipcJ i t out
oncc anJ |or all.
18
A I////-ss At/
' We llvc in a world traverscd by a llmitless
destructive lorce' , rcckoned jonathan Mann, thc
man ln chargc ol the World Hcal th rgani zatlon' s
nght agal nst AlS, bclorc he disappeared, a vlctim
ol the crash ol Swissair Flight I I .
Imposslble indccd to i magi nc the art ol the
twentieth century without welghing the thrcat ol
which it is a prlme cxampl e. A qul ct yct visiblc, even
blinding, thrcat.
i
In thc wake ol the :o/-t ://t-,
aren' t we now at the dawni ng ol a cul turc and an
art that arc :ce/-t-oa/at-'
Jhat, in any casc, was thc ques tion that secmed to
be being posed by a con|erence hcld at the I nstltut
Heinrlch Hcine i n Iaris i n the winter ol l 999. Jhe
title ol thc conlcrcnce was . ' Jhe Llimlnation ol
Nature as a Jhcme n Contcmporary Art' .
As lar as contemporary sciencc and blology go,
Joubt is no longcr an option, lor genctics ls on the
way to bccoming an art, a /taos-o/: at/, cul ture ol
the embryo to purely pcrlormative ends, just as the
eugenicists ol the bcginni ng ol thc twentieth ccntury
hoped. Whcn Nietzsche declded that ' moral j udgc-
ments, likc all rcligious j udgemcnts, belong to
ignorance' , he Jung the door to thc laboratories ol
tcrror widc open.
Jo dcmons trate or to ' monstratc' , that ls the
questlon. whcther to practisc some klnd ol acs thctlc
19
At/ coJ I-ct
or cthlc dcmonstratlon or to practlsc thc clcanslng o|
all ' naturc' , all ' cul turc' , through thc tcchnically
orlcntcd clIclcncy o| a mcrc ' monstratlon' , a show,
a blatant prcscntatlon o| horror
Jhc cxprcsslonlsm o| a MNSJLR, born o| thc
l abour o| a sclcncc dcl l bcratcly Jcprlvcd o| a
consclcncc . . As though, thanks to thc progrcss o|
gcnctl cs, tcratology had suJJcnly bccomc thc
S\MMLM ol 8I LCY and thc oJdball thc
ncw lorm o| gcnius only, not a lltcrary or artis tlc
gcnlus anymorc, but a OLNLJl C OLNI LS
Jhc worlJ l s slck, a lot slckcr than pcoplc rcallsc.
1hat' s what wc must hrst acknowlcdgc sc //c/ as
:ca /c/: / co t/. Wc shouldn' t condcmn thls
worlJ so much as |ccl sorry |or lt. T/- act/J a::J
t. nly plty l
_
s a chancc o| cobbllng lts prldc.
So wrotc Ccorgc 8crnanos l n l 939 . . Slxty ycars
on, thc worlJ ls slckcr s tlll , but sclcntlst propaganda
ls l nhnltcly morc cDcctlvc and anacsthcsla has thc
tcrrl tory covcrcJ. As |or prldc, prl Jc has gottcn
complctcly out o| hanJ, thanks to globallzatl on, anJ
/ has now bittcn thc dust just as /- oncc
s uccumbcd l n thc ccnt ury o| phl l o-|olly a la
Nictzschc
Jhcy say thc purposc o| cthics ls to slow Jown thc
ratc at whlch thlngs happcn. Conlrontcd by thc
0U
A I////-ss At/
gcncral spccJing-up ol phcnomcna in our hypcr-
modcrn world, thls curblng by consci cncc sccms
prctty |ccblc
Wc arc |amillar with -x/t-o- sct/s, ln which thc
champlon rlsks Jcath striving lor somc polntlcss
pcrlormancc ' going lor i t' . ow wc hnJ thc man ol
sci cncc, aJcpt ln -A/t-- s/-e:-s, runni ng thc
suprcmc risk o| Jcnaturing thc llvi ng bclng havlng
alrcaJy shattcrcJ his llvlng cnvironmcnt .
