7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 1/8

Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art

 

 Alain Badiou

I think everybody has the 15 theses, it is necessary, I think, for the

talk. I'll comment about the theses and you can read them. I think the

reat !uestion about contemporary art is ho" not to be #omantic. It's the

reat !uestion and a very difficult one. $ore precisely, the !uestion is

ho" not to be a formalist%#omantic. &omethin like a miture bet"een

#omanticism and formalism. (n one side is the absolute desire for ne"

forms, al"ays ne" forms, somethin like an infinite desire. $odernity is

the infinite desire of ne" forms. )ut, on the other side, is obsession

"ith the body, "ith finitude, se, cruelty, death. The contradiction of

the tension bet"een the obsession of ne" forms and the obsession of

finitude, body, cruelty, sufferin and death is somethin like a

synthesis bet"een formalism and #omanticism and it is the dominant

current in contemporary art. All the 15 theses have as a sort of oal,

the !uestion ho" not to be formalist%#omantic. That is, in my opinion,

the !uestion of contemporary art.

*ombardi is really a ood eample, and I am very lad to speak here

toniht. +e can see that there is somethin like a demonstration, a

connection, points of connections. ou have somethin very surprisin,

because *ombardi kne" all that before the facts. +e have some"here, a

reat dra"in about the )ush dynasty "hich is really prophetic, "hich is

an artistic prophecy, that is a creation of a ne" kno"lede, and so it's

really surprisin to see that after the facts. And it's really the

capacity, the ability of art to present somethin before the facts,

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 2/8

before the evidence. And it's somethin calm and elevated, like a star.

ou kno", it's like a alay, see, it's somethin like the alay of

corruption. &o, the three determinations are really in the "orks of

*ombardi. And so it's the creation of a ne" possibility of art and a ne"

vision of the "orld, our "orld. )ut a ne" vision "hich is not purely

conceptual, ideoloical or political, a ne" vision "hich has it's proper

shape, "hich creates a ne" artistic possibility, somethin "hich is ne"

kno"lede of the "orld has a ne" shape, like that. It's really an

illustration of my talk.

The first thesis- Art is not the sublime descent of the infinite into the

finite abection of the body and seuality. It is the production of an

infinite subective series throuh the finite means of a material

subtraction.

This is an intimation of ho" not to be a #omantic. It consists of the

production of a ne" infinite content, of a ne" liht. I think it/s the

very aim of art0 producin a ne" liht about the "orld by means of

precise and finite summariation. &o, you have to chane thecontradiction. The contradiction today is bet"een the infinity of the

desire for ne" forms and the finitude of the body, of the seuality, and

so on. And ne" art needs to chane the terms of this contradiction and

put on the side of infinity ne" content, ne" liht, a ne" vision of the

"orld, and on the side of finitude, the precision of means and of

summariation. &o, the first thesis is somethin like the reversal of the

contradiction.

&ubtraction- the "ord subtraction has t"o meanins. First, not to be

obsessed "ith formal novelty. I think it/s a reat !uestion today because

the desire for novelty is the desire of ne" forms, an infinite desire for

ne" form. The obsession of ne" forms, the artistic obsession "ith

novelty, of criti!ue, of representation and so on, is really not a

critical position about capitalism because capitalism itself is the

obsession of novelty and the perpetual renovation of forms. ou have a

computer, but the follo"in year it/s not the true computer, you need a

ne" one. ou have a car, but the comin year it/s an old car, somethin

like an old thin and so on. &o, it/s a necessity for us to see that the

complete obsession "ith ne" forms is not really a critical position about

the "orld as it is. It/s a possibility that the real desire, "hich is

subversive desire, is the desire of eternity. The desire for somethin

"hich is a stability, somethin "hich is art, somethin "hich is closed

in%itself. I don/t think it/s !uite like that, but it/s a possibility

because the perpetual modification of forms is not really a critical

position, so the desire of ne" forms is certainly somethin important in

art, but the desire for the stability of forms is also somethin

important. And, I think "e have to eamine the !uestion today.

