Art and Utopuia. The Sirens´ Lesson

9 Wha is as onishing is ha i is in he ield o aes he ics, long nigh in which all ca s a e g ey, ha he amous excellence o he people in gene al is spou ed. Le us be consis en . Why is he physics o he people no excellen ? Why is i s biology no mos excellen ? Why is i s his o ical o e iew no exceedingly lucid? And o cou se nobody akes hei consis ency o he poin o decla ing ha he amous "people in gene al" is mo e excellen han Eins ein, Claudel Be na d o Ma x, bu i we mo e o he ealm o a ... The mo e p imi i e, mo e ee -on- he-g ound, mo e ins inc i e, he be e . I 's a whole c i icism making use o hese wo ds, as aes he ic concep s, a whole c i icism-symbol o 1 a esigned cul u e . ART AND UTOPIA E e since Thomas Mo e, he no ion o u opia has ac i a ed su p ising imagina ies and idealized desc ip ions. A ecu ing heme wi hin se e al ields, pa icula ly hose o philosophy and poli ical and social heo y, u opia, whose p og ams know no ideological bounda ies, p ojec s isions o new wo lds, o a u u e be o ehand. As we know, a 's e i o y has no escaped u opia's pu i ying emp a ion. We would e en say ha i has p ojec ed i as The bes o wo lds, whe e he Beau y and Goodness pai assumed i sel as an aes he ic-mo al wa an y ce i ica e. The His o y o A , o Aes he ics and o C i icism o e us mul iple sophis ica ed examples o u opian aspi a ions and p ome hean mys i ica ions abou a and he a is . Thinking a and u opia. We a e ce ain ha a does no belong o he domain o u opia i , wi h i we wan o make p esen app oxima ions o u u e imes, ideal spaces wi h no eal place, no ma i e and o alizing. As Deleuze has p oposed, “u opia is no a good concep : he e is ins ead a “ abula ion” common o he people and o a . The be gsonian no ion o 2 abula ion should be esumed and gi en a poli ical sense” . Abou u opia's sense o li e and a we may say i is exp essed in one mo emen , a imes unhappy, a imes pe sis en . As no hing seems o opp ess 1. Edua do LOURENÇO – He e odoxia I. Lisboa: Edi o a G adi a, 2005, p. 31. 2. Gilles Deleuze - Con e sações. Lisboa: Edi o a Fim de Século, 2003, p. 233. The au ho also s esses ha he people is “always a c ea i e mino i y, and emains one e en when i acqui es a majo i y: because hey a e no li ed in he same plane.(...) The a is canno ail o appeal o a people, he needs i in he dep hs o his ac ion, i is no his ole o c ea e i and he canno do i . A is wha esis s: i esis s dea h, se i ude, in amy, shame. Bu he people canno conce n i sel wi h a .” ART AND UTOPIA. THE SIRENS´ LESSON Edua da Ne es 10 us mo e han he sense o incapaci y, he u opian impulse assu es us he su moun ing o despai . ART AND HETEROTOPIA Thinking a and he e o opia. We shall con oque a as a space o he e o opias. In he ex Des espaces au es, Michel Foucaul iden i ies se e al di e en ia ed he e o opic spaces, such as, o example, he g a eya d, he museum, he lib a y, he hea e, he ga den, o he ai . He e o opic spaces ep esen eal, e ec i e spaces, ou o all places bu loca able, acqui ing di e en o ms wi hou necessa ily possessing a uni e sal cha ac e . They ha e, wi hin socie y, speci ic wo kings and he powe o, in a single eal place, associa e se e al spaces, incompa ible wi hin hemsel es. Thei s is he singula unc ion o esis ance, de ia ion, e asion, ha ans o ms in acco dance wi h he his o ical momen and he cul u e amewo k. I is ha poin in ime when men a e expe iencing a s a e o up u e wi h hei adi ional ime ha he e o opia clea ly wo ks, says he au ho . Thus one unde s ands