Jhanks t o t hc dccryption o| thc map o| thc
human gcnomc, gcncticists arc now using clonlng in
thc qucst |or thc ://m:ta, thc hybridlzatl on o| man
anJ anl mal. How can wc lail to scc that thcsc
' scicntihc cxtrcmists ' , lar lrom mcrcly thrcatcnlng
thc unl cl ty o| thc human racc by tramcking
cmbryos, arc also taklng thcir axc to thc wholc
philosophical anJ physiological panoply that prc-
viously gavc the tcrm SClLNCL i ts vcry mcani ng
In so Jolng, thcy thrcatcn sclcncc l tscl | with
Jisa ppcarancc.
Ix/t-o- at/, such transgcnic practiccs, ai m at
nothlng l css than to cmbarl 8ILCY on thc road
to a klnJ o| ' cxprcsslonism' whcrcby tcratology will
no longcr bc contcnt just to stuJy mallormations,
but will rcsol utcly sct o l n qucst o| thclr chlmcrlc
rcproJuction.
As ln anclcnt myths, sclcnce, thus cntccblcJ, will
o l
At/ a4 I:at
oncc morc bccomc thc ' thcatrc ol phantasmati c
appcaranccs ' ol chimcra ol al l kinds . AnJ so thc
cngcndcring ol monstcrs will cnJcavour to con-
tri butc to thc malcvolcnt powcr o| thc dcmi-urgc,
with its ability to go bcyond thc physiology ol thc
bcing. Which is only ln kccping with what was
alrcady bcing produccd by thc Ccrman Fxprcssion-
ism dcnounccJ by Rcne Cimpcl. 8ut also, hrs t and
lorcmost, by thc horror ol thc laboratorics ol thc
cxtcrmination camps.
It is no longcr cnough now to opposc ncgationism
ol thc Shoah, wc also nccd to catcgorically rcjcct
ncgationism ol art by rcjccting this ' art brut ' that
sccrctly cons titutcs :t::tt //: //:t, thanks to
thc gradual dccryption o| NA, this ' cugcnics ' that
no longcr spcaks i ts namc yct is gcaring up all thc
samc to rcproducc thc abomin
'
tion ol dcsolation,
not ust by putting i nnoccnt victims to dcath
anymorc but by |ttt thc ncw HM\NC\L\S
/ c /e.
I n l 99 , a mcmbcr ol thc Ircnch National Lthics
Committcc, Axcl Kahn

wrotc ol cloning. ' I t is no
longcr a mattcr ol tcsts on a man but ol actual tcsts
lor a man. Jhat a lilc so crcatcd is now gcnctically
programmcJ to sucr abnormally this cons titutcs
absolutc horror.
| 6
How can wc lail t o scc hcrc thc catastrophic
0Z
H I////ss At/
con|inuation o| ^azi cxperimcntati on, cxpcri mcnta-
tion JcstincJ as a priori ty lor thc pilots o| thc
LulwalIc anJ thc solJi crs o| thc \chrmacht, thosc
s.oo cngagcJ boJy and soul i n a total war
I n Hi tlcr' s timc, Iro|cssor Lugcn !ischcr, lounJcr
and Jircctor o| thc ' I nstitutc o| Anthropology,
Human Ccnctics anJ Lugcnics , ! LC) , Jcclarcd
that animal cxpcri mcnts still JominatcJ rcscarch
only bccausc wc havc vcry l i mi tcJ mcans ol
b

h b l '
|
I h o tammg uman cm ryomc matcra . 1bL cr
wcnt cn to say that, ' Whcn wc havc Jonc with
research on rabbits, which rcmains thc main typc o|
rescarch |or the momcnt, wc will movc on to human
embryos

.
|
\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

uality o| the lirst person born this

way
: |
Jhey went on to stress that,
_
ll in all, ' there is no
di Derence between an iJentical twin anJ a clone
JelayeJ i Jentical twi n) '
::
It is not too harJ to imagine the c

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 .