The second meanin of subtraction is not to be obsessed "ith finitude,

"ith cruelty, body, sufferin, "ith se and death, because it/s only the

reversal of the ideoloy of happiness. In our "orld there is somethin

like an ideoloy of happiness. )e happy and enoy your life and so on. In

artistic creation "e often have the reversal of that sort of ideoloy in

the obsession "ith sufferin bodies, the difficulty of seuality, and so

on. +e need not be in that sort of obsession. 2aturally a critical

position about the ideoloy of happiness is an artistic necessity, but

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 3/8

it/s also an artistic necessity to see it as a ne" vision, a ne" liht,

somethin like a positive ne" "orld. And so, the !uestion of art is also

the !uestion of life and not al"ays the !uestion of death. It is a

sinification of the first thesis0 "e have to search for an artistic

creation "hich is not obsessed "ith formal novelty, "ith cruelty, death,

body, and seuality.

&econd thesis- Art cannot merely be the epression of a particularity 3be

it ethnic or personal4. Art is the impersonal production of a truth that

is addressed to everyone.

The reat !uestion here is a !uestion of universality- is there, or is

there not, a universality of artistic creation )ecause the reat

!uestion today is the !uestion of lobaliation, the !uestion of the

unity of the "orld. 6lobaliation proposes to us an abstract

universality. A universality of money, the universality of communication

and the universality of po"er. That is the universalism today. And so,

aainst the abstract universality of money and of po"er, "hat is the

!uestion of art, "hat is the function of artistic creation Is the

function of artistic creation to oppose, to abstract from universality

only a sinularity of particularities, somethin like bein aainst theabstraction of money and of po"er, or as a community aainst

lobaliation and so on (r, is the function of art to propose another

kind of universality That/s a bi !uestion. The more important issue

today is the main contradiction bet"een capitalistic universality on one

hand, universality of the market if you "ant, of money and po"er and so

on, and sinularities, particularities, the self of the community. It/s

the principal contradiction bet"een t"o kinds of universalities. (n one

side the abstract universality of money and po"er, and on the other the

concrete universality of truth and creation. $y position is that artistic

creation today should suest a ne" universality, not to epress only the

self or the community, but that it/s a necessity for the artistic

creation to propose to us, to humanity in eneral, a ne" sort of

universality, and my name for that is truth. Truth is only the

philosophical name for a ne" universality aainst the forced universality

of lobaliation, the forced universality of money and po"er, and in that

sort of proposition, the !uestion of art is a very important !uestion

because art is al"ays a proposition about a ne" universality, and art is

a sinification of the second thesis.

Third thesis. It/s only a definition of the universality of art. +hat is

an artistic truth Artistic truth is different from scientific truth,

from political truth, from other sorts of truths. The definition is that

artistic truth is al"ays a truth about the sensible, an outline of the

sensual. It/s not a static sensible epression. An artistic truth is not

a copy of the sensible "orld nor a static sensible epression. $y

definition is that an artistic truth is a happenin of l/Id7e in the

sensible itself. And, the ne" universality of art is the creation of ane" form of happenin of the Idea in the sensible as such. It/s very

important to understand that an artistic truth is a proposition about the

sensible in the "orld. It/s a proposition about a ne" definition of "hat

is our sensible relation to the "orld, "hich is a possibility of

universality aainst the abstraction of money and po"er. &o, if art seems

very important today, it is because lobaliation imposes to us the

creation of a ne" kind of universality, "hich is al"ays a ne" sensibility

and a ne" sensible relation to the "orld. And because the oppression

today is the oppression of abstract universality, "e have to think of art

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 4/8

alon the direction of the ne" sensible relation to the "orld. And so,

today, artistic creation is a part of human emancipation, it/s not an

ornament, a decoration and so on. 2o, the !uestion of art is a central

!uestion, and it/s central because "e have to create a ne" sensible

relation to the "orld. In fact, "ithout art, "ithout artistic creation,

the triumph of the forced universality of money and po"er is a real

possibility. &o the !uestion of art today is a !uestion of political

emancipation, there is somethin political in art itself. There is not

only a !uestion of art/s political orientation, like it "as the case

yesterday, today it is a !uestion in itself. )ecause art is a real

possibility to create somethin ne" aainst the abstract universality

that is lobaliation.

