Il ne suffit pas de se projeter dans un avenir aussi clairement définit soit-il pour se résoudre à l’action, faut-il encore concevoir le chemin qui nous en sépare. Le projet digressif est par certains aspects à notre portée immédiate : non seulement tout est dans notre existence excuse à la digression – du temps qui passe à nos conversations de tous les jours –, mais son principe offre de plus un cadre conceptuel particulièrement adapté à des mouvements participatifs déjà bien entamés, mouvements dont l’objectif est la constitution de structures alternatives aux pouvoirs étatiques et économiques actuels. Certes, le projet d’une société digressive navigue par d’autres aspects à contre-courant, comme lorsqu’il s’oppose à une conception universelle du droit, mais je n’aurais pas persisté dans sa conception si je n’étais pas persuadé de sa cohérence : l’approche digressive est à mes yeux la seule crédible afin de lutter contre toute forme d’aliénation.

Loin d’être stérile, le principe de n’en imposer aucun à autrui permettrait d’aboutir à des conclusions dans bien des domaines de l’activité humaine. D’où les appels suivants à lancer et interpréter en fonction du contexte politique, économique, social et culturel.

Vivre sans qu’aucune prétendue nécessité ou vérité absolue puisse nous dicter le sens de notre existence, libres d’apprécier nos contraintes, responsables de la motivation que nous montrons dans chacun de nos gestes : telle est l’humanité prônée par la société dite « digressive ». Cette société érigerait en principe l’arbitraire de nos existences, c’est-à-dire la relativité de tout point de vue sur une réalité dénuée de sens. Elle n’aurait pas pour ambition de s’imposer comme vérité, mais d’offrir aux hommes le plus grand espace de liberté possible afin qu’ils puissent y assumer leurs convictions. L’être humain octroiera toujours un sens singulier à son existence, alors autant s’accorder sur le projet qui fasse le moins souffrance possible à ce qu’il conçoit être. Le projet digressif viserait à ériger en principe celui de n’en imposer aucun à autrui : il serait fondamentalement contradictoire, comme l’est tout projet de société, ce serait là la conséquence de son humanité, de l’absence d’une quelconque vérité qui puisse déterminer l’existence humaine.

Avant de décrire à quoi une telle société pourrait ressembler et vous démontrer, je l’espère, que celle-ci serait viable, voici une brève introduction de quelques notions qui y joueront un rôle important. Celles-ci vous seront réintroduites de façon plus rigoureuse dans les prochains chapitres. Je pense néanmoins qu’énoncer au préalable, et de façon quelque peu spontanée, ces hypothèses et corolaires permettrons au lecteur de comprendre plus aisément l’approche digressive qui lui sera présentée par la suite.

Ceilings across the globe: celestial variations.

Ceiling in Beijing (Chinese parliament), 2007

Ceiling of a Istanbul shopping mall, 2011

Ceiling in San Francisco (Xanadu gallery), 2004

Ceiling in Brussels, 2005

Ceiling in Budapest, 2005

Artwork from Takashi Murakami at the Hong Kong art fair 2010

Sailor Moon (1992 – 1997) transcended Japanese anime and reached a pure state of corrosiveness. Sailor Moon is an artificial flavouring substance: superficial, highly satisfying and addictive. It is, more than any of Takashi Murakami‘s works of art, the best illustration of his superflat art movement, depicting “the shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture”. The original manga is somehow spiritual. The anime version, on the other hand, expunged the story of any particularity, leading to the ultimate stereotype of the Japanese girl, flanked with kitschy accessories ready for merchandising, cheap love stories and consumerist lifestyles. The girls’ transformation into self-centred wonder women is the climax of every episode. The same scenes of transformations are shown again and again, becoming objects of cult: obsessive and hypnotic. They saturate the narrative with their flatness.

What is exhilarating in movies from the French new wave is their characters’ spontaneity, their capacity to change their destiny.

The final scene of The 400 blows (1959, François Truffaut), the story of a boy exerting his freedom.