I 07

^DlI3Cl XQICICHIm J
^G]3HI 3DCC b
^CQuIICU mmuHC
L0DCICuC CHGICmC
LC) 3uG
LOHl3mIu3lCU lCCG
^B3II IH I3DCC J
^GCIuC, hCCGCI J, ~ Z,
U, 31
/GVCIlIIH_ 3, 3O, bU ,
JZ
^_Cl, _3CQuC J
^iCHI lCClCHIC 1 1
^ICHGl, 3HH3h OJ
^Il DiUl JZ
^Il CI 8Il 3KC O
^Il m3UGIl ZJ
^Il3uG, ^ulCHIu ZJ, J
^uChWilZ J, Z , ZJ, Z1b,
Z3, U, J, 3, 31
13CCu, i3HCI 1Z
3HG ` PCGCIH Cl3Il
CXhIDIlICn JJ
13K3n J3, JU
13n3Il C CVi, Jtt ^ICuUl
UJ
13uGCl3IIC, Lh3IC ZJ
1CH]3mIH, Y3llCI ZZ
1CIlIH CChCC bJ
1CIH3HC, LCCI_C U
1Cu, _CCQh UJ1U, 1Z
hC 1IlCh C_ C 1uChCHw3U
J Z
cc J/0 DCCh
1C l3uKI, LhIIlI3H JJ
1CH3Q3IlC, D3QClCCu dO
1CHH0CI, 3lhCI LIClIICh
J
1Cun3IU, tICIIC
cc J/0 mQICICHIm
UJ
Ia4:x
1C8Ch, _CICuC +
3nU lhC `CuI C__CU ChiCkCH
CXQCIimCHl JH
1I3Q UC \CUI_C8 ZH
1IClCH, ^nUIC
tt J/0 CuttC3i8u
L3lCl _3CQuC8 +
L3mDCUi3 ! , ! , ++
uC CCH_ \CnCCiUC
Pu8Cum ++, UdJ
L3mu8, ^DCIl ZJ, J
LCl3n t3u
tt J/0 CuiCiUC
Lh3QIu, Lh3IiC Z, , dJ
LhCmIn UC8 L3mC8 tt hC
LIC3l Y3I
LhCInCD Zd,
LhIi8lIC 8 HlCIn3liCH3` HZ
tt J/0 C33lChi ^UVCIli8iu_
LHICHCQhClC_I3Qh b+
LiHiC3 CCClIiCil tt 0/0
LuChCuHC
LCniD_ J ! JZ, JH U, JH, HU
LCHCCHlI3liCu L3mQ8 tt
3Zi8m
LuDi8H JU
13U3 + ZH , JU, d!d
L3i C3V3UCI +!
3HG `hC YCIU C 1CUiC8
CXhiDiliCH U+
L3IWiH, Lh3IC8 JJ
LCDCIU, \u ! tt ICHCh
Cilu3liCui8m
` LC_CHCI3lC ^Il D3Zi
C3mQ3i_u 3_3iH8l HJ
LCuCn d+
tt J/0 LhICHCQhClC_I3Qh
LiX \llC ZH
1uC3mQ, P3ICC , Jd
3HU ^nU Y3IhC d
LuChCHHC LI. GC 1CuCgHC
+
Lu, b3Cul +U
L3H, 1CD 9d
_Ql
3HU lhC DI_hl C lhC
PiCuHium JZ
3HU lhC QCIlI3il8 C lhC
3Cum 9+
HZCHSDCI_CI, 3n8 P3_Hu8
J+
tt J/0 uluIi8m
i8ChCI tICC88CI u_CH J,
J+
I3HKCu8lCiH JH
ICHCh Cilu3liCHi8m ! , Z
3HU lHC P3IQuI8 UC
C3GC !