Fourth thesis. This thesis is aainst the dream of totaliation. &ome

artists today are thinkin that there is a possibility to fuse all the

artistic forms, it/s the dream of a complete multimedia. )ut it/s not a

ne" idea. As you probably kno", it "as the idea of #ichard +aner, the

total art, "ith pictures, music, poetry and so on. &o the first

multimedia artist "as #ichard +aner. And, I think multimedia is a false

idea because it/s the po"er of absolute interation and it/s somethin

like the proection in art of the dream of lobaliation. It/s a !uestionof the unity of art like the unity of the "orld but it/s an abstraction

too. &o, "e need to create ne" art, certainly ne" forms, but not "ith the

dream of a totaliation of all the forms of sensibility. It/s a reat

!uestion to have a relation to multimedia and to ne" forms of imaes, of

art, "hich is not the paradim of totaliation. &o "e have to be free

about that sort of dream.

A fe" "ords about theses five and eiht. The !uestion here is "hat

eactly is the creation of ne" forms. It/s very important because of "hat

I previously said about the infinite desire for ne" forms bein a problem

in contemporary art. +e have to be precise about the !uestion of ne"

forms in themselves. +hat is the creation of ne" forms I hint that, in

fact, there is never eactly pure creation of ne" forms. I think it/s a

dream, like totaliation, pure creation of absolute ne" forms. In fact,

there is al"ays somethin like a passae of somethin "hich is not

eactly a form to somethin that is a form, and I arue that "e have

somethin like impurity of forms, or impure forms, and purification. &o,

in art there is not eactly pure creation of forms, 6od created the

"orld, if you "ant, but there is somethin like proressive purification,

and compleification of forms in se!uence. T"o eamples if you "ish. +hen

$alevich paints the famous "hite on "hite, the "hite s!uare on "hite

s!uare. Is that the creation of somethin In one sense yes, but in fact,

it/s the complete purification of the problem of the relation bet"een

shape and color. In fact, the problem of the relation bet"een shape and

color is an old one "ith a lon story and in $alevich/s "hite s!uare on

"hite s!uare, "e have an ultimate purification of the story of the

problem and also it/s a creation, but it/s also the end, because after"hite s!uare on "hite s!uare there is, in one sense, nothin, "e cannot

continue. &o "e have a complete purification and after $alevich all

correlation bet"een shape and color looks old, or impure, but it/s also

the end of the !uestion, and "e have to bein "ith somethin else. +e may

say that "ith artistic creation, it/s not eactly the pure creation of

ne" forms, somethin like the process of purification "ith beinnins and

"ith ends too. &o, "e have se!uences of purification, much more than pure

rupture of pure creation. And it/s the content of theses five and eiht.