he connec ion made be ween he e o opias and he e och onias, as well as he complex mu ual o ganiza ions. Assuming a sys em which isola es hem and simul aneously allows hei opening, he e o opias also con ain a unc ion ha un olds i sel . On he one hand, p oducing an idealized space, hey denounce eal space as e en mo e elusi e, on he o he , hey c ea e a eal space desi ably as pe ec and egula ed as ou s is uno ganized. Howe e , o he au ho , i is he ship ha o e s i sel as a he e o opia pa excellence: “ he boa is a loa ing piece o space, a place wi hou a place, ha li es by i sel , ha is closed on i sel and ha i is le , a he same ime, o he in ini e sea (...). I is unde s andable why he boa was o ou ci iliza ion, om he six een h cen u y o he p esen day, (...) he la ges ese e o imagina ion. The ship is he he e o opia pa excellence. In ci iliza ions wi hou boa s d eams d y up, espionage eplaces ad en u e, and he police he 3 co sai s” . ART AND DYSTOPIA The Va ican is p esen in his calenda yea o 2013, a he Venice Biennale. Ca dinal Gian anco Ra azi, who is a kind o minis e o cul u e o he Va ican, had o long been de eloping e o s in ha di ec ion. I is known ha he p esiden o he Biennale, Paolo Ba a a, was also in e es ed in such pa icipa ion, now a eali y. 3. Michel FOUCAULT - “Des espaces au es” in Di s e éc i s IV (1980-88). Pa is: Gallima d, 1994, p. 762. 11 In an in e iew published in he he magazine "A P ess", Massimiliano Gioni, a is ic di ec o o his 55 h Biennale explains he i le chosen o his yea 's edi ion, Il Palazzo Enciclopedico. In he 1950s, he au odidac Ma ino Au i i en isioned a 700 me e s high museum ha would con ain all he knowledge in he wo ld. The a is ic di ec o welcomes he u opian dimension o his ideal, p oposing an exhibi ion ha awakens “ he desi e o know e e y hing, unde s and e e y hing, and explain e e y hing and, abo e 4 all, he impossibili y o knowing e e y hing” . No ing ha ing no el compelled o ep esen ei he all geog aphic a eas o all cul u es and u he mo e, gi en he Biennale included he pa icipa ion o a ious a is s wo king ou side he so-called a sys em, Gioni says he expec s ha “ he p esence o ou side s, gi en he lack o a be e e m, con ibu es o boos he inside s o ge ou o hei com o zone. No ha I wan o be a so o an i-ma ke champion – he e a e many es ablished and ecognized a is s in his exhibi ion – as I sough objec s ha can no only be bough , bu ha a e wo h abo e all o hei alismanic powe s o a ec i e, psychological o socio-an h opological alues, a he han economical ones, 5 wi h which hey we e in es ed” . Among many o he hings, he a is ic di ec o also claims a ai h in he ans o ma ion powe “o ou in e nal, p i a e, onei ic images ha (...) help us o m a new ecology o images, in which we won' con en ou sel es by accep ing hose ha su ound us and ha we o ce ou sel es o ingu gi a e e e y day, bu we will make an e o o cul i a e images endowed wi h a 6 ce ain in ensi y and – I da e say i - a ce ain pu i y” . Coun ies such as Angola, Bahamas, Bah ain, Koso o, Maldi es, I o y Coas , Kuwai , among o he s, we e ep esen ed. The Biennale seems o oscilla e be ween a emake o When A i udes Become Fo m, he celeb a ed 1969 Ha ald Szeemann's exhibi ion, and he shadow, he e ende ed pas iche, o he exhibi ion Les Magiciens de la Te e, cu a ed by Jean-Hube Ma in in 1989. Eso e ic, au odidac ic, mys ical, o icial, ins i u ional languages ein o ce he Encyclopaedic Palace, in a kind o aspi a ion o an Epis emologia Mundi, con e ed o he o iginal pu i y. Th