` uHCI3I im3_CI , tt _Ql,
L3uDCUi3
I I 0
Ia4:x
uluIIm +, ZH, , U+, J+,
JO, H , H
\3llUH, CiI I3HCi JJ, U+
\3HCC, UC dJ
\CHClI0 JZ+, JJ, JdH
3HG LUHIH_ HU
3HG u_CHIC, tt D3ZIm
LCUI_0l, Li H
\CIIC3ul, hCUGUIC H, U+
LCim3H XQICIUHIm +, U,
/H, , + , +Z, U+, dJ
\Cil, `3lCK3 dJd
tc J|0 L3G3
\I3CUmCllI, DCilU H+
\ImQC, bCHC , +J, JZ, U+
LUCDDC, _UCQh 31
LUClH0, _Uh3HH YUl_3H_
vUH +Z
LUGCu PC3H +J
LU3 i3HCICU GC J1
\IC3l LCQICIUH, hC J
LIC3l Y3I, hC , ZH,
3HG lhC LhCmIH GC
L3mC J
3HG uluIIm dU
LIUZ, LCUI_C dd
tt J/0 L3G3
LiuHCW3G, P3llhI +
3_Cn, LI \UHlhCi VUH
+
3IV3IG PCGIC3 CCHUU
JdH
3HG lhC `UuI C__CG ChICKCH
CXQCIimCHl JH
3um3HH, b3Uu JO
tt J/0 L3G3
C3ilHCG, _UhH JU
tt J/0 3G3
CDiH dU
CI3Ci lu J, +
I, 3uICH dZ
tt J/0 DI_hl U lhC
PIlCHHIum
IIUhIm3
UmuHCuu JZ
uCHDCCK, bICh3IG ZH
tt J|0 L3G3
um3H LCHUmC QIU]CCl J
CH_ C3I UJ
mQICIUHIm Z, , o3,
+J, +d
HQuIilIUH, hC H
ulIlul CIHIICh CIHC +H,
JJ
ulIlulC U /lhIUQUU_,
um3H \CHClIC 0HG
u_CHiC [L) b3, J+
tt J/0 IChCI
_3HUuCh, Lul3V d
tt J/0 D3U3
JJJ
Io4-x
_3iIC _C3H PICHCl 1Z
et J/10 _Ql
hC _32Z CIH_Ci bJ, dbH
_UsUH ^ bb, dH
et J/10 HC _3ZZ CIH_Ci
D33 i3HZ ZJ, JJ
UH Hm b+, bJ, dU
D3DH XC JZ, U
D3HGIHK 3ssil J, dU,
bJ
DHDCi bUu_C tt \3mDUGi3
DUCh 1s3 + Z
3HG 3il Diul +Z
DUKUsChK3, \sK3i ZH, +
DUuHIChIiu l U 1J
1ht JJntt/ J+
C_Ci 1CiH3HG 1
ChmDCCK 3+
CiOI-UuiH3H U+
ICH lCHlCIH _ 3CQ uCIHC
Z /d
ICHlCHlCIH bU HZ
U_3H P3CUm tt 3iV3iG
CGiC3l CCHUUl
Us ^l3m 3DUi3lUIICs
umICic 1iUlhCis +, bH
HlUH DUiDCil H
PCLuH3H P3iH3l J
+OJ
P3_iIllC bCHC JZ
tt J/0 ^GVCilisiH_
3li3uX ^HGtC J ! , J Z
3HH _UH3!HUH +bH
tt J/0 ^1C
P3iIHCllI tt uluiIsm
3ilC 1UD bZ
tt J/0 DI_Hl U lhC
IlcHHIum
P33KUVK U+
PcGIC3l lHICs DZ
3HG 1ht JJnttl J+
3HG lhc DuiCmDCi_ \UGC
U
PcH_CC LI _UC +, J+,
U+
IlUOVIC ClUDUG3H Z J1
PUDilC QHUHCs JJ JOJ
PUHUly-D3_ J, b
PUHGiI3H tICl D, b
POHCl 3uGC Z J
tt J/30 mQiCssIUHIsm
PUHs3HlU 3HG lhC
cimIH3lUi
QiU]CCl Jd
PUHslCQuIUu H+
PuCi CIHC J
PuHCH GV3iG UH, dJ, dH
uIC +d
3HG PUZ3K J
PusUlIHi 1CHIlU , 1+
tt J/0 uluiism
I I z
Ia4:x
3_33ki
3 +O
3Zim
3nG LCnCCDlt3lCn
L3mQ8 , Z , ZJ,
Z/, Zb, ZJ, 9, 0, 3/ ,
b/
3HG `UC_CHCt3lC 3tl J0
3nG Cu_CHIC U, 0U, 3Z,
3JJ, 33
3HG _CC PCH_ClC 0U
3nG lhC L 33
3nG nCWICC 1J
3HG uiCmDCi_ 1J
DClCH3CV Z
3HG niHClCCHlH CCHlui
bui3D IHlCllI_CHli3
3, Z
DCWtCC /9
DiCmCllCt 3lHCi b1
DIClZChC iiCGtiCh J, Z,
, 3
3HG ` lhC GC3lh C LCG
J
3HG Cu_CDIC 1J
Di_Hl C lhC PIllCnHi um /Z,
bZ
DilCH, MCim3HH JZ
tt 0/^ NICDHCC ^CliCHim
DClGC, mil 1
DutCmDCi_ 19
DuiCmUut_ LCGC HC OU
\Il3H Z
\tWCl, LCCt_C 13, J
t3Dl L. Y. b/
tl3lC bb
tiC3C, t3DC J, 1, JO,
OJ, b
3HU 3GVCIliiH_ b
3HG lHC LCu3niCi bCuC3u
JO
0tmttJ J, JO
tiCl3 C ^Vi_nCH hC
tCtli3il Cl lhC 3Cum, Jct
_Ql
b3mCHCl, _H3CiC O
b3Qh3Cl bZ
bClCllC, PimmC J
tt J/0 uluiIm
bClhKC, P3ik U, 1, o tt
CuiCiGC
bW3HG3 3nG hC hCu8DG
i b3GiC Z, 0!