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 5/8

+e come no" to theses si and seven. The !uestion here is "hat eactly is

the subective eistence of art +hat is the subect in art, the subect

in the subective sense It/s a reat discussion, a very old one. +hat is

the subect in art +hat is the aent of art The subect in art is not

the artist. It/s an old thesis too, but an important one. &o, if you

think that the real subect in artist creation is the artist, you are

positin the artistic creation as the epression of somebody. If the

artist is the subect, art is the epression of that subect, thereby art

is somethin like a personal epression. In fact, it is necessary for

contemporary art to arue the case that art is a personal epression,

because you have no possibility to create a ne" form of universality and

you oppose to the abstract form of universality only the epression of

the self or the epression of communities. &o, you understand the link

bet"een the different problems. It/s imperative for us to say that the

subect in artistic creation is not the artist as such. 8Artist9 is a

necessity for art, but not a subective necessity. &o, the conclusion is

!uite simple. The subective eistence of art are the "orks of art, and

nothin else. The artist is not the subective aent of art. The artist

is the sacrificial part of art. It/s also, finally, "hat disappears in

art. And the ethic of art is to accept the disappearance. &ometimes the

artist is someone "ho "ants to appear, but it/s not a ood thin for art.For art, if you "ant art to have today the very important function of the

creation of a ne" universality, if you think that art is somethin like a

subective epression for the market, it/s necessary that the artist make

a reat appearance, naturally, but if art is the creation, the secret

creation, somethin like that, if art is not somethin of the market, but

is somethin aainst the force of universality of the market, the

conse!uence is that the artist must disappear, and not to be someone "ho

appears in the media and so on. And a criti!ue of art is somethin like a

criti!ue of somethin like desperation. If the ethic of art is somethin

like desperation, it is because "hat sho" are "orks of art, "hich are the

real subective eistence of art in%itself.

It/s also the same thin in thesis nine. I don/t comment The !uestion of

the ethic of art is not to be imperial. :esperation because operation is

al"ays somethin like imperial operation, because the la" of operation is

today imperial la".

About theses ten and eleven, I think "e can demonstrate that imperial art

is the name for "hat is visible today. Imperial art is eactly #omantic%

formalism. That is a historical thesis, or a political thesis if you

"ant. The miture of #omanticism and formalism is eactly the imperial

art. 2ot only today, but, for eample, durin the #oman ;mpire too. There

is somethin common bet"een the situation today and the situation at the

end of the #oman ;mpire. It/s a ood comparison, you see, and more

precisely bet"een the <nited &tates and the #oman ;mpire. There is really

somethin very interestin "ith that sort of comparison, and in fact the

!uestion is also a !uestion of artistic creation, because by the end ofthe #oman ;mpire "e have eactly t"o dispositions in artistic creation.

(n one side, somethin really #omantic, epressive, violent, and on the

other, somethin etremely formalist, politically straiht. +hy +hen "e

deal "ith the situation of somethin like an empire, somethin like

havin the formal unity of the "orld, if you "ant, it/s not only the

<nited &tates, it/s finally the bi markets, "hen "e have somethin like

a potential unity of the "orld, "e have in artistic creation somethin

like formalism and #omanticism, a miture of the t"o. +hy )ecause "hen

"e have an empire, "e have t"o principles. First, all is possible because

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 6/8

"e have a bi potency, a unity of the "orld. &o "e may say, all is

possible. +e may create ne" forms, "e may speak of everythin, there is

not really la"s about "hat is possible, "hat is not possible, so

everythin is possible. et, "e also have another maim, everythin is

impossible, because there is nothin else to have, the empire is the only

possible eistence, the only political possibility. &o, you can say that

everythin is possible and you can say that everythin is impossible, and

"hen the t"o are said you have an artistic creation, formalism, that is

to say all is possible, ne" forms are al"ays possible, and #omanticism

and nihilism because all is impossible, and finally, "e have the miture

of the t"o, and contemporary art is sayin that all is possible and that

all is impossible. The impossibility of possibility and the possibility

of impossibility. That is the real content of contemporary art. To escape

that sort of situation is to state that somethin is possible, not all is

possible, not all is impossible, but somethin else is possible. There is

a possibility of somethin else. &o, "e have to create a ne" possibility.