]]> http://bruchansky.name/2011/10/22/french-new-wave/feed/ 0 http://bruchansky.name/2011/09/19/noh-koto-and-geishas/ http://bruchansky.name/2011/09/19/noh-koto-and-geishas/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:59:17 +0000 Christophe Bruchansky http://bruchansky.name/?p=999

Tea ceremony, Miyako Odori, Kyoto, 2011

I was in Kyoto last year and was very impressed by the Miyako Odori Geisha dance, by the expressiveness and sophistication of its music, broken purposefully by exclamations that added to the feeling of restrained eloquence.

There are also great Japanese music concerts in Europe, I attended to one at the Japanese Culture Institute of Cologne (it was played by Kikuchi Naoko and Carin Levine).

Walt Disney Studios in Paris opened a section last year called “Toy Story Playland”. The area features a series of rides designed for children, based on the characters of the Toy Story franchise: RC Racer, Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin and Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop. Why choose Toy Story for a new theme park section instead of the many other Disney franchises? There are many good reasons to pick it up, such as its popularity and the obvious merchandising opportunities. I would like, however, to speculate on one more reason that might have led to that choice. In this instance, whether consciously or not, Disney performed a very subtle cultural exercise in promoting cars, consumerism, and the American army.

Promoting cars is not new for Disney – they did it openly and multiple times in rides such as Test track (Epcot) or the coming Cars Land (Disney California Adventure). Thus, it was not surprising to see the RC Racer ride in the Toy Story Playland. Disney is visibly committed to glorifying this mode of transportation to children all over the world, at least as long as it pays off with sponsors.

Promoting consumerism has always been an implicit and powerful message in all Disney theme parks. Toy Story Playland is about toys, and children encounter consumerism for the first time with toys. It is coherent for Disney to encourage consumption of its products by emphasizing the pleasure that kids get from their toys. It is a logical and predictable consequence of the commercial nature of its enterprise.

The novelty comes from the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop. As far as I know, Disney had never tried to glorify the American army in one of its attractions before. The subject is too difficult, associated with war and violence, and could not be addressed directly. However, the Toy Story Playland adds three layers of abstraction. The Toy Story movie does not portray the army itself, but army figurines. The Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop ride is not about the army, it is a ride based on a movie with figurines that are representing the army. The three layers of abstraction make the connection with war barely noticeable, and allow Disney to treat the subject without any problems. An entertaining representation of military forces is delivered to children and their parents. Of course, the ride is not meant to be taken seriously. But people enjoy the association made with the green colours of military uniforms. The positive experience undoubtedly helps to build a positive image of the (American) army to international crowds.

Play Time (1967) by Jacques Tati is a relatively unknown movie. It is a highly sophisticated visual comedy more than two hours long with nearly no dialogue, which probably explains why it was not a big success at the box office. However, the film is the best criticism of modern society that I have ever seen, and is still very relevant today. It is also a sharp criticism on modern architecture, both capturing the ideals of modernism and pointing at its delusiveness.

The movie confronts the reality of human condition to its modern idealization, culminating in a final scene where jazz and spiritedness defeat the meticulously planned urban environment,  at least for the time of a dance. Play Time is a post-modernist masterpiece because it plays with the paradoxes of human existence – humour and derision being the only possible postures.

Here are two of the many places somehow reminiscent of the Play Time setting.

Liège-Guillemins railway station, 2012

Ibis hotel, Dresden, 2011

Here is an interesting passage that I read at the Kaj Franck exhibition (Design Museum of Helsinki):

In the mid-sixties, the idea of anonymity with functional objects inspired a lively debate. In 1965, the Nuutajärvi Glasssworks announced that it would cease using designers’ names in conjunction with mass-produced commodities. This was based on the idea that the designer was putting his or her name on products for which he or she could not solely claim the credit, or in negative cases, be blamed. Artist director Kaj Franck: “A serial production design should not be one of which people grow tired. it should be so relevant that it ‘lasts’ for years and decades, and so unobtrusive that the user doesn’t start to wonder who designed it. The factory’s mark should suffice as the producer’s name”. (Kaunis Koti magazine)

The Nuutajärvi Glasssworks resumed using designers’ names in marketing in the 1970s. Franck too, turned his back on his own anonymity concept.

Kaj Franck exhibition, Helsinki, 2011