oughou he in e iew, no a single e e ence o he p esence o he Holy See, as i i was some hing usual, o as i he His o y be ween a is ic p oduc ion and he Chu ch was ee om blemish. We know ha Va ican's mo i a ion o con empo a y a is now ein o ced, hus seeking o e-es ablish he connec ion, appa en ly in e up ed in he las cen u y, be ween a and ai h. We excuse ou sel es om explaining he mul iple mo al and poli ical eac ions o he Chu ch o he wo ks o se e al a is s. We emembe , in a mo e o less ecen pas , he Chu ch's aes he ical censo ship o he a wo k o Pipillo i Ris a he 2005 Venice Biennale. The public had hal he ime o see he ins alla ion Homo Sapiens Sapiens, because he Chu ch closed San S ae. 4. Robe STORR; Massimiliano GIONI - “Massimiliano Gioni. Il palazzo enciclopédico” (in e iew), in A P ess, nº 401, supplémen , 55a Biennale de Venise, Juin 2013, p. 6. 5. Robe STORR; Massimiliano GIONI – “Massimiliano Gioni. Il palazzo enciclopédico” (in e iew) ... p. 9. 6. Robe STORR; Massimiliano GIONI – “Massimiliano Gioni. Il palazzo enciclopédico” (in e iew) ... p.10. 12 7 Bu wha we also know is ha Da id López Ribes won, in 2012, he Pain ing P ize awa ded by he Pon i ical Academies, and a he ime o i s deli e y, he would ha e men ioned ha in he whole o his wo k he could no highligh a mas e piece, as all his wo ks we e his amily. He would also ha e said ha beau y is Ch is . This a is collabo a es wi h Kiko A guello, ounde o he Neoca echumenal Way, in a p ojec s designed o li u gical spaces. Re u ning o he ole, no o g ea commissione , bu , con empo aneously, o g ea cu a o , he Holy See has Genesis as he heme o i s pa ilion and a Ca dinal as a cu a o . The g oup S udio Azu o, Jose Koudelka and Law ence Ca oll we e elec ed o p esen hei espec i e a is ic he meneu ics. Acco ding o Va ican adio news, he P esiden o he Biennale sees he Hole See's p esence as a undamen al oppo uni y o he e i o y o con empo a y a : “The a i al o he Holy See, in his phase, may be e y impo an , p ecisely because i can con ibu e in a pa icula way o ha special a en ion, o ha selec i e a en ion ha is mo e han e e necessa y 8 when acing his posi i e di usion o con empo a y a ” . We do no know wha migh be he impo an phase Paolo Ba a a seeks o e oke. The domain o he un-said, wi h g ea e o lesse cynicism, poin s o ha o alse conscience: “In capi alism only one hing is uni e sal: he ma ke . The e is no uni e sal S a e p ecisely because he e is a uni e sal ma ke o which S a es a e nuclei, a e S ock Exchanges. The ma ke is no uni e salizing, homogenizing. I is a an as ical p ocess o ichness and mise y ab ica ion. (...) The e is no democ a ic s a e ha isn' deeply 9 comp omised wi h ha p ocess o human mise y ab ica ion” . Ca dinal Ra asi, commi ed o he app oach be ween ai h and con empo a y a , and no ea ing ha con on a ion, would ha e lamen ed (du ing he mee ings on Li u gy, A and A chi ec u e in he 50 yea s o he Va ican II Concilium, aking place a he Ca holic Uni e si y, in Lisbon), ha “much o secula ized con empo a y a , bea s no beau y o message, and also c i icized some chu ches buil in ecen yea s. (...) Ca dinal Ra asi ecalled ha wi hou knowing he Bible i is di icul o unde s and mos o he wo ks ound in museums, ensu ing ha he Chu ch is inc easingly engaging in 10 dialogue wi h a is s, o b ing ai h and a oge he ” . In Po ugal, he Ca holic Uni e si y, h ough i s Vice-Rec o , Isabel Capeloa Gil, seems o co obo a e Ra asi's iew: “Con empo a y a is equen ly enigma ic, enego ia ing, o en, he ela ionship be ween he beau i ul and he ugly, bu none heless cons i u es a sea ch, e en i loca ed, o he e ela ion o a ce ain anscendence.