)ut to create a ne" possibility is not the same thin as to realie a ne"

possibility. It/s a very fundamental distinction, to realie a

possibility is to think that the possibility is here and I need to

conceive the possibility. For eample, if all is possible, I have to

realie somethin, because all thins are possible, but, naturally, it/s!uite a different thin to create somethin possible. The possibility is

not here. &o, it is not true, that all is possible, some thins are not

possible, and you have to create the possibility of that thin "hich is

not possible. And it is the reat !uestion of artistic creation. Is

artistic creation the realiation of a possibility or is artistic

creation the creation of a ne" possibility The possibility of somethin,

the possibility of sayin somethin is possible. If you think all is

possible 3that is the same as to think all is impossible4, your

conviction in the "orld is finished, the "orld is somethin closed. It is

closed "ith all the possibilities, "hich is the same thin that

everythin are impossibilities and artistic creation is closed too, it/s

closed in formalist%#omanticism "hich is the affirmation that all is

possible and all is impossible. )ut the true function of artistic

creation today is the possibility of sayin that somethin is possible,

so to create a ne" possibility. )ut "here can "e create a ne" possibility

"hen somethin is impossible )ecause "e can create a ne" possibility

"hen somethin is not a possibility. If all is possible, you cannot

create a ne" possibility. &o, the !uestion of a ne" possibility is also

the !uestion of somethin impossible, so "e have to assume that it/s not

true that all is possible, that also it/s not true that all is

impossible, "e have to say somethin is impossible "here somethin is

impossible. I have to create a ne" possibility. And, I think the creation

of ne" possibility is today the reat function of art. In other

activities of circulation, communication, the market and so on, "e have

al"ays the realiation of possibilities, infinite realiation of

possibilities. )ut not creation of possibility. And so it/s also a

political !uestion, because politics truly means the creation of a ne"possibility. A ne" possibility of life, a ne" possibility of the "orld.

And so the political determination of artistic creation is today "hether

it is possible, or impossible to create a ne" possibility. Actually,

lobaliation carries the conviction that it is utterly impossible to

create a ne" possibility. And the end of Communism, and the end of

revolutionary politics is, in fact, the dominant interpretation of that

all- it is impossible to create a ne" possibility. 2ot to realie a

possibility, but to create a ne" possibility. ou understand the

difference. And I think the !uestion of artistic creation lies here. It

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 7/8

proves for everybody, for humanity in eneral, that it is a possibility

to create a ne" possibility.

About thesis t"elve. It/s a poetic thesis. The three determinations of

artistic creation, to compare artistic creation "ith a demonstration,

"ith an ambush in the niht and "ith a star. ou can understand the three

determinations. +hy a demonstration )ecause finally the !uestion of

artistic creation is also the !uestion of somethin odd, somethin

possessin a sort of eternity, somethin "hich is not in pure

communication, pure circulation, somethin "hich is not in the constant

modification of forms. &omethin "hich resists and resistance is a

!uestion of art also today. &omethin "hich resists is somethin endo"ed

"ith some stability, solid. &omethin "hich is a loical e!uation, "hich

has a loical coherence, consistence, is the first determination. The

second determination is somethin surprisin, somethin "hich is riht

a"ay the creation of a ne" possibility, but a ne" possibility is al"ays

surprisin. +e cannot have a ne" possibility "ithout some sort of

surprise. A ne" possibility is somethin that "e cannot calculate. It/s

somethin like a rupture, a ne" beinnin, "hich is al"ays somethin

surprisin. Thus, the second determination. And it/s marvelous, like

somethin in the niht, the niht of our kno"lede. A ne" possibility issomethin absolutely ne" for our kno"lede, so it/s the niht of our

kno"lede. &omethin like a ne" liht. ;levated as a star because a ne"

possibility is somethin like a ne" star. &omethin like a ne" planet, a

ne" "orld, because it is a ne" possibility. &omethin like a ne" sensible

relation to the "orld. )ut the reat problem lies else"here. The formal

problem for contemporary art is not the determination, one by one. The

problem is ho" to relate the three. To be the star, the ambush, and the

demonstration. &omethin like that. And *ombardi is really a ood

eample, and I am very lad to speak here toniht. +e can see that there

is somethin like a demonstration, a connection, points of connections.