C33lCHi, Lh3tlC O, J ,
C3HU3l iHVClViH_
\HtilIC` JZ
` CCD3lICn CXhiDiliCH O
tt J/0 ^GVCtLiIH_
C3inl XuQC ^HlCiHC
GC J1
C3tltC _C3H t3ul 1, 1U
! I J
Ia4-x
CChlC_Cl ^u_usl
YIlHClm bZ
UH b3Qh3C s LtCsGCH
3GUnH3 bJ
CChUQcnh3uCt ^tlhut J
CChw3tZKU_lCt buGUll ZJ
cc 0/0 NICHnCsC ^ClIUHIsm
CChw|lCts Dutl 3 , bU
ChU3H 3Z
CIlCHCc Ul lHC l3mDs O3, OJ,
1J, b3
CUCI3lisl bC3lIsm JZ
CUCI3 sCHI3lt J
CUH Cl umICtC , 1 Z
CQUtlS lhICs O
3HG LCt3tG 1IHC ttCnCH
UZ
3HG bL^ Gtu_ 3DusC OZ
Cl3ln, _UsCl , 1J
ClCl3tC Z, 1ZU, ZZ, J, J
Clt3H_ClUVC LUClUt 3HG lHC
3lUmIC DUmD 3J
ClU3tl PC_ 3O1
3HG ^HH 3millUn 31
Clutu 1Ct ZJ
cc 0/0 LCtm3H
XQtCssIUHIsm
CuICIGC J, 1 , b
CuttC3lIsm U, O, 1O
3DID, LlIHUtG cc 3tV3tG
CGIC3l CCHUUl
3KICs J, 13, b, b3
3nG 1hc _J__ Ctn_tt
b1b
CChnICUUt 3
Ct3lUlU_ 3U, 3 , 3bJ
HC3ltC Ul LtuCll ZJ
cc J/0 ^tl3uG
hulC LtCCHl3uG 3nG
UCC3HU_t3QHIC 3tls
JJ
IH_uCl _C3H J
IHnIlus 1U
Il3HIC U
uUl ClCH_ JJ, U3
cc J/0 L3mDUGI3
utHCt YIllI3m Z, 1J
wIHs IH _CnClIC
CXQCtImCHl 3, 3J
3J 3nG 1hc JJnctl
N3lCt 3ul JZ, 3Z, OJ, 1 ,
JZ
N3H LU_h IHCCHl
Cl3tt I_Hl sCtICs U
3nG suICIGC cc CuICIGC
N3uGt3 3ltICK 1b
NCtGuH U
cc J/0 LtC3l Y3t HC
NCtsCHuCt tUlC8sUt \lm3t
VUn 3
NICnnCsC ^ClIUHIsm , ZJ,
J , JZ
+
!oJtx
itIlIO, 3ul
3nU hC ^tl Cl lhC
PClOt U 1, 1
D3Ck_tCuDG Z
` 1QCtCXU3lIl 3nG
QCtVIClCnCC Z, b
3nU hC nlCtm3liCn
1CmD U
V3_nCt 3, bU
Y3tHCl nU bU bZ, J
YiCnCt ^KliCnimu, cc
ICnnCC PClIOni8m
YCtG Cl 1CUIC LXHiDtiOO,
HC, cr 3_CH
3QIC U
rr J/0 LtC3l Y3t, hc
ZCUCn_, 3C
I l b