(...) Ins ead o a li u gical unc ionaliza ion o a , he wo ks o Czech pho og aphe Jose Koudelka, o he Ame ican pain e Law ence Ca oll and o mul imedia collec i e S udio Azzu o, con igu e he ci cle o c ea ion, p esen ing con empo a y a in dialogue wi h he oldes aes he ic mani es o, he Book o Genesis and i s mos 7. The a is 's wo k can be consul ed on he o icial websi e h p://www.da idlopez ibes.com. 8. JE (Va ican Radio) - "Bienal de Veneza: ap esen ada pa icipação da San a Sé", in h p://p . adio a icana. a/news/2013/05/14/bienal_de _ eneza:_ap esen ada_pa icipação_da_san a_sé/b a- 692104 (accessed on 11.06. 2013, 11h28 m). 9. Gilles DELEUZE – Con e sações. Lisboa: Edi o a Fim de Século, 2003, p. 231. 10. Ângela ROQUE – "Ca deal Ra asi anuncia pa ilhão do Va icano na Bienal". A ailable in h p:// .sapo.p /in o macao_de alhe.aspx? id=30&di d=85392, 15.11.2012, (accessed on 20.06.2013, 17h35m). 13 pe ec ep esen a ion, humani y. A adian encoun e o isi un il No embe 11 24” . Much o con empo a y a bea s no beau y o message? Genesis as he oldes mani es (?) o aes he ics? We know ha he Beau i ul is a well- ounded illusion, as Du keim said abou eligion. I he adi ional Aes he ics, h oughou i s His o y, ound in Philosophy he ins ance o judgmen and alida ion o a is ic p oduc ion, he wen ie h cen u y a i ms – in a clea ly dominan way when compa ed o p e ious pe iods - he impossibili y o subs an i e c i e ia o he Beau i ul. In any case, The Genesis does no igu e in he His o y o Aes he ics, e en when, in illo empo e, i wan ed o see i sel as a eligion o a , looking o ake i s explana ions as he "good" explana ion o he "good" eason. I has been long ime since, in he a wo ld, he emp a ion o a is ic axonomies has been elinquished, and gone a e he imes o a as mo al ha mony o me aphysical splendou . Does ca dinal Ra asi ind beau y and message only in wo ks o a eligious na u e? Is i jus in his dimension ha he Holy See ecognizes con empo a y a ? A , as a he e o opia o esis ance, dis ances i sel om he encyclopaedic he o ic p isone o he aes he ic pa adigm o ha mony. I always p esupposes a eal place, a place o incompa ibili ies and he e ogenei ies, a place o ad en u e. I is, in he manne o Foucaul , a deho s, a p i ileged ex e io place in a s a e o c isis. I would be necessa y o open ano he chap e o alk abou he mos sec e bank in he wo ld: a dys opian place whe e he ela ionship be ween a and ai h is enego ia ed. No ai y ale, no Ci y o God, no Ci y o he Sun. Michel Foucaul in he ex Eu ydice and he Si ens, ques ions i hei seduc ion would no eside “in he oid hey open, in he ascina ing 12 immobili y hey p o oke in hose who lis en o hem? To s ay ali e is o become es less wi h he singing o he si ens and c oss he abyss o he sea. I seems ha o he Venice Biennale no ship a i ed, jus a e yboa o ganized as an en e p ise. The e is no na iga ion on he high seas, which is o say on he seabed. The e is no c ossing bu an accumula ion o su plus alue. Co sai s led, and usu e s emained. 11. Isabel Capeloa GIL – "Bienal de Veneza: encon o adioso en e Bíblia e a e con empo ânea p omo ido pela San a Sé". A ailable in Sec e a iado nacional da pas o al da cul u a, h p://www.snpcul u a.o g/bienal_ eneza_encon o_ adioso_en e_biblia_e_a e_con empo anea.h ml (accessed on 21.06.2013, 15h 18m). 12. Michel FOUCAULT – O Pensamen o do Ex e io . São Paulo: Edi o a P incípio, 1990, p. 57.