ou have somethin very surprisin, because *ombardi kne" all that before

the facts. +e have some"here, a reat dra"in about the )ush dynasty

"hich is really prophetic, "hich is an artistic prophecy, that is a

creation of a ne" kno"lede, and so it/s really surprisin to see that

after the facts. And it/s really the capacity, the ability of art to

present somethin before the facts, before the evidence. And it/s

somethin calm and elevated, like a star. ou kno", it/s like a alay,

see, it/s somethin like the alay of corruption. &o, the three

determinations are really in the "orks of *ombardi. And so it/s the

creation of a ne" possibility of art and a ne" vision of the "orld, our

"orld. )ut a ne" vision "hich is not purely conceptual, ideoloical or

political, a ne" vision "hich has it/s proper shape, "hich creates a ne"

artistic possibility, somethin "hich is ne" kno"lede of the "orld has a

ne" shape, like that. It/s really an illustration of my talk.

The last thesis. I think the reat !uestion is the correlation bet"een

art and humanity. $ore precisely the correlation bet"een artisticcreation and liberty. Is artistic creation somethin independent in the

democratic sense of freedom I think if you consider *ombardi for a

second time, "e may consider the issue of creatin a ne" possibility as

not eactly a !uestion of freedom, in the common sense, because there is

an imperial definition of freedom today, "hich is the common democratic

definition. Is artistic creation somethin like that sort of freedom I

think not. I think the real determination of artistic creation is not the

common sense of freedom, the imperial sense of freedom. It/s a creation

of a ne" form of liberty, a ne" form of freedom. And "e may see here that

7/23/2019 Fifteen Theses on Contemporary Art - Alain Badiou

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fifteen-theses-on-contemporary-art-alain-badiou 8/8

sort of thin because the connection bet"een the loical frame"ork, the

surprise of ne" kno"lede, and the beauty of the star is a definition of

freedom "hich is much more comple than the democratic determination of

freedom.

I think of artistic creation as the creation of a ne" kind of liberty

"hich is beyond the democratic definition of liberty. And "e may speak of

somethin like an artistic definition of liberty "hich is intellectual

and material, somethin like Communism "ithin a loical frame"ork,

because there is no liberty "ithout loical frame"ork, somethin like a

ne" beinnin, a ne" possibility, rupture, and finally somethin like a

ne" "orld, a ne" liht, a ne" alay. This is the artistic definition of

liberty and the issue today consists not in an art discussion bet"een

liberty and dictatorship, bet"een liberty and oppression, but in my

opinion, bet"een t"o definitions of liberty itself.

The artistic !uestion of the body in some art forms, like cinema or

dance, is precisely the !uestion of the body "ithin the body and not the

body "ithout body. It is an idealistic conception of the body "ithout the

body or the body as somethin else, crucial in the story of Christianity

and in =aul. For eample in the 6reek classical paintin the body isal"ays somethin else than the body, and if you consider somethin like

the body in Tintoretto, for eample, the body is somethin like movement

"hich is body like somethin else than the body. )ut in fact today the

body has a body, the body in the body is the body as such. And the body

as such is somethin very hard, because the body has no representation

"hich is really a representation as a star, somethin like that. In that

sort of paintin 3*ombardi4, "e have names, and no bodies. It is a

substitution of names to bodies. +e have no picture of )in *aden, but the

name of )in *aden. +e have no picture of )ush, but the name of )ush.

Father and sons.

Art- $ark *ombardi, George W. Bush, Harken Energy and Jackson Stephens c.

1979-90, fifth version, 1>>>

courtesy of Independent Curators

international, 2C.

;cerpt from the actual article % in the

printed edition. For information about

subscribin to *acanian Ink click

here.  If you do not "ish to subscribe but

"ould like information about buyin the

issue containin this article click here.